Hello good afternoon, I have a problem going on with a 2004 Chevy Express 1500 cargo van that I recently began driving after sitting for 3 years.
So as some of you might know from my last post, my dad had a 2004 Chevy Express sitting in the yard that he took off the road 3 years ago. Well I got it and everything seems to be fine on it except the idle issue.
Heres the situation, when I go and start the van, it automatically shuts off, it won't idle at all for any length of time, it would just start then shut off not even two seconds later. For it to start and stay running, I would have to turn the key and press on the gas pedal at the same time. After that, I have to manually idle the vehicle by keeping my foot on the acceleration pedal for about 10 minutes. After ten minutes, I am able to let off the acceleration pedal and it will idle just like it's supposed to, if I let off the gas pedal during that 5 to 10 minute period, it will just stall.
I talked to my dad about it and he said that it done that when it wasn't driven any length of time and that it usually would not happen as much when being driven often.
Thank you for reading! Very much appreciated!
fuel pump
fuel filter
They don't like sitting for long periods of time.
and make sure the tank is clean before putting your new components in
You really think it's the fuel filter or pump? I mean, it runs and idles without any assistance after about 10 minutes.
Also it has done this before the van was left to sit for the past three years.
Well test it out. Measure the fuel pressure. Or spray some starting fluid into it.
But it's your van so if you have any better ideas then knock yourself out.
Yea I am still running on gas that was put in three years ago.
Pretty significant information to leave out of your original question, no?
yeah. You don't want 3 year old gas in there. Siphon that crap out and put in fresh gas along with cleaner.
Well it was 25 percent filled but it's on E now since I driven it to the store down the street plus a lot of idling from trying to figure out the issue.
Also it didn't occur to me that it seemed important to include in the question since it had been doing it well before the vehicle was taken off the road and left to sit the past three years.
I still think it’s a fuel related issue like @mmj suggested originally.
Clean the MAF sensor and throttle body.
I'll do that, what about putting some fuel injector cleaner in a full tank if gas?
Make sure the gas is not old and you put the cleaner in an almost empty tank and fill it.
Ok and is there any specific cleaner I should use or just about anything will do the job?
I prefer the ones that have PEA in it.
Ok thank you for your reply! Very much appreciated!
You're welcome. Keep us posted.
probably stale gas too
Yea I am still running on gas that was put in three years ago.