88 Suburban stalled/wont start, reeks of gas

[cabledawg]

I was driving home yesterday and after coming over a hill noticed that I had no throttle response. I turned off the radio and realized the engine was pretty much dead. The manual trans was enough to keep the engine turning and sputtering along, but once I put it in neutral, the engine died completely. I pulled off and tried a restart; the engine was clunking and sputtering. Thinking the worse and that I might have thrown a rod, I got out and was surprised that instead of oil under the truck there was an overpowering smell of gas. I let it sit for a few minutes and tried again but still no go.

After I got it towed home I let it sit for another hour or so and went out for another restart. Still wouldnt fire and it instantly started smelling gas. Its TBI fuel injected and the only time I've seen this problem was when the temp sensor on the intake manifold went out, but it'd run fine cold. As soon as the engine started to warm up it'd flood the engine and I'd wait till the engine cooled down before it'd start again. This isnt the same way. It's just dumping the fuel into the intake all the time but I'm not sure what would cause that on a FI engine. Any ideas?

 

[454Sub]

Check engine light?

If your smelling gas, I would bet on a spark problem. Memory may not serve me correct, but iv heard coils and pickup coils and modules have been known to act very similar to that.

 

[diesel4me]

I'd not crank it over any longer in case you lost spark,that will load the crankcase with gas,and an explosion could result if it regains spark due to a bad module or coil..........................................................................................................it may be your fuel pressure regulator has a ruptured diaphram,easy to test for by removing the vacuum hose on it,if gas is present in the hose when you pull it off,its junk,you'll need a new fuel pressure regulator...usually when one fails it floods the engine enough to "kill" the spark plugs,and it may not start again until new plugs are installed,sometimes after letting it sit a day or so will allow enough fuel to evaporate and get it re-started ..............................................................................................Some EFI engines had an ignition module that controls both the spark and fuel delivery,and they can fail intermittently,and not always both things can fail,you may get spark but no fuel,or vice versa,and one day it might run fine,the next it wont even start,or it'll run at first long enough to strand you somewhere....I'd also inspect all fuel lines ,they rot and leak often on GM trucks,the braided lines behind the engine often fail too...

 

[454Sub]

It's a TBI system, so no vacuum hose to check the regulator, you would have to take it off and check manually.

 

[4xcrazy]

I had injectors dumping once, turned out to be a bad injector.

 

[4xcrazy]

Every time I would turn the key to on, they would just dump fuel in the bores, if I remember right, I unplugged one or the other then turned the key on and figured out which one was bad.

 

[Fordum]

I'm kinda leaning towards a stuck injector too. Whatever it is, you need to seriously consider an oil change after you get it running.

And, if its dumping a lot of gas, you might think about pulling the plugs to dry them and maybe giving a squirt of oil in the cylinders.
Washdown of the cylinders with gas is not good and can score them before the oil film builds back up.

 

[cabledawg]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm going to check some of this stuff out this afternoon when I get off work. I have a spare TBI unit, but cant remember if I still have the regulator and injectors too. If not, it looks like my other Burb will become a donor for yet another part. Ole girl is startin to look kinda sad rusting away in the driveway now that she cant move under her own power anymore. Wonder if the neighbors would be mad if I buried her in the back yard

 

[dyeager535]

You've got fuel, do you have spark?

Start basic, work from there.

 

[4X4HIGH]

Look for any signs of fuel laying behind the TBI unit on the intake and if so you either have a leaking fuel line or a ruptured pressure regulator diaphram.