[Jon in Georgia]

My stepdad recently passed away and his RV was running fine when he parked it 4 years ago. I have installed a new battery and verified the fuel switch is set, but the engine turns over well, but will not start. I have even attempted to spray a little starting fluid through the filter intake hoping to see if it would even fire... but got nothing. I am seeking guidance on some of the things I can walk through and check ( as a process of elimination) to try to find the problem and would greatly appreciate any guidance and suggestions. Thanks in advance...Jon

 

[Dominick 1]

My stepdad recently passed away and his RV was running fine when he parked it 4 years ago. I have installed a new battery and verified the fuel switch is set, but the engine turns over well, but will not start. I have even attempted to spray a little starting fluid through the filter intake hoping to see if it would even fire... but got nothing. I am seeking guidance on some of the things I can walk through and check ( as a process of elimination) to try to find the problem and would greatly appreciate any guidance and suggestions. Thanks in advance...Jon

Welcome to the Forum
Have you checked to see your have ignition fire
You could do that by pulling one of the plug wires off and have some one turn the engine over
Holing the plug with just a bit from the spark plug
You should have a nice blue arc
If it does you can move on to fuel
One thing about being stored they tend to get rodents into the wiring and chew a hole into the wires

 

[Dominick 1]

Make sure you check all your grounds

 

[Dominick 1]

How-To: - Check a Ground

How to Check a ground Turn the power to the circuit on, and using a digital volt meter, put one lead to the grounded wire, and the other to a good ground. If there is voltage, clean your ground. 　 Turn power to the circuit off, and use a self powered test light, or an ohm meter, and test the...

www.fordforumsonline.com

 

[Action]

Welcome to the FFO!

Is that a 460 engine?
Is there a note on a sticker or nameplate under the hood saying "OBD II compliant".

Action

 

[Jon in Georgia]

Welcome to the Forum
Have you checked to see your have ignition fire
You could do that by pulling one of the plug wires off and have some one turn the engine over
Holing the plug with just a bit from the spark plug
You should have a nice blue arc
If it does you can move on to fuel
One thing about being stored they tend to get rodents into the wiring and chew a hole into the wires

Thank you, Dominick, this is true.... I will certainly check that. I am trying to prioritize the checklist for this weekend project, check fuel pump fuse, check for spark, ... then fuel pump? which I believe is in the fuel tank on this model. I was hoping because the generator ran well and pulls fuel from the main tank it would not be a fuel issue ( the fuel was treated with stabilizer). Thanks again for your insight and help.

 

[Action]

If what you stated in the first post is correct ....
"I have even attempted to spray a little starting fluid through the filter intake hoping to see if it would even fire... but got nothing."

Then the issue is NOT fuel. As you sprayed a fuel type into the vehicle. If the issue is lack of fuel and spraying in some starting fluid resulted in some engine operation one could assume the issue is lack of fuel. However you stated, "got nothing."

This would lead me to conclude the engine has an ignition issue. And this is a 1996 1 ton truck chassis on the cusp of the EEC IV to OBDII change over, which happened in model year 1996 for cars and light trucks. Because of that, the diagnosis is different between the two systems, hence the questions.

You did not state engine in your vehicle
I think 460 was only EECIV. But I know the 460 was last used in model year 1996.
Modular engine 4.6l & 5.4l was a OBDII arrangement with grouped ignition coils

If you know which engine control system the vehicle has? if yes post that.
Pulling codes would be good if you have a code reader. However it is different for EEC IV than it is for OBDII.

Action

 

[Bob Kon]

My stepdad recently passed away and his RV was running fine when he parked it 4 years ago. I have installed a new battery and verified the fuel switch is set, but the engine turns over well, but will not start. I have even attempted to spray a little starting fluid through the filter intake hoping to see if it would even fire... but got nothing. I am seeking guidance on some of the things I can walk through and check ( as a process of elimination) to try to find the problem and would greatly appreciate any guidance and suggestions. Thanks in advance...Jon

I used to fix Lawn mowers one thing very popular going through winters is that Gas turns into a gel! Go buy an Carb cleaner (Gumout and CRC brands will also act like a starter fluid) clean all internal components of the Carb after that see if it sounds like it wants to start if so have Carb rebuilt and cleaned. Dump fuel tank and lines get aged fuel out!

 

[Sonny D]

Good Luck
AKA Dominick 1

 

[Jon in Georgia]

I used to fix Lawn mowers one thing very popular going through winters is that Gas turns into a gel! Go buy an Carb cleaner (Gumout and CRC brands will also act like a starter fluid) clean all internal components of the Carb after that see if it sounds like it wants to start if so have Carb rebuilt and cleaned. Dump fuel tank and lines get aged fuel out!

Thank you Bob,
I believe it may be electrical (distributor or coil), have not had a chance to test yet. but I believe my fuel is ok because I run the generator just fine and it also pulls the fuel from the main gas tank. I also heavily treated the fuel, just in case there is a gel issue.... thank you again for your input.

 

[Jon in Georgia]

If what you stated in the first post is correct ....
"I have even attempted to spray a little starting fluid through the filter intake hoping to see if it would even fire... but got nothing."

Then the issue is NOT fuel. As you sprayed a fuel type into the vehicle. If the issue is lack of fuel and spraying in some starting fluid resulted in some engine operation one could assume the issue is lack of fuel. However you stated, "got nothing."

This would lead me to conclude the engine has an ignition issue. And this is a 1996 1 ton truck chassis on the cusp of the EEC IV to OBDII change over, which happened in model year 1996 for cars and light trucks. Because of that, the diagnosis is different between the two systems, hence the questions.

You did not state engine in your vehicle
I think 460 was only EECIV. But I know the 460 was last used in model year 1996.
Modular engine 4.6l & 5.4l was a OBDII arrangement with grouped ignition coils

If you know which engine control system the vehicle has? if yes post that.
Pulling codes would be good if you have a code reader. However it is different for EEC IV than it is for OBDII.

Action

Thanks again, the engine in an E350 7.4 L V8, I have not had a chance to test the distributor / or solenoid
the more I am learning/researching ... that may be the first things I inspect next week. Thanks again...jon

 

[greaser13]

My stepdad recently passed away and his RV was running fine when he parked it 4 years ago. I have installed a new battery and verified the fuel switch is set, but the engine turns over well, but will not start. I have even attempted to spray a little starting fluid through the filter intake hoping to see if it would even fire... but got nothing. I am seeking guidance on some of the things I can walk through and check ( as a process of elimination) to try to find the problem and would greatly appreciate any guidance and suggestions. Thanks in advance...Jon

Try spraying plenty of the starter fluid directly into the intake not through the air filter. The air filter will catch acetone before it gets to the engine.