On the highway today. Luckily not too far from home. Friend towed me home and now she sits.


I am the original owner and have meticulously maintained this truck from Day 1.


There were no indications something was wrong and then all of a sudden she died. I pulled off to the shoulder and she refused to restart. It would turn over but not start. I just recently installed a new distributor cap and rotor (both with brass contacts) about 3,000 miles ago. About a month ago I made a roundtrip to Austin and managed a calculated, overall 17mpg.


Friend says "Timing chain!" -- but would it turn over and sound normal as_it_turns_over if this were the culprit?


Got to be ignition/spark or fuel related, right?


To all the 2nd gen owners -- Can you give me any idea on where to start?


thx,
Chris

 

There is where you start! Did the check engine light come on? I just seen this "278k" is that accurate? If so it could be a timing chain. Pull the cap off the distributor and see if it turns when you crank it over. If it don't the chain is history. Any other parts that where replaced? Fuel pumps will go out to with that many miles. When you first turn the key to on do you hear the fuel pump prime the system?

 

Check and see if you are getting spark.

 

No CEL


Yes, 278,000 otherwise great miles -- only a handful of issues along the way.


I tried to start her this AM and again nothing but also there was no buzz from what_was_usually a loud fuel pump either. Both the filter and the pump reside inside the tank, correct?


I had the fuel pump/filter last replaced in Dec of 2009 and IME they usually last just about that; ~5 years (231,850 miles).


What is the best way to check for spark? The coil was replaced October of 2010 at 241k.


thx all

 

Pull the coil wire off the distributor, ground it somewhere you can see the spark jump, and crank the engine. (don't hold the wire, that's a bad experience. )

If you aren't hearing your fuel pump, you may have just found your problem.

 

I have spark!


I love my shop (Golden's Auto Repair near Lake Texoma) and trust them to figure this out.


I'm guessing fuel pump or timing chain at this point. Any Gue$$timates for these repairs? I have an idea of what a new fuel pump would cost but not sure about the labor involved in the timing chain replacement or what has to come off to gain access to the chain.


Might be time for a new top-end if there is a ton of labor involved to get to the timing chain. The chassis is too perfect on my 96, it's simple technology and new truck are too_damn_expensive.


-C

 

Pull your upstream O2 sensor out and see if it will start then. Or loosen up the exhaust flange from the manifolds. My guess is it is a clogged cat. I had this happen to me about 4 years ago. Was driving down the road when all of a sudden it just died on me. I worked on the thing off and on for close to a month before it dawned on me to loosen the exhaust and see if it would start. Sure enough it did.

That is my guess.

 

hrmmm, maybe - hughes kit was just put on at 260k -- When I got inside the IM it was not bad for a 250k truck...I was impressed
TY

 

I basically had an ignition coil false positive. It was indeed arcing but just NOT ENOUGH. New coil and she is back to life!


Hope this discussion can help someone else down the road. I added some helpful tags to the original post that Google will eventually pick up on.



Thx again all!


-C

 

Cool ya got it fixed.