Van stopped running, then ran very roughly

[Eddy1]

I was pulling into a parking lot and my van quit running, I coasted into the parking lot and got it started and running just enough to pull to the side, it ran like it was running on one cylinder very rough no power at all. Then I could not start it again. While waiting for the tow truck I put my phone on charge and realized both cigarette lighters had no power, I dont know if it related or not, any ideas what to check?

[alloro]

Originally Posted by Eddy1

While waiting for the tow truck I put my phone on charge and realized both cigarette lighters had no power, I don't know if it related or not, any ideas what to check?

Start with checking the battery and charging system.

[Eddy1]

Battery was still good. I did crank over a fair bit afterwards. Could the charging system cause this issue?

[Eddy1]

I have noticed in the past after I let the battery go dead a few years back,(its new now) I had to get the jumper cables out and get a boost, even after the van was started if the battery wasn't strong enough when the boaster cables were removed the van would stall. Maybe this is normal for newer cars, but if i did this with my old datsuns you can remove the battery cable completely and the car would keep running, my van woundnt even run if the battery is not charged enough let alone remove the battery cable. I always thought that was odd, is this normal?

[Stealthee]

If it's shutting off when you remove the jumper cables it sounds like the alternator isn't working. A battery in a car is mainly for starting. Once started the alternator keeps it running.

[Eddy1]

Yes thats the way I have always known it too. But its done this for years and it does charge, once I put the new battery in it was no problem

[Eddy1]

So I put it on charge all day, it tuns over quickly but there no sign of firing at all.

[Eddy1]

I got some starting fluid and squirt it into the intake and no sign of a fire at all, any ideas? Hopefully you guys can offer more suggestions .

[aleekat]

Year, model, engine?

[Eddy1]

Sorry its a 2003 1500 van 5.9L

[aleekat]

Originally Posted by Eddy1

I got some starting fluid and squirt it into the intake and no sign of a fire at all, any ideas? Hopefully you guys can offer more suggestions .

Sounds like no spark. Maybe crank sensor?

[alloro]

Originally Posted by Eddy1

I got some starting fluid and squirt it into the intake and no sign of a fire at all, any ideas?

Pull the wire from the center of the distributor cap and use that to check for spark. Doing this cuts the distributor cap and rotor out of the equation. If there's still no spark it could be a bad ignition coil. Some places like Autozone will test the coil for you if you bring it in. If it tests good you might want to replace the crank sensor first.

[Eddy1]

This is going a lot slower than i would like but I checked the resistance of the coil and it read between 2.8 - 2.9 oms, measured across the power input leads
thoughts?

By the way this is actually a 5.2 liter not 5.9

[Eddy1]

Hi guys, I got my van running it seems like the coil was a big part of the problem, but once again, it will only run when I keep my foot on the pedal and keep the revs up a bit, if i take my foot off it will stall, it does show on the gauge that its charging, any ideas?

[alloro]

Originally Posted by Eddy1

it will only run when I keep my foot on the pedal and keep the revs up a bit, if i take my foot off it will stall

The IAC valve is sticking. You can take it off and try to clean it, or you can replace it.