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I'm Stranded

5K views 113 replies 21 participants last post by  Leeann_93 
#1 ·
my van died on the interstate 100 miles from home. waited two hours for a tow truck and i am at a motel. its below zero here. i am frustrated. was on a round trip 600 miles and did 500 miles great, then dead.

symptoms: it kicked down to third gear going up a hill at 70mph, then started missing violently. slowed it down and it was ok, then it did it again at the slow speed. it was li

ke the engine was shutting off and back on but not stalling, i.e. no dash lights came on until it finally did completely stall. it would restart but run violently and erratic. now it wont start at all.

wasnt able to test much, but here is what i do know:

1. the fuel pump sounds fine and appears to work normally. fuel lines were cold when the engine was hot which means it is pumping fuel. cant test pressure, no tester.

2. it appears to have spark. i pulled the coil wire out a little and cranked, heard arcing. this does not mean i have spark at the plugs. i replaced cap and rotor a month ago due to a no start. cap and rotor were in terrible shape. replaced with echlin copper/brass. still looks good but the rotor is corroded already. not sure if that has any affect.

3, when it was still able to idle, i took the doghouse off and wiggled every wire. no change.

tomorrow i will try and find the lot it got towed to (alien to this town) and spray starting fluid in to see if it sparks. also change cap and rotor again.

i highly suspect the injector isnt firing correctly. this sucks. i have to get myself home and the van too. all my work tools are in it and i dont have my CPAP or any clothes
 
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#79 ·
Get some water detection stuff they use at gas stations to rub on the tank measuring stick. This stuff is in a tube and rub it on a fish tape stick this in your gas tank and see if it turns pink sounds like you may have some bad gas. I'm not sure what it does to injection systems but back in the day our old clunkers would have symptoms as this.
Good luck this is driving ME crazy just reading of your troubles.
I'm trying to think of something that would fall to the bottom of the tank when it reaches the filler neck tank end connection. Maybe a weighted rope??
You may have to get some of this stuff from a fuel depot distributor. Won't take much. I have a tube I've had for years (someplace)
 
#80 ·
i read all morning about how to check for fuel injector pulse specific to the CPI because my readings didnt make sense to me. i was showing 12V from blue and red to the injector KOEO which made no sense. the CPI fires a lot faster than a normal injector.

so i went out once again to a no start, which is good because then i can start right away.

i pulled apart the injector connector, probed the red and blue wires and once again had 12V KOEO. weird.

checked continuity between blue and ground, got a beep and a reading. cranked the key and the reading changed continuously. much too fast for my fluke to give any rel info but it says i have ground pulse and 12V. so i checked the ohms on the other side of the plastic connector and got 1.6ohms, dead on spec - shows the injector is there. so WTF doesnt it fire?

at this point i had signal, and i saw the injector electrically so i connected it back, turned the key and it fired immediately. :think:

i grabbed the injector harness and it died. i pushed it back and started, grabbed it again and it died. BINGO. i pulled on the harness and it came out of the manifold about 3/4". i started it, grabbed the wires and it wont stall no matter what.

guess what i get to do :poke:
 
#83 ·
i replaced the clip. the old clip was wobbly and loose. no explanation why. carefully checked the wiring.

drove around quite a while, pulls hard. makes noise shifting, clunk. could be an issue. give it gas and it shifts normal. i'll wait on that.

the cruise connector clip that goes on the end of the cable cracked in half. i'm looking into that, any ideas? not a big deal.

after car wash i can see where they pushed my van around on the bumpers. divots, scratches front and rear. some bare metal on the rear. jackholes.

stupid clip cost me $750 and i still had to replace it myself.

i'm going to need to look into replacing the air cleaner box. mine is cracking real bad.
 
#86 ·
Coaster said:
stupid clip cost me $750 and i still had to replace it myself.
Are you saying that the cruise control clip cost you $750? Please explain.
 
#89 ·
I used a c-clip on the '00, but the plastic piece was intact, just the clip was missing, whatever it was supposed to be. Can you fudge something with a Dorman/HELP! clip?
 
#96 ·
this thing. clips onto the fuel injector. something went wrong and had intermittent connection.

gm-1978-on-tbi-fuel-injector-connector-harness-plug-6.gif


its under the plenum on cpi engines, not accessible till you remove the plenum.

while removing the plenum to get to the injector clip, i had to remove a different clip for the cruise control. that clip cracked.
the cruise control cable end clip is NOT an injector clip. its a separate clip, on a separate part, with a separate function, and a separate issue
 
#99 ·
I think he meant $750 for all trials and tribulations associated with figuring out the problem. Actual malfunctioning part is about $15

Gotta say thanks to op for sticking with the forums and posting the resolution this thread will help someone down the line figure out a similar situation faster and cheaper.
 
#100 ·
Coaster said:
cruise control cable end clip
Was interesting to hear of your "Non-Vacuum" / CPI Fuel Injection vehicle.
And I assumed from the photos that you did not have Cruise Control.

But now - you have mentioned CC a few times. I have not seen it in any photos.
So... by brilliant deduction... I have gathered that you do indeed have CC.

Being a "95", it's a toss up what controls the CC module. Is it the new style for GEN II that's attached to the firewall under the hood by the windshield wiper motor or is it controlled the old way - GEN I?

:confused:

Mike
 
#101 ·
mattinak said:
I think he meant $750 for all trials and tribulations associated with figuring out the problem. Actual malfunctioning part is about $15

Gotta say thanks to op for sticking with the forums and posting the resolution this thread will help someone down the line figure out a similar situation faster and cheaper.
^^ ^^ As a fellow 1995 owner, I second that.
 
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