1:1 mechanics unite

[retarded pilot]

i have a problem and hoping someone can steer me in the right direction ...

heres the story 2000 chevy 3500 cube van ....a year ago this van had a off and on problem where it would start & run fine around town but then if you drove it 40 minutes to the job sites ( we did telephone contracting work about 11 locations a day ) once in a while it would just die or not start...my father in law changed the fuel filter & fuel pump ...still had the same issues, it was parked for a year while we went thourgh my father in laws illnes & buryal ....now after being parked for the year, to start it (even when its warm) you have to push the gas pedal down 1/2 way then once started it will idel fine .......now here's where it has me confused when its in park you can rev the engine all you want & it runs perfect....
you can put it in gear and idel along but if you give it any kind of gas to accellerate it instantly dies?? does anyone have any idea's whats wrong with it? :shrug:

 

[Revo Rancher]

Pick up sensor on the dist may be bad or gapped to far from the distributer shaft. (electronic ignition, right?)

 

[jon2]

I am sure that being parked and not started the fuel went bad or you got moisture in your tank. Did you have it filled with gas? My old Impala did that after sitting for three months. I gave it a good tune up, plugs, wires, cap and rotor and adjusted the timing. tightened anything loose, my headers were loose for some reason. I actually had to drop my tank and get the crap out of it.

Your problem sounds like it needs an adjustment in timing.

 

[Plaidfish]

I'm w/ revo...when was the last itme you changed your plugs / wires /cap????
check spark plug gaps...bet they're big enough to drive a bus through....


edit: 2000 probably has coil pack no cap....

 

[Clintd]

If this van has Throttle body injection, I would check the gasket under the throttle body unit. To check it what you would do is start it and let it idle, then get a can of carb cleaner and spray small bursts at the bottom of the TBI unit. If the idle changes you need a throttle body gasket.

 

[savagelover12]

i would probally chech the fuel pump its comtrolled by the ingector so try that

 

[JESSE G]

If its fuel injected the injectors might be dirty you could try running some injector cleaner through the tank. Or they could be leaking at the intake if its not a throttle body.

 

[Nathan_454]

what engine is it? 5.3 ? 4.8? 6.0? if its any of those try ls1truck.com those guys are DAMN good with any of those engines.

 

[beason]

check relay to mine does that when its hot outside.. wont start.. i open the doors and let it cool down starts right up..

 

[retarded pilot]

wow thanks for all the input guys..whats really got me is how sparatic it is ...after i wrote this i went back down and removed the signage from the door then tryed another lap around the property and i could spin tires with ease no hesitation, no missing, drove great. parked it went back out to it a little later for another spin....reved without problem in park.. but put it in gear & the slightest push of the gas pedal kills it instantly

my father in law kept really good care of his trucks so i doupt the plugs or wires are in bad shape ...as far as the gas i dont think it goes bad that quick & there are 3 other cube vans i have started and ran yesterday with no problems ( besides battery ) that sat just as long
also if it was bad gas or plugs i would think they would be consitently bad and not run like a bat outa hell one time & die instantly the next?
clint i will try spraying the throttle body and see if i get a reaction, that seems like something that could wiggle and cause an intermitant issue

thanks for all your help guys ....

 

[beason]

if its ceramic or plastic check for small cracks.. one of my buddy had this he didnt have wires he had a plastic thing and it was cracked and caused the motor to miss at times..

 

[Nathan_454]

was anythign done with the trannsmision before this happened? anything to teh truck at all?

 

[.21Rc10GT]

Yeah, i was thinking the torque converter or something...

 

[jmarzilli]

check to see, if your spark wires are arcing. Also, my local Autozone does free computer diagnosics, so I would bet yours does to.

 

[Nathan_454]

if theres no engine light its probably something in the tranny. torque convertor perhaps?

 

[Clintd]

If it was The tranny, it would stall the minute you put it in gear.

 

[CorradoPsi]

there could be fault codes in the ecu, the CEL light doesn't have to be on for there to be codes. check for air leaks, even if the engine had a misfire it shouldnt be bad enough to cause what your experiencing. try unpluging the MAF if it has one. this should put it in limp mode, but still drive. if that fixes it, then clean the MAF, if that doesn't work get a new one. get a haynes book on the van and start trouble shooting the sensors. cam or crank timing sensors, ignition sensor. those are the ones that really cripple and engine. coolant temp sensors and O2 sensors just cause you to get poor mileage, and or difficult hot starts. make sure none of your vaccum lines are leaking and check intake system gaskets from behind the MAF all the way to the heads.

 

[JESSE G]

Sell it and buy a 70's Chevy van Lot easier to figure out whats wrong with it since it not all computer controlled lol.

 

[.21Rc10GT]

Sell it and buy a 70's Chevy van Lot easier to figure out whats wrong with it since it not all computer controlled lol.

Just get one from the 40's and throw a supercharged big block in it.