On the road a few states away from home in Pigeon Forge, TN! 1996 with the 5.2, 280K miles (so far has run great!)

Here is the problem:

Within 5 miles at about 50mph the van started surging off and on pretty drastically. There was a buildup (the first ten surges were pretty mild). Parked the van and the idle was all over the place. Not really "rough" but surging from nearly dying to 2000 rpm (I'm guessing). Tried to limp back into town, the van got progressively worse surging slower and slower until it died on the road. It did run perfectly fine downhill in 2nd with no gas pedal. Now I can't even get it to go 10 feet under load, but it does still start with the surging idle.

It's in the middle of a parking lot... I'm debating towing it to Autozone so I can test fuel pressure or just bringing it to a mechanic as I'm on a long road trip and canno

Notes:
Batt Voltage is fine (12.7 disconnected, 13.6 at idle)
TPS sensor has just been replaced (the only thing I had time for tonight)
Cap, plugs and wires are all 20k old so should be OK
Cleaned IAC
No CEL
Can't see any lose wires or connectors or vacuum lines. Doesn't mean I didn't miss one, though.

I haven't checked fuel pressure which is my last thought. Anyone have any thoughts? Bad CPS would throw a code, right? I am really good at taking off this coffin cover now!

 

Disconnect the front O2 sensor, see if it runs any better. If not, remove the sensor from the exhaust...... try again.

 

Did you try to check for engine trouble codes? This may help give you info on what's going on to search on or to post and ask about... try like in this video, should work on your rig.

It's been my experience that a failing cps/pickup coil (located under the rotor, inside the distributor cap) will throw a code, while a cks/ crank position sensor won't, but won't hurt my feelings to be corrected on that...

 

Thanks for the tips! I'll try both in the morning. The CEL isn't on but it could still throw a code? I'll be at Autozone so I can have them put an OBD reader on it