this old man lives next door to me and has a 1987 dodge van with a 318 in it....
i used to have a ram and a van with 318s in ithem ...
he asked me to help him fix them....nobody on the block has seen this man in years come out of his house ....so
he says that he puored gas down the carb to get it running last year and that worked, then the next time he went to start it there was no power.... i m thinking it is going to need new plugs. roter cap and mabey a carb kit but what is up with the no power? i will will try jumping it later today but if that is not it then is it an alternater?
he says when it was going when he puored the gas the dash lights didnt work... do you know if that sounds like a fuse or wiring?
any advice would help! this old man is really old and very week i would love to help him out
2006-11-01 04:05:50 · 7 answers · asked by rwilson1684 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
I suggest you jump it . Its an old van so you can do the ever forbidden on new vehicle removal of the ground to the battery and see if it stays running. If so the alternator is good and should charge the battery back up if it wasnt damaged by the excessive drain. If the battery is excessively drained say below 10v and the van IS used at least several times a month you probably have a parasitic draw which can be determined w/ a simple $10 volt/amp meter. Now if you are reffering to a lack of power as in mechanical (engine) power you should start w/ a compression test.
2006-11-01 04:30:25 · answer #1 · answered by SYPHERENIGMA 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jump the van, it sounds like the van has been sitting for a while and it simply drained the battery. (I'm assuming when you say there is not power, you can't even get the engine to turn over and no dash lights come on)
You may need to put a little gas down the carburator to get it started. Gas does go bad if it's been sitting in the gas tank too long, but be careful, when you connect up the battery to jump the vehicle, you may create a spark, so as a precaution, keep a fire extinguisher near by just in case. (never hurts to be overly cautious)
If jumping it doesn't work, I'd go after the battery first before anything else.
2006-11-01 12:11:54 · answer #2 · answered by hsueh010 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sound's like the batter dies from not being run and then him trying to start it what needs to happen before the new plugs is new gas in the tank and a good charge on the batter enough to take a few rounds of trying to start . Charge the battery .
2006-11-01 12:34:06 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If he only starts it once a year...I'd do a complete tuneup...wires,plugs,rotor,distributor cap,rebuilt carb.
Also i'd drain the gas out of the tank and put new gas in it.
Check the fuses...If it's not fuses...check bulbs...After that your gonna need a volt meter.
2006-11-01 12:16:17 · answer #4 · answered by Dave 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try changing the plugs. They maybe gas fouled
2006-11-01 12:09:48 · answer #5 · answered by whtsthislif4 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
battery or alternator is the problem says my husbad who is a dieseil mechanic for Freightliner good luck
2006-11-01 12:40:07 · answer #6 · answered by yahoo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the battery drains if it the car is not used regularly
2006-11-01 12:17:53 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋