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Dies while driving, need advice. 90 Suburban 350TBI

Groz's Burb

Groz's Burb

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Niagara Falls, New York
Hi folks,
I could really use some help on where / how to address this issue.

Yesterday my Suburban died on me like 6 times while trying to get home, it's never done this before so I was caught way off guard.
I noticed that it did it twice while I was taking an exit off the highway (slowing down and slightly turning), about 35 mph.

The other times it died I was cruising about 65 mph and the truck completely lost ignition.
It did it a couple times after hitting a bump in the road which I thought was weird.

A few times it died and then instantly turned back on while the truck was still rolling, but the other times left me on the side of the road trying to fire the truck back up.

The truck started back up every time, but once I got driving was when the issue came back.

Every time the truck died while driving:
1) RPMs dropped to 0 instantly. Sometimes jumped back up / caught itself
2) electrical remained on (lights, dash, etc.)
3) the red seatbelt light on the dash would start chiming? Red battery light popped on as well
4) no power steering obviously

Some thoughts I had were:
1) check/clean all my grounds
2) possibly: bad fuel pump / filter?
3) possibly: distributor needs to be cleaned/replaced?
4) secure my battery because I think it slides around on the battery tray

I'm currently also dealing with a loose instrument cluster, I'm not sure if that could be a factor in this at all? (Ex. Wire getting pinched)

Thank you in advance for reading and for providing suggestions / input.
I'd consider myself an intermediate at best when it comes to diagnosing/working on vehicles.


- Mark
 
Do 1 and 4 regardless

Then look for these, especially anyplace that powers the ignition or coming off the starter. It’s called a fuseable link (the black thing in the wire). Notorious for just this thing

1645975396255.jpeg
 
Bent77 said:
Do 1 and 4 regardless

Then look for these, especially anyplace that powers the ignition or coming off the starter. It’s called a fuseable link (the black thing in the wire). Notorious for just this thing

View attachment 404674
Click to expand...
Thank you, I'll definitely check that out. So the black fuseable link, do they go bad /get chewed up and need to be replaced / respliced essentially?
 
Yeah I think the wires break inside. Pretty common to replace that wire, but they are available if you’d like to replace them.

Do those things on your check list and test those links before we open the Pandora’s box that is the TBI control circuit...
 
What do the gauges do when it shuts off? Are speedo and fuel gauge still working? If so, it is not the fuseable link. I had this same intermittent issue on my 87. Died going up the slightest hill. Screwed me out of a weekend of wheeling in Moab.
I found months later, after hours of going through stuff, the pigtail between the coil and the ICM was occasionally bad. Twisted it and it would run. No issues for years after replacing it.
Not saying that is what is causing yours, but something like that. Especially with hitting bump and quitting.
 
ktmoutfront said:
What do the gauges do when it shuts off? Are speedo and fuel gauge still working? If so, it is not the fuseable link. I had this same intermittent issue on my 87. Died going up the slightest hill. Screwed me out of a weekend of wheeling in Moab.
I found months later, after hours of going through stuff, the pigtail between the coil and the ICM was occasionally bad. Twisted it and it would run. No issues for years after replacing it.
Not saying that is what is causing yours, but something like that. Especially with hitting bump and quitting.
Click to expand...
I believe the speedo and fuel gauges did remain functional when everything else cut out.
I'll have to give it another test run to confirm. Would you mind elaborating a bit more on where the coil and ICM are located? I'm gonna try to comb through some things and will definitely look that over
 
When mine acted like this in my 93 TBI it was the distributor system like above.
 
ktmoutfront said:
This is what your coil looks like.

There is one wire feeding it from the ignition system. 2 wires go to the Ignition Control Module. Those are what were bad on mine.

I hate to say it, the only way I found it was jiggling wires until it quit.
Click to expand...
Excellent, thank you for the response. I'll make sure to look that over.
 
After further troubleshooting, I'm thinking this problem may be related to my steering column being loose. Is this possible?
My entire steering column has gotten very wobbly (wheel, shifter, tilt, etc.), and the shaft on the other side of the firewall is loose as well.
I was reading up on the lower column bearing and how the retainer clips often crack, and how many take the Jeep XJ steering kit conversion route, etc.
Also have seen videos of pulling the wheel and taking the entire column apart to tighten 4 bolts.
Basically just a bit unsure of what to address first from here. I'm willing to do the work myself because I'm expecting something like this to be expensive in labor.
Any suggestions or advice is appreciated
 
Well the lower bearing is a bit of work. I recommend removing the column and doing it on a bench. For those 1st or 2nd timers take lots of pictures, as you take it apart.
There are some inexpensive, that you will need. yo could rent them from Autozone or O'Reilly's.
You will need a pocket screw driver and a strong pointed pic, easiest way to deal with lock plate snap ring. This job requires patience, and some times the ability to stick ones tongue up their nose.
Steering wheel puller, lock plate press, pivot pin pullers.

As for the looseness causing the truck to die I could make a case for it. Blowing the ecm B fuse not so much.
The ignition switch, located near the base of the column,is connected with a long rod to a rack and pinion near the wheel. This rack and pinon compensates for the tilt angle. If the upper column is loose this can push and pull on the rack and rod possibly moving the slider in the switch out of position shutting of power to something important.

Many here have done the XJ shaft conversion. Every one of say is best upgrade going, I have yet to do it.
 
Hi folks, i could use some advice. Instead of starting a new thread i thinks it's relevant to this one. My '90 Burb (350tbi) randomly wouldn't crank this morning, could barely get a click from the starter. My voltmeter was showing 12.2v from the battery so i was pretty confused as it's a 2yr old Interstate.
Eventually the battery was totally dead after a few attempts at turning the ignition, but again the engine wasn't turning over at all. I had it towed home, charged the battery, checked my fuses and did eventually get it to fire up. Although it was sputtering, i want to note that i hit the power lock at that moment and the RPMs dropped significantly / the truck almost shut off at that moment. Right then it clearly struck me as some type of electrical issue. At first i wondered alternator, but after that i couldn't seem to replicate the same issue. I've managed to fire it up a few times today - but each time there is a brief hesitation when i turn the key which doesn't seem normal.
I'm by myself it's difficult to shove my head places when i need to turn the key on/off.
I actually purchased a new Ignition Control module today but currently can't find where it's located. KT kindly showed me a diagram of the ignition coil and mentioned it's connected; i had my airbox off and couldn't find them but am willing to try again.
I saw a YouTube video where the ICM was connected to the bottom of the distributor but it was a newer series Suburban.

Please advise ICM location if possible and let me know if you think any of these issues point toward something specific? Thank you in advance for any help.
This is my daily driver and I'm pretty tight on cash so ideally if i could avoid sending it to a shop that'd be great.

Cheers,
MJ
 
The ICM is in the distributor. Under the cap. When if you you replace it be sure to clean all the heat paste off the backing plate and apply the new paste that came with new ICM .

Question answered.
Reading your post I came away with the engine not cranking as the pre tow home problem.
Was the engine not cranking when the key was turned to start position, or did crank but not start?
 
Wes Harden said:
The ICM is in the distributor. Under the cap. When if you you replace it be sure to clean all the heat paste off the backing plate and apply the new paste that came with new ICM .

Question answered.
Reading your post I came away with the engine not cranking as the pre tow home problem.
Was the engine not cranking when the key was turned to start position, or did crank but not start?
Click to expand...
Hi Wes, thank you very much!

To answer your question, the key was turned to start position and it wasn't cranking.
Starter "clicking" was intermittent until battery died.

After i charged battery & checked my ignition and ECM fuses inside the cab (which all looked good) i tried to start it again and that's when it finally cranked
 
12.2V at the battery is a bit low but what does it read running? You should be in the high 13V range if the alternator is working properly.
 
Update: got the truck to fire up. Idling fine. Went to turn on the defrost fan and the entire truck shut off. Back to no crank when i turn the key to start it. Battery reads 12.8v. How could my heat/defrost cause the vehicle to shut off?
 
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