1998 Safari won't start - Help

[jenkznza]

My neighbor sold his house so approached me about buying his 1998 Safari AVD for $400. He had started it to move it to a sales lot, but the AC pulley was frozen and the the serpentine belt fried. When he saw the smoke he sit if off immediately. It has sat for a couple months since and someone siphoned the gas. I put five gallons in it and gave it a try. I sputtered a couple of times, but that was it. I put starting fluid in the air intake and nothing.

Where should I start troubleshooting?

[RECox286]

It may have flooded while you were making it "sputter." Do you hear the fuel pump prime (run for 2 seconds then shut off) when you

turn the key to ON ? While the engine is cold, and "dry" give 'er a shot of starting fluid down the intake and see what happens...

You may have some ignition (spark) system component issues. Check for spark by pulling a coil wire ( looks like spark plug wire) out of

the distributor and, with a well insulated pair of pliers, hold it with in 1/4" of any engine metal surface. Then crank the engine.

The spark should be very snappy, a nice blue/white. If you see yellow spark, you probably need a new coil. If there is no spark,

then you have to find out which component of the system is being the bad boy. There are easy tests for each of the components,

but some components will have to be tested at a LAPS that has the test equipment. For now, lets simply see if you have fuel and spark.

Uncle Bob

[jenkznza]

I pulled the coil wire and check for spark. It's sparking, but it is yellow in color and doesn't seem all that strong.

[jenkznza]

Put the coil wire back on. Turned over the engine. It backfired and started right up. Pers like a kitten. I wonder if the coil wife wasn't making a good connection at the cap.

[RECox286]

Most likely that you had flooded the engine on that first attempt. Allowing it to clear probably made the

difference the second try. (guessing) I suspect you will want to do a test of the coil to begin with, since

the spark isn't good...but good enough to run. Sounds as if you got a winner for a few dollars. A tune up

is definity in order. Good hunting, and a hearty big-time "USUCK" from me.

Uncle Bob

[jenkznza]

Now I have found pieced of vacuum line coming from the throttle body toward the back of the engine. I can't find a nipple were the were connected anywhere. Crazy van anywey.

[RECox286]

Look for things like cruise control diaphram, EGR valve, PCV valve, etc to where the hose may have come from. Open vacuum line

will make the engine idle bad. NOTE: There should be a vacuum hose routing diagram under the hood.

Uncle Bob

[jenkznza]

I'll give it a look tomorrow. These are 1/8" (?) lines. One had turned to mush and the other literally cam out in pieces. I'd never seen anything like it.

[Lumpy]

These are 1/8" (?) lines.

PIPE -
Measured by NOMINAL ID

HOSE -
Measured by NOMINAL ID

TUBING -
Measured by near actual OD

The problem with vacuum lines is nobody's exactly sure if it's tubing or hose. To add to the confusion, the brass/steel/copper nipples and lines that we connect the vacuum lines to are usually TUBING (measured in OD) but they sometimes use connectors with NPT threads (Pipe, measured in ID). You sometimes see terminology like "1/4" ID Vacuum Tubing", which is really kind of backwards because that's how you'd describe HOSE, not TUBING.

So the safest way is to snip off an inch of old hose and take to the FLVHS and tell them "I want 4 ft of this". Get more than you need. You'll need it eventually.


Lump

[RECox286]

What he said ! Yes, it pays to have a couple or four feet of the various sizes of vacuum hose to hand so that when

the need arises you don't have to thumb a ride to the LAPS. I like to stock fuel hose too, it lasts longer than vacuum

hose, but doesn't come in all the sizes that vacuum hose is available in. (never end a sentence with a preposition--

is the lesson for today) Did you look for a vacuum diagram ? Never trust a used vehicle to have everything connected

correctly--is the second lesson for today.

Uncle Bob

[jenkznza]

I did figure the vacuum line out. It lead over to the heat and air system. Found pieces of it everywhere. What a mess it was.