88 TV wont start after sitting for 8 months

Bought an 88 TV a year ago and stored it for about 8 months. It always started and drove fine before storing it, but when I went to start it up last weekend, it just cranked and never started. Tried a new, fresh battery but that didn't help. Since the gas gauge doesn't work and I had no idea how old the gas was when I stored it (and I didn't use a fuel stabilizer), I put 5 gallons of fresh gas in there. The van started right up, but the idle was pretty rough, and I had to keep the revs up by continually tapping the gas pedal or it would stall. I decided to drive it to the gas station and filled the tank completely (7 more gallons, so 12-13 gallons of fresh gas in there now). No change in performance after topping off the tank though--still bad idle but ran fine when actually driving it. Drove it to a friend's house and parked it for a few hours, then went back and tried to start it and it started and then immediately stalled. Tried again and it just cranks now like before I put more gas in it. Sometimes after it has been sitting for awhile, the first time I try to start it, it will start right up and then immediately stall (no way to hold the gas pedal down either to avoid the stalling), and then after that it will just crank and crank and never start. Now pretty much every time I've tried to start it over the past couple of days it will just keep cranking but refuses to start. What should I look into first to try and troubleshoot this? Should I drain the entire gas tank and try to start over with all fresh gas, or is that a red herring?

As an added bonus, when the van was running, it started overheating, which is also a new problem after being stored for 8 months. I'll deal with that once I get it to run again though...

Thanks,

Eric

Have you checked the tank for crud and rust? If the tank was sitting for a lot of time with gas, it may have corroded it and the stale gas leaves crud on the bottom which in turn clogs your fuel pump strainer and or fuel filter.

Try pulling a spark plug out connecting it to the wire and then ground it while turning the engine over that will atleast tell you that you have spark. Im having the same problem right now with my van that's been my daily driver for the past 3.5 yrs. I don't have spark ive narrowed that down. Good luck!

A lot of vans are down this week. I just posted on 2 other threads with similar issues. Check spark like the dude says. Fuel could also be the issue. I've recently learned a lesson with storing rigs with fuel in the tanks (modern fuel does a number on your tank & pump if stored for too long). 8 months isn't very long though (mine sat for over 10 years). Still, you should jump the "fuel pump check connector", turn the key to "run", & listen for the sound of fuel flowing in the rail. If you don't hear that, then it's likely a failed fuel pump. Tim

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Originally Posted by timsrv

A lot of vans are down this week. I just posted on 2 other threads with similar issues. Check spark like the dude says. Fuel could also be the issue. I've recently learned a lesson with storing rigs with fuel in the tanks (modern fuel does a number on your tank & pump if stored for too long). 8 months isn't very long though (mine sat for over 10 years). Still, you should jump the "fuel pump check connector", turn the key to "run", & listen for the sound of fuel flowing in the rail. If you don't hear that, then it's likely a failed fuel pump. Tim

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Thanks the replies. All of my experience is with Previas; I have virtually no experience with TVs. Where is the fuel pump check connector located? I'll test that out and see if the pump is working. Also, where is the fuel filter located? I may go ahead and just replace that too just to be sure it isn't clogged. -Eric

I just did a search using the terms "fuel pump check connector" and got a bunch of hits (the info is here, you just gotta look :yes:). Anyhow, here's 3 threads, any of which should answer your question:

http://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/s...=5742#post5742

http://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/s...p?631-dead-van

http://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/s...sure-regulator

Regarding the fuel filter, there's a post or 2 about it's location & how to change in this thread:

http://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/s...for-new-owners

Enjoy, & good luck. Tim