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Broke down. Need ideas?

BlazerBoy

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My Dad just called he said on his way to work this morning his 87' Suburban broke down. He said he was driving and then the truck stalled, he waited a couple mins then he said it started again and drove another couple blocks before it stalled again. He did this a few times to get him to work and now the truck is sitting in the lot at his work. For some reason he believes it might be a fuel related problem. I am just wondering if anyone had similar symptoms. Any ideas what this might be?? THanks

BlazerBoy
http://generalblueballs.coloradok5.com
 
Ok, no insult to anyones intelligence, was there any oil in the engine. My girlfriend and I at the time, had this problem. We ran the truck from Greensboro to Burlington with no oil in the truck. The engine ran and is still running today, no rebuild!!!! Other than that fuel senders in our model year trucks have been known to go bad. Does he have a TBI or carburator? IF the fuel pump has gone in the tank its not too bad. Was there any hesitation or just flat out engine dead?
 
A similar thing happened to my wifes Mustang. If you left it for about 10-15 minutes it would restart and run for about another 5 minutes then die again. We replaced the fuel filter and it ran just fine after that.

igloo.gif
 
Yes something is reducing the fuel flow. Then when it has time to "cath upp" it wil get going again untill it drains the fuelfilter resorvar.

It's not freezing right? Here in the winther the cars will stall going down long hills. Then when the block heats and melts the obstruction it fires upp again.


http://www.espen88k5.coloradok5.com
 
Next time it quits running, check for spark while it is not starting. If there is spark, I would replace the fuel filter since they are not expensive. While you have the filter out you could check to see fuel press. by having someone turn the key while you watch the fuel line(I'm assuming it is a in-line fuel filter connected to the frame rail) gas should shoot out a fairly strong stream(also should be checked at a time when it is not starting). If not, I would suspect the fuel pump. Checking the fuel press. can also be professionally done with a gauge at a shop. Another thing I've been told is to check the ground for the fuel pump.

If no spark then could be possibly be the Ignition module or pickup coil. I just had irratic stalling with my 89 blazer and finally found out my pickup coil got melted some how, and that was my problem.

Hope this helps.

JF
 
I had the exact same thing happen to my 77 Impala once, I replaced the fuel filter but it wound up being a collasped fuel line. Once it stalled, it would un-collapse then under driving conditions it would collapse again. It was like 30 below zero in Minnesota when this happened to me.....consider yourself lucky.

<font color=purple>L8r,

.Riz.<font color=purple>
 
I had the same thing happen in my 87 k5. But the service engine soon lite was on. I had a bad tps sensor/wiring. Does the ses lite work or not cause then you'd never know if thats your problem.

JD
88 Gmc Jimmy
 
this problem happened to a buddy's 86 suburban it was his wifes daily driver, no mods at all one day she was driving to work and it just started dying every couple of blocks.
after spending 500 dollars and taking it to 3 different shops the third shop loaded 8 guys armed with 8 timing lights pointed at the dash into the truck (because they couldn't get any readings off the computer) drove down the roadand waited for the problem to arise... turned out that the wireing harness going into the computer had some broken wires they rewired the broken ones and the problem went away
Dan

<font color=red>get involved with land issues or lose the land</font color=red>
 
It sounds like the ignition module or coil went out. that happened to mine a few months ago and I had to get a new ign module, coil and ign. box because my MSD shorted it all out.

90K5
 
Hmm, before you go out and start replacing all the sensors and spending a ton of money, first i would replace the filter. Then I would drop the tank and look at the fuel pump. I had a similar problem and what had happened was my baffle had come loose knocked the little black rubber hose on the top of the fuel pump half off. This gave the entire system inadequate fuel pressure and the pressure regulator did its best to help but couldn't and would surge a couple times and then die. Hope this helps. Doug Krebs

Doug Krebs
 
I think everyone has had this problem at one time or another. After days of it happening to my wifes car, I saw that the PCV filter in the air cleaner assy. was soaked with oil. $3.00 later we were on the road again.



82 Blazer
 
My chevy van had a similar problem once. It turned out to be a worn distributor cap / rotor. Just a thought.
 
If it ran fine with no bogging at speed, another cheap check would be the ground wire on the gas tank. If it's rusted off or making a bad connection, it may do the on/off thing. Happened on my Blazer!

Good Luck
Brian
89KBlazer

P.S. I'd also try the filter next.
 
Well guys I went out there to look at it yesturday. Turns out my Dads fuel gauge took a dump, it reads a little over a quarter tank. Yet he was out of gas. Thanks for all the replys guys... She is back up and running... Kinda funny actually...

BlazerBoy
http://generalblueballs.coloradok5.com
 
Glad to hear it's fixed! I forgot about that one. I had an S-10 Blazer and did the same stupid thing!
blush.gif
Had it pushed into the garage and it started fine. Turned out the gas gauge was gone, just like your dad's. I don't let the Blazer go too close to 1/4 full anymore before refilling!

Brian
 
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