can you help?!1994 dodge 150 van

i am trying my hardest to help my grandpa with his 1994 dodge 150 van. it has had relay switch problems ( i was told the one i switched was the fuel pump relay) in the past. i put in a new one when the van would turn over but not start and it would start right away then. now the van quit on him while he was driving it, that has never happened before. he said it didn't sputter or act weird before it died, just like someone turned off the key. i took the same relay switch down and had it tested, turns out good. i put some gas in his carb and it started and i was able to drive it home (only a few blocks). after turning it off it wouldn't start again. i put more gas in carb and it started, after about 5 sec. it died. tried the gas in carb again, no go. now it just turns over but won't start. i am no car expert, just trying to help grandpa, no money grandpa! can anyone give me an idea what to do? i can't afford to go by new parts just to "try" and see if that is the problem and i don't know what to do next. i'm willing to try anything to get this going for him.
thanks in advance if you can help!! sara

Since pouring gas into the engine caused it to start, it's safe to say he has a fuel delivery problem. For some reason the fuel pump isn't pumping fuel. The two most common reasons for this are the fuel pump relay or the pump itself being bad. I see that you replaced the relay once and that you just tested it again. But are you sure it was the fuel pump relay and not the ASD relay that you replaced before and tested now? They look identical and are next to each other.

I have the same year and make van. About 5 years ago I was on my way to the garage to have breaks done, I drove up to the bay door and my van just died-shut down. Lucky me. The fuel pump was the cause. Can't remember what it cost me then. Maybe that year van had a big issue with the fuel pumps...

to alloro, i am not sure which relay is which since this van has wires, relays, etc. hanging all over, but if it the 2 i think they are, i have tested both of them. the one i switched before and the one hanging next to it. to both alloro and bluezuan or anyone else who could answer, where is the fuel pump located? is there a way to test it so i don't have to buy a new one in case that is not the problem? thank you for helping. sara

The fuel pump is in the gas tank. You have to drop the tank to replace it. I do know when mine had gone bad they had it pin pointed in a few minutes. Maybe a computer read out might tell you its bad...Ya know a code reading.

For the ASD relay there is a dark green wire with an orange stripe on it. That is the wire that gets energized with +12v when the relay is energized. I'm sure this relay and circuit are working since the van did run when you poured gas into it. I'm just mentioning it for reference.

For the fuel pump relay, the dark green wire with a black stripe on it is the one that runs to the fuel pump. Disconnect the relay from the connector and find the pin this wire I mentioned goes to. Now use an ohmmeter from this pin to ground. If you don't get continuity the pump is bad, or possibly there is a break in the wire between this point and the pump. If you did get continuity then the pump is likely good and the problem is no power from the relay or the portion of the circuit feeding the relay. A second test you can do is to use a jumper wire from the pin back on the fuel pump relay connector to +12v. This should energize the fuel pump. With that jumper wire in place, try and start the engine.

to whoever, especially alloro or bluezuan,
i'm hoping you'll still check this!! a few things, i haven't had alot of time to try everything you suggested, but finally after sick kids, an ice storm, 2 snow storms and temps at 13 to 20 below i have finally tried the relay continuity test, etc. i guess i'll sound stupid, but i don't really know what continuity means. does that mean that the numbers on the ohm meter stay the same? what i did was take the out the relay and i stuck the positive ohm meter stick in the other box, (the thing that kinda looks like a outlet with a bunch of holes) i stuck it in the hole where the
green and black wire comes out the back (i'm hoping that is the right one) and then put the negative one on a ground. the numbers basically went all over the place and ended up at about 0.03?? i'm not really sure where to even put the switch thing on the ohm meter! there is about 1000 (maybe a little dramatic of me!) different options on there, the only ones i know are the ones for the house batteries! 9v. aaa, aa, c, d, etc.! i don't really know what those numbers showing up mean! but also, i did try starting the van again by putting gas in the carb and it won't start anymore. i did it quite a few times and it wouldn't work. what do you think about sparks? i know when my dad was here he said he did some sort of "test" with a paperclip and saw no spark coming from the coil wire. where is the coil wire, what does it mean and do you know how i can test that again. do you think that is the problem? honestly, i just really want to try everything else it could be before trying to drop the gas tank. i would REALLY like to avoid that if i could!!! thank you sooooooooo much for any help. i am sorry for sounding so ignorant, thanks for your help.
sara

Continuity is checked using the ohms setting on the meter. Also, it's the relay itself you should be checking, not the plug/connector that the relay came out of. The relay will have 4 prongs on it, two are for the coil and the other two are for the contacts. Using the lowest ohms setting, touch the meter probes to two of the relay prongs that are on opposites sides. Find the two that make the meter move and these will be the coil prongs. The other two prongs when touched with the meter probes will cause no reaction from the meter at this point. Now what you have to do is apply 12 volts to the coil prongs. This should cause the relay to energize and a click might be heard from it. While the 12 volts is applied to the coil, the second two prongs that are on the relay should now have continuity between them. Meaning that if you now connect the meter probes to them, the meter should react. If it does not, the relay is no good.

Basically the relay is an electric switch. When the coil is energized the internal contacts are closed, completing the circuit. When the coil is not energized, the internal contacts are open and power does not flow to the ignition and PCM.