I have a 1996 e-250 with a 5.8 and seem to have several problems with it but my main problem arose yesterday after getting gas. i was at the gas station fulling up i didn't realize that my lights were on so my battery died. OK, no big deal ( so i thought ) i got a jump from a guy she started right up drove home ( about 6 -9 miles ) plenty of time for the battery to charge. about 5 hrs later i go outside to start her up just to make sure i don't have to charge the battery, she started up strong, kool ran her for about 20 min. shut her down made sure nothing was on went inside. this morning i went to got out she wouldn't start, pulled the battery hooked it up to the charger and the charge said it is a full battery ( ohm meter said ) the same thing. put the battery back in and she starts up strong . lost and confused never had this problem with any vehicle before. If anyone can help me i would be very grateful.

 

From what your describing, Fully charged battery, and no start -

I would say your starter in going.

Do you get a "clicking" sound when you turn to start, with a no start?

You might want to check the starter relay if you have no clicking sound.

 

THANKS FOR YOUR SUGGESTION,


But, checked the starter and alternator and bought a new battery. now she stalls out ever time i come to a red light. had a p0102 code which is MAF sensor
( mass air flow ), that only came on because of her stalling out. cleared the code hasn't come back yet but, she still stalls out. I've worked on many vehicles before and love fords but, this truck is pissing me off.

Any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

This sounds like a vacuum and/or ignition problem, I suspect something is affecting the intake charge much like a Modular Motor suffers when the Idle Air Control valve has issues.

Not sure if your van is OBD-I or OBD-II but either one should show a code of some sort for this condition. Is the MAF DTC the only one being shown?

 

Hi speedsean,

I'm with you, I hate these phantom problems.

I would start looking for bad grounds. Probably the negative cable on the battery. I have solved more "spooky" problems with bad grounds than any other solution. Especially since the computer started controlling every thing, ground connections have become big problems.

Look for ground connections between parts, chassis to engine, engine to computer, things like that. Bad grounds can reduce charging current, fool the sensors, and confuse the computer.

jim