tech2

if the one of rear drum brakes are not self adjusting properly you will get a brake pull. pull the drums off and inspect the drum to shoe clearance. make sure the clearance is the same and any cable or star wheel used to self adjust are working properly.

while the drums are off, with 2 pry bars, lever the shoes to make sure the wheel cylinders are moving.

I had an old crown vic with servo drum brakes. One adjustment cable was broken so only one side adjusted up. Didn't notice it during the summer but on slippery roads in the winter any hard brake apps work spin the car sideways.

stevelafayette

Braking problem aside, now I have a more pressing problem. When I had the dog house off, I could hear @ idles an intermittent ticking sound(like it is missing). It has been "popping" a lot when I would mash the pedal or when I was pulling a trailer. While driving it, it "surges" a lot while accelerating and just normal driving. It died in the Home Depot parking lot over the weekend. It also had some of the characteristics that I was reading here- like when I tried to start it, it would act like it wanted to start(for a second or two) and then die. I did get it to start just by being persistent(and beating on the fuel tank with a rubber mallet. I also read that these are notorious for bad fuel pumps. I replaced the fuel pump and fuel filter still didn't make a difference. Can you tell just by looking at the cap and rotor, if it is bad? Does a resistance test tell you if the spark plug wire are bad?
I searched the forums here to see if anyone had the same problem and how they fixed it. It seems we all have similar problems with slightly different symptoms?

canucklehead

Cap and rotor. Yes. I had to replace mine after a year as I developed a huge miss on number 5 cylender. Turns out it was oxidation on the 8 points inside the cap. Keep a spare and clean them with emery cloth.
Your issue however sounds more like a fuel delivery problem, than spark. The poppet valves after the injectors are reported to fail and not deliver fuel properly. They dribble instead of spray and that may cause surging and so on.
Fixing that is a huge job pulling the intake manifold......
I would try some fuel system cleaner and run that for a few tanks. Might make things better. Also how old are the o2 sensors? The upstream ones affect the fuel system....
On the ignition side yes there is a resistance test for plug wires. Google that. You could also pull the plugs and see if any are wet, or not the right ones. (must be iridium plugs)
Lastly, If you are really overloaded by 3000 lbs on your van then all bets are off as to the pulling to one side. That much weight will pile up everything right down to the tires. The pulling to one side might be the threshold just before you lose control.
Be careful.

stevelafayette

We have had a cold snap( 0 or below) here in Colorado, so I haven't had a chance to take a closer look at my van. However, in this weather it seems to be running better? Any explainations?