Hello from Oregon

Fordguy100

New Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2022
Posts
3
Location
Southern Oregon
Hello all!

We just upgraded van's and we ended up with one we have always really wanted. First van was a 2005 SWB E-350 12 passenger, w/5.4. Seating's important as we have 5 boys. We ended up buying a travel trailer right at the weight limit of the van, and its "adequate" unloaded performance was severely highlighted when pulling grades here in Oregon. 2nd gear @ 30 mph happened a few times.

Anyways, a good friend of ours had purchased two Quigley Van's in 1998 new, and since their kiddo's are all grown up they asked if we wanted to buy one. So we are now in the possession of a 1998 E-350 LWB/15 passenger van. V10/4.10's. Besides the obvious hit in fuel mileage from the previous van, we are extremely pleased. We were averaging 14.5-15.5 MPG on our normal driving previously, down to 12.5-13 with the new van (in the grand scheme of things its not that big of a fuel mileage hit comparing the differences). I do wish it was a Powerstroke but beggers cant be choosers. We got the van with 69k miles on it a few months ago, its now sitting at just under 74k. Same trailer on the same grades as the previous van are now 55mph in 2nd which eases some of my towing stresses. I can actually tow in overdrive on the flats which is nice.

The back end of the van seems real "loose" when towing compared to the preivous. I had installed a rear sway bar on the old van, and it seemed to help. This new van seems to be a handful on secondary roads (curves, bumps, potholes) to track down the road straight compared. We do have a weight distribution/stabilizer setup on the trailer .So while searching the googles for things to do to help out the new van I stumbled upon this website.

Wife wants bumpers, a lift/larger tires. That would mean gears so we wouldn't kill the towing performance. It does have the crappy Y-pipe T, maybe one of the SPD Y-pipe is in order. I need to go through and do coil packs and plugs as I don't think they have been changed and while it has low miles they are old. On cold starts this thing starts rough like its running on half cylinders and if its too cold it dies. Immediately cycling the key and restarting and it runs normal. I've cycled the key on/off several times prior to the original cold start and it still does the weird cold start issue above. Its fine starting until it cools off again, and starts normal on a "cold" start it temps are above 50ish degrees.

It also has a weird trans shift issue, where starting off from a stop it feels like it almost downshifts to first at 10 mph. So you come to stop. Take off and it acts normal until right at 10 mph and you feel a "clunk" and than with the same throttle position it accelerates much faster. Maybe its starting in 2nd gear or something. If I start out in 1st gear per the selector it does the same thing. The few times towing (I know, towing with an obvious trans issue is no bueno) it does the same thing but there's so much more strain on the drivetrain you don't feel this "clunk." Trans fluid is clean and it was serviced in 04 @ 30k miles.

IMG_2503.jpg
 
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Wait: your WIFE wants bumpers and larger tires? [emoji15][emoji15]
 
Welcome and enjoy the van and forum!

Yeah, my wife is also the one pushing a bit stronger here and there.
While I’m on “needs to have an advantage” she’s on “hey, did you see these cool lights?”
 
Hello all!

We just upgraded van's and we ended up with one we have always really wanted. First van was a 2005 SWB E-350 12 passenger, w/5.4. Seating's important as we have 5 boys. We ended up buying a travel trailer right at the weight limit of the van, and its "adequate" unloaded performance was severely highlighted when pulling grades here in Oregon. 2nd gear @ 30 mph happened a few times.

Anyways, a good friend of ours had purchased two Quigley Van's in 1998 new, and since their kiddo's are all grown up they asked if we wanted to buy one. So we are now in the possession of a 1998 E-350 LWB/15 passenger van. V10/4.10's. Besides the obvious hit in fuel mileage from the previous van, we are extremely pleased. We were averaging 14.5-15.5 MPG on our normal driving previously, down to 12.5-13 with the new van (in the grand scheme of things its not that big of a fuel mileage hit comparing the differences). I do wish it was a Powerstroke but beggers cant be choosers. We got the van with 69k miles on it a few months ago, its now sitting at just under 74k. Same trailer on the same grades as the previous van are now 55mph in 2nd which eases some of my towing stresses. I can actually tow in overdrive on the flats which is nice.

The back end of the van seems real "loose" when towing compared to the preivous. I had installed a rear sway bar on the old van, and it seemed to help. This new van seems to be a handful on secondary roads (curves, bumps, potholes) to track down the road straight compared. We do have a weight distribution/stabilizer setup on the trailer .So while searching the googles for things to do to help out the new van I stumbled upon this website.

Wife wants bumpers, a lift/larger tires. That would mean gears so we wouldn't kill the towing performance. It does have the crappy Y-pipe T, maybe one of the SPD Y-pipe is in order. I need to go through and do coil packs and plugs as I don't think they have been changed and while it has low miles they are old. On cold starts this thing starts rough like its running on half cylinders and if its too cold it dies. Immediately cycling the key and restarting and it runs normal. I've cycled the key on/off several times prior to the original cold start and it still does the weird cold start issue above. Its fine starting until it cools off again, and starts normal on a "cold" start it temps are above 50ish degrees.

It also has a weird trans shift issue, where starting off from a stop it feels like it almost downshifts to first at 10 mph. So you come to stop. Take off and it acts normal until right at 10 mph and you feel a "clunk" and than with the same throttle position it accelerates much faster. Maybe its starting in 2nd gear or something. If I start out in 1st gear per the selector it does the same thing. The few times towing (I know, towing with an obvious trans issue is no bueno) it does the same thing but there's so much more strain on the drivetrain you don't feel this "clunk." Trans fluid is clean and it was serviced in 04 @ 30k miles.

View attachment 43669


Where are you in So Oregon. I am on of the Few OG Van owners here. if you are near by I would be happy to look at yours. Congrats and Enjoy.

profilepic10866_2.gif
 
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Where are you in So Oregon. I am on of the Few OG Van owners here. if you are near by I would be happy to look at yours. Congrats and Enjoy.

profilepic10866_2.gif


What’s your definition of an “OG van owner”? [emoji848] I think there’s a lot of us here! [emoji23]
 
I had the same exact cold start issue and new plugs and coils fixed it. It starts and idles perfectly in all weather now.

It sounds like you may have some tranny work in your future.
 
Thanks for the welcomes. We are in the Roseburg area, originally from east of Salem in the Cascade foothills.

Good news or at least an update on the trans, after the last towing trip down to Grants Pass, the trans is now shifting normally. Obviously there is still something going on. I’d like to think that there’s some spring, check valve, or solenoid that finally freed up due to the heat and or line pressures.

I did discover a semi worn out passenger tie rod while I was under it the other day changing the oil. I do have the quigley printout with the parts they used for the conversion so I’ll start ordering the parts to do that soon. The rear diff cover has a loose bolt at the top and was leaking fluid, so I pulled the cover off, resealed it, and put in Royal Purple gear oil (with modifier for the LS).

We did see the best fuel mileage to date driving up to crater lake and back, 14.8 mpg. This was doing mainly 60mph up/down, and really milking the grades down to use less fuel.
 
On the rear end feelings... A rear sway bar is pretty much mandatory on the extended vans, especially when towing. Otherwise, body roll as actually inducing bump-steer, because of the geometry of the steering setup.

Have you verified the tires are Load Range E? An insufficiently stiff tire is no good for handling, and if it's not an "e", the rear tires would be almost certainly overloaded. Likewise, running the max 80 psi is almost mandatory when towing, depending on weights of course.

Definitely get that trans fluid changed out! That few miles with that many year means it's pickup up a lot of moisture over the years. While it sounds like you finally cooked that off, the oxidized compounds will still be circulating. The "bucket method" is my preferred way to do it, and it's super easy once you cut the cooler return line, and install an inline filter there after the fluid swap.

You're cold-start issues could be a number of issues. One quick test you can do is unplug the MAF. If it goes away, replace the MAF. After test, you might have to look at the IAC next. Of course, with the current age, plugs definitely should be swapped. It's always hard to diagnose an intermittent problem, when there's some deferred maintenance that could also cause similar symptoms.
 
What’s your definition of an “OG van owner”? [emoji848] I think there’s a lot of us here! [emoji23]


1995 Original owner of 1996 Built by Ford 4x4. Ordered by me to my specs when Ford said we cant do that.. LOL... And Covered By Fords Warenty :)

I cannot tell you how many Surfers, Farmers, hunters have stopped me in my van begging to buy it or how do you get one :) LOL Since 1996 ...

OG.
 

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