Kens1990K2500
One Piece At A Time
I've owned my 1990 K2500 with 5.0 TBI a little over a year now, and it always ran well, until yesterday. The engine stalled as I pulled into a parking spot at work yesterday morning. I tried to restart it. It cranked fine but would not start, or even attempt to start. I had a coworker listen for the fuel pump whine when I first turned the ignition on, and he said he couldn't hear the pump turn on. At the end of the workday, about seven hours later, I called AAA for a tow. As the wrecker pulled up, I decided to turn the key, and to my surprise, the truck started right up! I had him tow it home anyway, since someone had dropped off another vehicle to me, and I was afraid the truck might stall again on the road.
After the tow guy dropped the truck off at my house, again, it started right up. The truck has never had an issue with refusing to start, and intermittent problems can be a bear to diagnose, but I'm afraid to drive the thing now. My first suspect is the fuel pump. Truck has about 180,000 miles. I don't know if it's the original fuel pump. Can they work sometimes, and sometimes not work, as opposed to just stalling frequently? Years ago, I had a '97 4.3 Vortec truck that began stalling at drive-throughs, and it ended up being a bad fuel pump, but at least that truck gave me some warning, and it would restart.
For background, spark plugs were replaced a year ago, and distributor cap, rotor, plug wires and coil were replaced about four months ago, as general maintenance.
As stated, it's tough to diagnose something intermittent, so any suggestions appreciated (first thing I will check is fuel pressure, I am looking for 11 to 13 psi, right?). From reading posts with similar issues, I also see a lot of issues with the distributors, especially the ICM and magnetic pick ups. I'm wondering if it would be work getting a rebuilt distributor just for peace of mind, and the age of the vehicle.
Ken
After the tow guy dropped the truck off at my house, again, it started right up. The truck has never had an issue with refusing to start, and intermittent problems can be a bear to diagnose, but I'm afraid to drive the thing now. My first suspect is the fuel pump. Truck has about 180,000 miles. I don't know if it's the original fuel pump. Can they work sometimes, and sometimes not work, as opposed to just stalling frequently? Years ago, I had a '97 4.3 Vortec truck that began stalling at drive-throughs, and it ended up being a bad fuel pump, but at least that truck gave me some warning, and it would restart.
For background, spark plugs were replaced a year ago, and distributor cap, rotor, plug wires and coil were replaced about four months ago, as general maintenance.
As stated, it's tough to diagnose something intermittent, so any suggestions appreciated (first thing I will check is fuel pressure, I am looking for 11 to 13 psi, right?). From reading posts with similar issues, I also see a lot of issues with the distributors, especially the ICM and magnetic pick ups. I'm wondering if it would be work getting a rebuilt distributor just for peace of mind, and the age of the vehicle.
Ken