1994 Astro engine cuts off then starts back up again

[blendergasket]

Hi! My Astro has started having a(nother) problem.

I was driving up Snoqualmie Pass in WA and then out into the dirt roads in the mountains. Right when I was heading to the trailhead, on a dirt road going up a slight incline after a long hot drive, my van's engine stopped working momentarily. I still had radio, so the electricity was still there. The van cut and then turned back on after cutting one or two times. The van was fine for about 100 miles or so.

I replaced the fuel pump relay as it was pretty chewed up and I thought this might've been the cause. I checked the voltage at the battery and it was 12.3 V and after the lights were on for 1 minute it was at 11.6. I thought I'd fixed it as I didn't have the problem on a long drive I took after replacing the relay.

On Saturday I drove back into the mountains and on the way home the engine started cutting again. It was much worse. Again, the weather was pretty hot and I'd been driving for quite a while if that makes a difference. The engine cut then came back on. It then cut a couple more times and was much less interested in coming back on. It really started sputtering. I pulled off the road I was on and stopped the van. I turned it back on again and made it the rest of the way home without incident.

Yesterday I drove to the store and the van cut as I was rounding a corner. It was really hot out, but I had only been driving for maybe 5 minutes.

Is this the fuel pump going out? Or something different?

Thanks for all the help y'all give. I am extremely grateful for this forum.

[MechBob]

2 very common problems with your symptoms.1- the wiring harness gets rubbed through,shorting out a wire. This usually happens on the engine harness,rear of engine.
2 the connector on the injector inside the manifold gets loose.You can usually check this by wiggling/pulling on the 2 injector wires,where they come out of a rubber grommet on the intake.

[blendergasket]

Thank you for the info. How much give should be OK when testing the injector tubes? Would they come all the way out if they're bad or is a certain amount of back and forth a bad sign? There is maybe a mm or less of play when i jiggle them.

The wiring harness seems good up to where it splits. One half goes up into the front of the engine, and the other half goes into the passenger side of the van. It looks like 2 wires on the part that goes into the passenger side of the van are pretty worn down, one is worn down to the metal. It is orange if that helps at all. Are those going to the PCM?

[blendergasket]

Also, the van stalled right when I fired it up to take it down into the carport where I am now working on it. I had to turn the ignition to get it running again.

[unclemaui]

I was just helped by this forum on a similar issue.

check your battery posts. they maybe just loose enough to break the connection. however my radio lost all of its input (aftermarket digital)

I'd pull over and it would start right up. When I checked the cables they were tight. tight enough I did not figure it was the cause. I leaned a little more on the positive and have not had the issue since.

[blendergasket]

Thanks. I'll go out and check them.

I noticed that an orange wire comes out of the oil pressure sending unit (is this the same thing as the oil pressure sensor?) but I am unsure how to tell if this is the same wire that's been rubbed bare. How would I test this?

Thanks again for the help!

[MechBob]

Tubes? You wiggle/pull on the injector wires,while it is idling,see if it stumbles

[blendergasket]

Hmmm. I was thinking we were talking about the two metal pipes going into the manifold from the fuel tank. Should I be testing something other than that? But I will wiggle those two metal pipes while its running to check. Thanks for the reply.

[blendergasket]

Deleted

[CopperFiremist]

Sounds like you need to see Copper, I'm in the Seattle area send me a PM

[blendergasket]

I haven't given up quite yet! Doing some of the diagnostic tests referenced above today to see if I can get to the bottom of it.