Questions and Answers

Blazer Craps Out A Whole Lot Q. I have a 1992 Chevy S-10 Blazer with a 4.3 V-6 and throttle body injection. The car has about 130,000 miles and has always been very dependable. On day one of the trouble, I was coasting to a stop and the engine quit.

After a couple of tries it restarted and I continued on my way and would not quit again at my destination. When I left there I got a mile down the road and again coasting to a stop it quit and this time it would not restart. Two hours later it started and could be driven on the back of the tow truck.

The next day, it started and ran for about 20 minutes and then quit. When I turned the key on, I could hear the fuel pump run for two seconds and then the car wouldn't start. I tried priming it with starting fluid and it started and died. That left me confused as the running pump suggested ignition but the starting when primed suggested fuel delivery. Before I could investigate further, it started and ran fine for the next 45 minutes.

The next day, I replaced the fuel pump relay and drove the car for two hours with the A/C on and it didn't miss a beat.

The next day, I got about four miles from my house and it died and would not restart. Got it towed to a friends shop and we replaced the fuel pump. Drove it out the door and it died again and would not restart. I primed the engine with starting fluid and it fired right up and ran but if you let the rpm get below about 2000, it would die.

When I say die, it was like you shut it off. The fuel injectors stopped spraying fuel, but there was still power to the pump. I had my voltmeter connected to the line to the pump and you could see that there was still power to it.

So I replaced the ignition module and the car has not missed a beat since. My question is, do you think this was the problem or is my intermittent problem waiting for me???

Thanks,
Bruce

A. Good question! I think the module was the problem. They give trouble usually when they are hot. I have seen some issues with wires breaking in the main harness that droops from the passenger side of HVAC module to the passenger side valve cover area. The one I had was the ECM feed wire corroded from water running down this harness and getting inside conduit. There is a main splice on an orange wire there and it rotted the splice. It was very hard to duplicate, but once it shut off, wiggling this harness would allow it to restart.

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