Chrysler Repair: Chrystler T & C 98 died, not getting fuel, starter fluid, fuel gauge

Question
Roland, Yesterday the van died on my wife in the middle of the road.  A nice man helped her.  When I got there he said it looked like the fuel filter wasn't working and that no gas was getting to the engine.  It sat by the side of the road for about an hour, until my dad and I could get to it.  We sprayed some starter fluid in it and it fired up right away, and had plenty of juice.  I pulled it back onto the road waited at a red light for 30 sec. or so.  When i went to step on the gas it just fluttered and i had no power.  Does this sound like a fuel filter?  My brother in law thinks so, but just thought I'd get your opinion.
thanks
eric

Answer
Hi Eric,
The fuel filter is an inexpensive and easy replacement, located under the van near the fuel tank. But without some verification that the pressure in the line is below expectation it is not a certainty that is the problem. To get adequate spray from the injectors you have to have a fuel pump that is putting out pressure at the neecessary level, an unclogged filter, a pressure regulator (located at the end of the fuel rail on the engine where the return line sends gas back to the tank), and of course injectors that are being properly pulsed, electrically. Because you seem to be able to get the engine to start with starter fluid the ignition system appears to not be the reason for the dying out and no start of the engine. You might want to pull a spark plug after trying to start it (without the use of spray starter fluid) to determine if the plug is wet with unburned fuel.  If not, then try changing the fuel filter, and if that doesn't correct it, then there is a port on the fuel rail where you can measure the fuel line pressure with a fuel gauge. It should read in the range of 49 psi. Do the measurement while you are cranking the engine. If it is low however, it could be that the pump is weak, rather than that the regulator is not maintaining sufficient pressure. You really have to measure the pump pressure to be sure. Let me know and I can tell you about how to do further pressure analysis of the fuel supply system. A regulator is about $75 and might be worth buying and installing depending upon finances, or you can do further testing.  If the pressure is o.k. in the rail port, then the issue could be the electronic engine controller or its wiring to the injectors.
If you can get a OBD-II code reader and plug it in to the test socket under the dash on the side of the fuse box you could read the engine controller for fault codes that will tell you about whether there is a fuel injection question. Some of the parts stores (Autozone, I am told) will read out the codes for you. But all this requires that the van be driveable, which I am not clear whether it is.
Let me know if you get the codes read. And if so tell me the code numbers and we can check against the troubleshooting manual for how to go from there. Let me know which engine is in the van.
Roland