Ok where to start heres my story maybe someone has a different idea of whats wrong.

I have told the same story to almost a dozen people and keep comeing up with alot of different Ideas of what is wrong.

I have a 1984 Plymouth Voyager 2.6L

The other day I go down town traveling no faster at any given time 70km/h for 30min round trip.

On the way back home from a few stops downtown, I get (lucky me) 5 feet from the driveway and the engine dies. no bags clunks just a silent stop in the engine and it decides not to want to start.

So in the snow we push the van into the driveway so its not in the middle of the road. I try to start the van again and all the lights turn off and I get one click.

This happens a few more times before I know I have some work ahead of me.

So I charge the battery, Put it back in and still nothing....Thinking there might be a dead cell in the battery I get another battery from a buddy thats working and still the same problem happens.

So since there is power but it wont start and the power is being drained from the battery so next I think it might be the alternator so I go down to the parts shop and pick up a new alternator and put it in.....nope same problem still wont turn over..

So I pulled the alternator out and cleaned it up and took it back ($235 Can) Was more then I wanted to spend on it. But needed a working veichle.

I only paid 400 Canadian for my mini van so I was a bit mad but its the way it goes.

So in goes the old alternator I put the battery back on the charger to make sure she gets a full charge. I clean the old Alternator and all the wires and plugs and connections. check the battery connection again to make sure that its on properly.

Put the key in the van and turned the key......

it fires up without even thinking about it....it was like nothing ever happened.

BUT now a new problem occurs....

The check oil light comes on and is on.

The engine sounds fine and there is nothing I can see wrong with it and happy it started I was on my way to finding the problem.

I check the oil level next its over what it should be....tomarrow I plan to drain some oil out of it and hopefully it helps. I has been run quite a while now with it over full....which is not good. but not sure if that would be part of the first problem that I was having.

so now I am currious of what people might think might be the problem.

I have had the engine cut out like this before but it had fired up no problem right after. (after a oil change)

HELP!

Im no mechanic this is the first time i have attempted to work on a veichle :doh:

I have the Hayes book on the van as well which has been alot more help then alot of people around me and hopefully someone here will be more knowledgeable and help me solve my problem because I dont want to run the van with the "check oil" light being on.

Sounds like you took care of the charging issues, but the check oil light is strange. Possible a bad sending unit?

If the engine oil is full and has good pressure, there is no reason the light should be on. What is your oil pressure while the vehicle is idling?

not sure of the pressure while the vehicle is idling, It needs the to be changed cause it idles pretty high. it needs alot of work but im trying to fix one problem at a time haha.... im not sure if it is the pump or not im really hopeing not.

so not sure what to check next....any ideas mike?

Im going to release some of the oil tomarrow and see how that goes I think its a half to quart over what it should be. where I have had no problem going over 1400km with no problem. but im not ruleing anything out before further damage is done.

this is just getting more and more fun by the day......


So I go to try to start the van....and she cranks then i smelt a funny odor it dosent fire up but there is smoke comeing from around the starter area

is my starter pooched? or a possible wireing problem? or all of the above...I have never had the engine cleaned so its pretty caked in crap.

And still my "check oil" light is on.

any suggestions on this should i do another oil change and then flush the system?

arg!

anyone?

this is just getting more and more fun by the day......


So I go to try to start the van....and she cranks then i smelt a funny odor it dosent fire up but there is smoke comeing from around the starter area

is my starter pooched? or a possible wireing problem? or all of the above...I have never had the engine cleaned so its pretty caked in crap.

And still my "check oil" light is on.

any suggestions on this should i do another oil change and then flush the system?

arg!

wait, what are you considering "flushing"? not your oil system, i hope.

what level is the oil at?

check the connections to the starter; it helps to have a clean engine. make sure none of the connections are loose or corroded.

the engine is getting fuel, right?

yes the engine is getting fuel i have had it going yesterday but once again more problems are occuring the next day i had it running for about ten minutes idleing so i finally got a ride down to the auto parts store and picked up some odds and ends so tomarrow im gonna attempt to clean up the engine and remove the starter and check the wires and clean the starter i just have to find some jack stands and im ready to roll...lol

well i dont know when the last time anything really has been done on this van....exept the oil change. so pretty much flush anything that can be.

the level of the oil is about -- <--that far over full on the stick.

and ya the engine itself does need a serious cleaning but due to the weather temps being -2 to 1oC not sure if its a good idea or not

I did notice tho today the oil pressure gauge was never hooked up properly so it dosent work and either does another gauge that was put in afterwords so im gonna crack open the dash and see where it leads me.

Ill have to take some pics and post them up soon...its nothing special but its my $400.00can beauty. haha

also theres a leak somewhere so hopefully by cleaning it, that it will show up a bit better so i can seal it up as well.

:bump:

hmmm.... thats my starter....the rest of the engine is about the same if not worse

when i turn the starter there sounds to be more rocks inside...i cleaned out a bunch already from just inside the caseing but not to sure what to do when it comes to the insides of a starter.

Yea... I'd say you definitely have an oil system leak / issue, and I'm willing to bet you either have low oil pressure or you are missing more than the dispstick lets on.

I'd try to clean everything up, and pin point the leak itself. After you clean it all up, put a dye into the oil system that helps detect leaks and use a black light. You should be able to find it pretty easy after that.

ya ill take a picture of the engine itself in a few here so you can see what a mess it is ya theres oil on everything...

so possible oil pump problem?

any idea of testing that?

also out of curriosity mike what kind of dye? is there something specific out there?

this is all new to me...lol

but im enjoying learning thats for sure.

well cleaned up the starter put it back in drained just over half a quart of oil....

Fired it up and "check oil" light is still on.

the van sounds rotten!

Im running out of ideas. anyone have any ideas of how to check the oil pump? or any ideas of what to check on next.

well its a toss up now either the sensor or the oil pump....any ideas of how to get to the sensor ?

bump!

so the starter was the problem replaced the bearing put new contact kit in and 2 brushes where needed the plunger was new looking so there was no issue there the van runs great now case closed for now lol

im thinking of putting a manual throttle in it but not sure if im gonna do it