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K5 starts for few mins then stalls (1988)?

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edekgb

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Anybody please help with advice? I can drive my K5 tb 350 truck around for a few days and get some decent use out of it - and then out of the blue it will stall. If I go back and try to start it again it will start about half the time. As it is now - one day I will go out and crank it and it will start and the next it wont. When it does start it runs for a couple minutes and then stalls. Checked and changed fuel pump and fuel filter. Any ideas?? Thank you in advance.

I think I found out something new over the weekend - diagnoses wise. I got the truck home this weekend and checked for spark and there is no spark. Please see latest post.
 
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I changed out the electronic control module, throttle body, injectors, throttle control valve, diverter valve, new spark plugs, new spark plug wires, checked battery conections - all done recently
 
Check for spark next time it won't start. If spark is there and it still won't start, check that the fuel pump is running and the injectors are spraying. Better, yet, hookup a fuel pressure gauge. If fuel and spark are there, it should run. If one of them is not, report back what you find.

Did it do this prior to changing the fuel pump? was there any difference? Did you change the little rubber hose (inside the tank) on the end of the fuel pump? These have been known to split and will kill your fuel pressure.
 
Yea - checked fuel pressure before change, it was low. Changed fuel pump and little rubber hose but not sending unit. Do you think I should have changed the sending unit? Pressure is up now and seems to be fine.
 
I will check for spark when I get home - Could the intermitten starting and not starting or when it does start it stalls bout five mins later have something to do with the fuel pressure regulator or the crank shaft position sensor? Please excuse that I am not very experienced in fixing vehicles.
 
You don't have a crank sensor. You should have a pickup coil in the distributor.

Fuel and spark are the easy ones to identify. If it won't start and has spark, eliminate that. If your fuel pressure is good (9-13psi iirc) when it dies, you can eliminate that.

Then you get to move on to fun stuff like IAC, TPS, and MAP sensors.

Are you getting a check engine light or codes? You can do a quick search on here to figure out how to jumper your harness to extract your codes.
 
The check engine light is not on. I have checked for codes using the paperclip method and had a mechanic hook his fancier meter up to it. Did not indicate anything. Had mechanic put in fuel pump and hose and wire kit, just not the sending unit - he thought it looked ok still. Have had it into the shop three times (trusted mechanic) and he did alot to it to get it to pass emissions - things indicated above. Now this is something going on more recent. Without budget to have a shop spending hours troubleshooting, im lookin for ideas like these to try... so i appreciate it.

By the way a buddy thought it could be a wiring issue - something like a bad ground "SOME WHERE" due to age or quiet simply a loose wire!! Could this be the case? :dunno:
 
First things first. You know you need three things for the motor to work: Spark, compression, fuel - and all in the right amounts and at the right time.

Instead of throwing parts at it, which only confuses you and may mask the real problem, slow down and DIAGNOSE the problem.

Do you have spark? Have you taken a spark plug off and looked at the spark? What color is it? Bright white or dull orange?

You replaced the fuel pump, did you replace the fuel pressure regulator? Exactly what kind of fuel pressure do you have? Are the injectors operating correctly?

Is it overheating? How is your coolant level?

Are you sure your check engine light WORKS? Does it light up when you first put the key in and turn the truck on?

Start small, move slow, let's go from there.
 
About ten years ago, my 89 would do the same thing, except it would blow a fuse everytime. I traced it to a wire that had chafed that ran across the top of the trans. My case was a little easier as i knew the circuit but it took weeks to find as all the computer stuff was on that circuit as well.
 
I also had the same problem on my moms Beretta in the 90's. No code, no light, but would just stall after ten minutes. In that case it was the catalytic converter.
 
Been having same type of issues with my '89, it's out of state so it's been difficult to work on it. But mine will stop sending power or pulse signal to the injectors for some reason. new distributor, new fuel pump, tons of diagnostics, not near it again, so it's gonna sit for another year. :doah:
 
The parts I have changed were do due to high idle and rough running - this was to get it to pass emissions when I first got it. It apparently had sat for some time when I first bought it. Got it running pretty good and passed emissions. Drove it around for about six months here and there - ran fine. Then this problem started. At this point is when I changed out the ignition control module and that was truly just a shot in the dark (hope) and it did not fix it. So the diagnoses started - We checked the injectors to see if they were spraying fuel and they were. So next we hooked a pressure gage inline to check for fuel pressure and this is when we found low pressure (about 7 or 8, maybe 9 i think bouncing around there) mechanic buddy with much more experience said he thought I needed a fuel pump. So we went and got one, put it in and did a fuel filter also. Truck started and pressure was at 13 or 14. He thought it was good. I drove it around for a couple days and then it started to stall again. It would start up again only to start stalling again after about five or ten mins so I would be stuck. Then go back the next day and it would start again sometimes then sometimes not. Checking for spark is what I have to do next - if it starts sometimes wouldn't that mean im getting spark?

Check engine light works because it was on all the time when I was working on getting it to pass emisions. It hasen't come on sense.
 
Did not change out the fuel pressure regulator. I was reading somewhere in another forum that it could possible be that?

Don't think it's overheating. I had a mechanics shop one of the times it was in there put a new waterpump in it. They were trying to figure out what was wrong with it and noticed I needed one (unrelated) because it was "barely on there" apparently ready to fall off, go out, or loose? They couldn't figure out the stalling problem though - they said they didn't have a problem with starting it and they drove it around alot and let it idle and it didn't stall on them. I took it home and about two days later it started stalling again. This is the shop that worked on it intially to get it to pass emisions. I believe this shop to be a reputible one as it has been in my neighborhood for years and the owner and head mechnic has worked there for 20some odd years.
 
This shop is the ones that put in the new (used) throttle body and I think they put in a new distributor to get it to finally pass emissions - they said I didn't need a cataletic convertor.
 
I had a similar problem with mine. Ultimately, I had to replace the gas tank due to a bunch of crap in it. The pick-up filter in the tank was getting plugged and not getting enough fuel. It would run long enough to get far enough from home or close to work to then get towed into the shop. Took one look inside the tank and that was it.

Hope it helps!
 
edekgb said:
Check engine light works because it was on all the time when I was working on getting it to pass emisions. It hasen't come on since.
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It SHOULD come on when you first turn on the ignition. Does it? That is a "bulb check" feature.

I would check your fuel pressure one more time. If you did not replace your fuel pressure regulator, and put in a new pump, and the old one is leaking now due to higher fuel pressure, that could be the problem. The fuel would just be going back into your fuel tank.
 
Pick-up coil in the distributor will cause similar symtoms when it's going bad. And it will not throw codes for this. At least from what I've read and experienced.
 
I got the truck home this weekend and checked for spark and there is no spark during the times that it will not start. I was able to get it started and drive it home about 4 miles. It stalled out on me a couple times as I got closer to home - just stalled while driving giving regular throttle, not at stop light or throttle depress although at the few stop lights I held the gas a little while holding the brake and I guess got lucky. Got to my block and it stalled for about the fourth or fifth time when it finnally wouldn't start again so we pushed it down the block. I let it sit for about tweenty mins and then it would start again only to shut down after just a few seconds - I think something is getting hot and shutting it down. Any ideas?
 
I checked the service engine bulb over the weekend and it works. I also tried to get spark and I am not at the times it is not starting.
 
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