I made post earlier today about draining the fuel tank of my Chevy Astro. But I'm curious if anyone can diagnose what is wrong with it before I have it towed to a mechanic only to be told it's not worth fixing.
I don't drive it very often. Maybe once or twice a month at the most. I mostly use it to haul stuff that won't fit in my car. Anyway about a month ago the van wouldn't start so I jumped started it. I drove it around but it wouldn't start up again after I shut it off so I replaced the battery. The van started up fine with the new battery but after driving it around for a few minutes I lose power and the engine shuts off. It starts right back up and doesn't shut off again so I didn't think anything of it. For the next few weeks I take the van out and it works fine. Occasionally I will have to turn the key and hold it for a second or two to get it to start but the engine stayed running once it starts.
On Saturday my wife takes it out to run some errands but when she gets in it to come home it won't start. She gets someone to jump start it but on her way home the engine cuts off while she's driving on a busy road and she can't get it started again. A nice guy towed it into a parking lot for her but she still couldn't get it started. So I come by and I turn the key and it starts up, but cuts off after a few minutes of idling. I tried restarting it but it won't start again for
10 minutes. It seems to be very random when it will start up and when it will cut off. It was raining that day and someone said that might have affected it but I don't really know.Based on how the van is behaving I don't think the jump start my wife got was actually necessary. It probably would have started anyway. The dashboard shows the battery at 14 volts while the engine is running.
Anyone have any ideas?