QuestionQUESTION: My truck is a 1999 Chevy S10 2.2L 5speed manual transmission. I have 320,000 miles on the truck.
About a year and a half ago, on the freeway, all dash warning lights started to flash (Including a strange security light). They all flicker as the motor dies. Won't restart for a couple minutes, but when it does it's like nothing ever happened. The problem did not reappear for several months. Within the past couple weeks this has happened 3 times very intermittently and I feel has become a safety hazard. The truck runs great, new battery, and good charging system. I don't know where to start looking.
Just an observation ... it seems more on hot days. I do not recall this ever happening at night or on a colder day. The truck runs at the correct temperature even with the air on, however the temp here in California has been 95f - 100f. My only guess is the main computer module.
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated,
Thank you for your time,
Cal
ANSWER: HI CAL,WHEN THIS HAPPENS HAVE YOU TRIED TURNING THE KEY ON AND IF SO WHAT HAPPENS. NOTHING AS IN DEAD DEAD ??? I KNOW YOU SAID IT WILL NOT START BUT DO ANY OF THE LIGHTS LIGHT UP ON THE DASH ???? THE REASON I AM ASKING THIS IS WE HAVE REPLACED MANY IGNITION SWITCHES FOR THIS..NOT THE IGNITION LOCK CYLINDER BUT THE SWITCH..A PCM OR IGNITION MODULE WILL NOT CAUSE THIS,THE ENG WOULD DIE BUT WOULD STILL CRANK..DONT WASTE YOUR HARD EARN MONEY ON THIS. YOU DO SAY IT WILL NOT RESTART,WILL IT CRANK ??? IF NOT,I WOULD CK THE SWITCH. I GUESS I WOULD REALLY NEED TO KNOW IF WHEN IT DIES DOES IT CRANK OVER OR DOES NOTHING ??? YOU DID NOT TELL ME THIS. IF IT DOES CRANK OVER THEN YOU NEED TO CK FOR IGNITION OR FUEL..I THINK YOU KNOW WHERE IAM GOING WITH THIS.. GET BACK TO ME IF YOU DID NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM SAYING ,OR IF YOU DID AND JUST NEED MORE HELP..TOM...
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you Tom for the quick response!!
1) WHEN THIS HAPPENS HAVE YOU TRIED TURNING THE KEY ON AND IF SO WHAT HAPPENS. NOTHING AS IN DEAD DEAD?
--- A) When this happens Tom the key is already on. I am traveling on the freeway and suddenly the fuel starts to cut out, I lose power, and all warning lights begin to flicker until the truck complete dies, then all lights are off. At this point I admit to being in a mode of panic. My first response is to turn the key and it will not start but will turn over. I turn the key off .. wait a couple minutes and then try again. I have had to push the truck off to the side and wait a couple minutes longer and then it just starts fine like nothing ever happened. I was thinking that if it was just a switch then the problem might occur more often than months apart and other symptoms might also appear.
Perhaps if the ignition is getting hot because of being worn, it might randomly fail???
I will remove the switch and and check the ohm reading on the back side, if I am lucky I can get low reading and find the problem. That will certainly beat the cost of a new ECM and hassles of getting it programmed.
Thank you again Tom for taking your time to help me on this matter.
Cal
AnswerHI CAL,OK, SO THIS DOES TURN OVER WHEN IT HAPPENS, LETS RULE OUT THE IGN SWITCH. WELL THEN YOU HAVE TO FIND OUT IF THIS IS A FUEL PROBLEM OR IGNITION PROBLEM. WHEN THIS HAPPENS AGAIN, CARRY SOME STARTING FLUID WITH YOU AND SPRAY IT DOWN THE THROTTLE BODY AND SEE IF IT WILL START, IF SO I WOULD CK THE FUEL PUMP AND WIRING TO THE PUMP..DO NOT KEEP USING THIS THIS IS JUST A FAST TEST. WE HAVE REPLACED MANY PUMPS ON THESE TRUCKS. IF IT WILL NOT START WITH STARTING FLUID THEN MORE THEN LIKEY IT IS IGNITION FAILURE. AFTER GETTING WARMED UP, IGN COILS AND IGN MODULES FAIL ,THIS IS ALSO A VERY COMMON PROBLEM..FIRST FIND OUT IF IT IS FUEL OR IGNITION. THIS DOES NOT SEEM LIKE A PCM FAILURE.... I WILL BE WAITING FOR YOU RESPONSE.. TOM..
