engine just shuts down while cruising
#1
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engine just shuts down while cruising
I my 94 1/2ton 4-wheel drive I have had this problem twice in around 8-12 months, not certain on tome frame but I belive both times at highway speeds the engine just shuts off.No sputtering or chugging, just a clean shut down.This happend yesterday with the cruise on and since its been awhile since the last time it did it I am not sure if I had it on then also.Yesterday after it shut down I rolled to a stop and tried to re-start but nothing,Just cranked over.
Cranked again for 5 sec. and still nothing,waited a minute and it started up with no check engine light on.I continued without cruise on and no problems from there.The 1st time it happened it started right away.My oil press,temp,and volt. are all in spec.Truck has 63000 miles and I am the second owner and I have never let this truck run below 1/4 tank of fuel and has never flashed a check eng. light.Is the cruise circuit tied into the ignition circuit and can a aging fuel pump that has never been run hot from low fuel show signs of dying by instant shut down without sputtering the engine?
Thanks to anyone with info.
Cranked again for 5 sec. and still nothing,waited a minute and it started up with no check engine light on.I continued without cruise on and no problems from there.The 1st time it happened it started right away.My oil press,temp,and volt. are all in spec.Truck has 63000 miles and I am the second owner and I have never let this truck run below 1/4 tank of fuel and has never flashed a check eng. light.Is the cruise circuit tied into the ignition circuit and can a aging fuel pump that has never been run hot from low fuel show signs of dying by instant shut down without sputtering the engine?
Thanks to anyone with info.
#2
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if it was fuel you would feel it run out sounds like electrical to mee yu should have the computer scaned eventhough the light has not come on there may be somthing in there other than that i would guess ignition module
there is one thig i have seen once in my time was that the customer had lots of keys on the ring in the ignition and once and a while thay would swing and sometimes turn the ignition off
there is one thig i have seen once in my time was that the customer had lots of keys on the ring in the ignition and once and a while thay would swing and sometimes turn the ignition off
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Thanks AutoDoc
I have heard that also about the key weight but more to the effect that it would cause the tumbler to go bad.My key ring has 10 keys and my Wife who usually drives this has about 6 and 5 fobs(2 remotes and a few metal tags)
I will change the module, I had one go bad before but it caused a no start when I first tried to start in the morning years ago on a Cutlass,I never thought that it might cause a shut down while running.
What about the sets of wires that connect to this?Are they still prone to break and cause this type of problem?
And now as I sit here and type this out,one more thing crossed my mind.
I installed around 3 years ago a remote starter and everything works fine and have never had a problem but I did tie it into the brake pedal to cause a shut off if the key is not in the run position and pedal depressed.
Quess I never really paid attention if I happened to just press on the brake pedal while in cruise to slow down and for some reason that and the key switch acted up at the same time thinking that a no key start was attempted and shut the engine down.I am starting to doubt this also as I just remembered that this last instance it was a little hard to start as compared to the 1st time last year when it died driving.On a no key switch on and shift to drive after a remote start it dies but starts easily and right away if procedure is followed.
Hope not to confuse with all this.
Have you seen many shut down due to ign. module or more no starts
Thanks again
I have heard that also about the key weight but more to the effect that it would cause the tumbler to go bad.My key ring has 10 keys and my Wife who usually drives this has about 6 and 5 fobs(2 remotes and a few metal tags)
I will change the module, I had one go bad before but it caused a no start when I first tried to start in the morning years ago on a Cutlass,I never thought that it might cause a shut down while running.
What about the sets of wires that connect to this?Are they still prone to break and cause this type of problem?
And now as I sit here and type this out,one more thing crossed my mind.
I installed around 3 years ago a remote starter and everything works fine and have never had a problem but I did tie it into the brake pedal to cause a shut off if the key is not in the run position and pedal depressed.
Quess I never really paid attention if I happened to just press on the brake pedal while in cruise to slow down and for some reason that and the key switch acted up at the same time thinking that a no key start was attempted and shut the engine down.I am starting to doubt this also as I just remembered that this last instance it was a little hard to start as compared to the 1st time last year when it died driving.On a no key switch on and shift to drive after a remote start it dies but starts easily and right away if procedure is followed.
Hope not to confuse with all this.
Have you seen many shut down due to ign. module or more no starts
Thanks again
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i have seen about 50-50 for no stat and intermitant problems if you know someone in the remote starter area that could check it out to see if there is a problem in the brake circut other wise i would say the most likely thing would be the module if it hasent had a tune up for a while that would be good to do a bad set of spark plug wires can cause damage to the module
#5
As far as I know, a remote start won't stop a vehicle running by the key. It may try to start it if for some reason it can't see a tach signal or whatever, but because it is parasitic, that is, wired in parallel, once under control of the key only that can shut it off.
#6
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Well its August and 90 deg.
I still havent done anything since it has been running fine until yesterday.
Cruising again around 60 mph and it shut down.
Pulled over and tried to start and just cranked over.I waited 30 sec. and it ran for a second and shut down.
Cranked over for 15 seconds and nothing.
Waited 10 seconds and it started at full throttle , released throttle and it died.
Cranked over again with throttle depressed and it started and kept running.
Today I changed the ignition module and have a fuel pump on hand in case it acts up again.Can a fuel pump with 63000 miles act this way and give me this many chances (4) ?
I know electrical problems are in no way all alike.
I had the old ignition module tested and it checked out ok on the bench but I think this is more of a go-no go test and not accurate under load and temp. situations.
I did run after install and it ran fine but it might anyway for a few months if it is something else anyway, as in the past.So am I correct at thinking that if it acts up again that its a fuel pump and just for the hell of it change the coil since its fairly cheap even though it doesnt have to cool down as in years past as far as the coil goes to get a restart?
Someone at a cert. delco shop that I know said that 63000 is way below what a pump should last as far as what he has seen but another person at a western Auto said mid 90's GM are knwon for pumps and sending units going bad.
Thanks for any more info help.
I still havent done anything since it has been running fine until yesterday.
Cruising again around 60 mph and it shut down.
Pulled over and tried to start and just cranked over.I waited 30 sec. and it ran for a second and shut down.
Cranked over for 15 seconds and nothing.
Waited 10 seconds and it started at full throttle , released throttle and it died.
Cranked over again with throttle depressed and it started and kept running.
Today I changed the ignition module and have a fuel pump on hand in case it acts up again.Can a fuel pump with 63000 miles act this way and give me this many chances (4) ?
I know electrical problems are in no way all alike.
I had the old ignition module tested and it checked out ok on the bench but I think this is more of a go-no go test and not accurate under load and temp. situations.
I did run after install and it ran fine but it might anyway for a few months if it is something else anyway, as in the past.So am I correct at thinking that if it acts up again that its a fuel pump and just for the hell of it change the coil since its fairly cheap even though it doesnt have to cool down as in years past as far as the coil goes to get a restart?
Someone at a cert. delco shop that I know said that 63000 is way below what a pump should last as far as what he has seen but another person at a western Auto said mid 90's GM are knwon for pumps and sending units going bad.
Thanks for any more info help.
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the symptoms you give does not sound like a fuel pump problem and if you do not run the tank on empty alot and keep the fuel filter changed they can last a long time maybe even the life of the vehicle.
more than likely the module took care of the problem but if the problem occurs again maybe it will act up longer and maybe give you time to check for spark if no spark suggest trying the pickup coil in the distributer.
more than likely the module took care of the problem but if the problem occurs again maybe it will act up longer and maybe give you time to check for spark if no spark suggest trying the pickup coil in the distributer.
#8
Ok I am new at this so bear with me.I have a 1988 s-10 that did exactly the same thing you describe.I would drive and for no reason it would shut down .No notice no nothing. Sometimes it would start right away sometimes I had to wait awhile. Took it to the dealer,a local repair shop etc. Replaced fuel pump that was not it.Checked everything. In a nutshell as for my truck...it was a bad wire in the distributer housing that caused my probs.That was @ around 90k. I now have 280k and I still am able to get 29mpg runs like a top. Good luck hope that helps some .
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Thanks for the reply.
I did change the igniyion module 2 weeks ago and since I had the fuel pump already I decided to install it and get that out of the way last monday.
Havent only driven on highway a couple times since then with no problems, but then again it usually happened every couple of months so it might be awhile till it acts up again.
I did check the 2 wires to the ignition module and they looked ok as far as I could tell but unknown as far as the wire maybe being broken inside of the insulation of it.
Are these the wires you meant?
I did change the igniyion module 2 weeks ago and since I had the fuel pump already I decided to install it and get that out of the way last monday.
Havent only driven on highway a couple times since then with no problems, but then again it usually happened every couple of months so it might be awhile till it acts up again.
I did check the 2 wires to the ignition module and they looked ok as far as I could tell but unknown as far as the wire maybe being broken inside of the insulation of it.
Are these the wires you meant?
#10
I was told by the mech that there was a break some where along inside the wire. it would be fine for a while day,week month...if it were a bump in the road or a particular sway of the truck it (on ocasion) would slightly shift the wire to lose contact and wala.silent quick imediate shut down.I would be driving along and press on the gas pedal and nothing would happen. but the truck would sure slow done in a hurry.well the distributer was replaced and i drove it with heightened awareness and a full batt on cell phone.After a few months i figured maybe that was the problem. so far so good.Oh yeah by the way.the time before final repair i left the shop when i was maybe a mile away when it went down again.I told those guys to keep the truck and do not call till it was figured out.4 days passed then i got the call from a very happy sounding manager.good luck.keep me posted.this one interests me.
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same prob with my 94 chev half ton 4x4,replaced fuel filter then fuel pump then fuel relay then coil and finally ignition modual,lol had mod tested at 3 dif shops first shop it passed next it failed on 2 counts and last one it passed but was getting desperate was happening more and more and taking longer to get started so i changed mod about 10 months ago and has been fine since
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Well I changed fuel pump and ignition module and its been fine so far.
Kind of think it was the module more than the pump also but, felt like I would love to change the in tank pump.One thing I do notice now though is the fuel pump buzzing when its energized.Never heard before but maybe just due to an after market pump not delco.Thanks for the reply.
Kind of think it was the module more than the pump also but, felt like I would love to change the in tank pump.One thing I do notice now though is the fuel pump buzzing when its energized.Never heard before but maybe just due to an after market pump not delco.Thanks for the reply.