Happiness, Sadness... and Irony.

EagleTG

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Get a game at auction, happy.

Truck breaks down on the way home, sad.

Realization that the game is "Need for Speed", and the truck has no power/speed, irony.

SonomaSad.JPG
 
Sorry about your luck, but that is f'ing hilarious. :D
 
Hahha, thanks for the sympathy guys. I had a suspicion something was up with the truck (for a while now). I'm taking it all in stride, and was cracking up when I made the connection about the irony of the situation. LOL

Not 100% sure what's going on yet. I have my opinions, my mechanic has his opinions... Right now it's at Pep Boys (weekend service offerings :rolleyes: ), they have their opinions. I fully disagree with Pep Boys' opinion, and I'm sure my mechanic will too.

Essentially, severe power loss resulting in the possibility of a stall. I personally think it's fuel system related (common on this model truck), my mechanic thinks it's exhaust system related... Both of those options have checked out 100%. Fuel pressure is spot on (fuel pump OK), and doesn't leak down after power off (injector poppets/spider OK). Exhaust pressure is in-spec (catalytic converter OK). My mechanic was also suspecting an issue with the cam sensor (computer finally threw a code). Today, the computer was throwing an O2 sensor code instead of the cam sensor one. Pep Boys is running that route with it. It could make sense, as it does happen in hotter weather, and when the truck has been running for a while. It also feels like a loss of fuel pressure, which would be a result of the O2 sensor making things run too lean.

We'll see, the O2 sensor is definitely due for replacement via mileage, so it's not necessarily wasted money. I've also definitely noticed a difference in fuel economy of-late, again, another symptom of O2 sensor issues.

I might also grab a new throttle position sensor to throw on there tomorrow.
 
Sucks man, was the auction any good?

PS: I guess thats gonna hold up delivery of the MR DO :)

The Auction was OK. I'm posting pictures as a follow-up in Jamie's thread advertising the auction.

The delivery should still be on schedule, I'm sure I can get it into my mechanic this week (unless Pep Boys is onto something with the O2 sensor idea). Right now, it's spending the night locked in Pep Boys' garage. (They didn't look at it until it was too late in the day to do the labor.) In hind sight, I should have bought the parts and installed them myself. It'd be done by now. Oh well.
 
i vote fuel pump

I've been voting this since day-one with this truck (over three years now)... Been waiting for it to fail completely so it's obvious. Multiple fuel pressure tests show that it's OK, but I've read that the S10/Sonomas can have "intermittent" issues with the fuel pumps that don't always show up in static garage testing. I guess I can pick up/install a fuel pressure gauge to see it happening. I've also really missed the factory tachometer that my last 'noma had.
 
I broke down one time with an arcade on the back of my truck and had to get towed, the game was that big shoe basketball game... so when the tow driver showed up, he didn't even mention that I had a 8 foot long, 6 foot high Shoe in the back of my truck.
 
Hahha, thanks for the sympathy guys. I had a suspicion something was up with the truck (for a while now). I'm taking it all in stride, and was cracking up when I made the connection about the irony of the situation. LOL

Not 100% sure what's going on yet. I have my opinions, my mechanic has his opinions... Right now it's at Pep Boys (weekend service offerings :rolleyes: ), they have their opinions. I fully disagree with Pep Boys' opinion, and I'm sure my mechanic will too.

Essentially, severe power loss resulting in the possibility of a stall. I personally think it's fuel system related (common on this model truck), my mechanic thinks it's exhaust system related... Both of those options have checked out 100%. Fuel pressure is spot on (fuel pump OK), and doesn't leak down after power off (injector poppets/spider OK). Exhaust pressure is in-spec (catalytic converter OK). My mechanic was also suspecting an issue with the cam sensor (computer finally threw a code). Today, the computer was throwing an O2 sensor code instead of the cam sensor one. Pep Boys is running that route with it. It could make sense, as it does happen in hotter weather, and when the truck has been running for a while. It also feels like a loss of fuel pressure, which would be a result of the O2 sensor making things run too lean.

We'll see, the O2 sensor is definitely due for replacement via mileage, so it's not necessarily wasted money. I've also definitely noticed a difference in fuel economy of-late, again, another symptom of O2 sensor issues.

I might also grab a new throttle position sensor to throw on there tomorrow.

I disagree with your mechanics assessment of the plugged exhaust, because a plugged cat wouldn't just go away. The only way I would agree with him is if you took it off the rollback and the truck started right up. A cracked core in a cat can move around and plug/unplug, but even then it'd probably rattle.

One of the flakey issues I had with my S-10 was the coil wire arcing on the firewall. It exhibited the problems you describe except it never totally broke down. It would buck and sputter like crazy at low RPM. Not sure if your year truck still has the setup with a standard distributor right up against the firewall, but if so, its the first thing I'd check. The misfire can cause the computer to throw different codes, which is exactly what you're seeing.

Coolant temp sensor made it hard to start cold, but it'd run fine the rest of the day.

I did have to replace the fuel pump at around 100k. I sold the truck shortly after and my buddy is still driving it. Think it has almost 140k on it.

Good luck!
 
Sorry that you broke down Todd :(

REALLY sorry I missed your call. Not that the NFS would have fit in the Trailblazer, but at least for moral support.

Hope you can get her running again without too much cash to be spent. Let me know if you need anything.

The irony is kinda funny :) I was one riding with my mom when we got into a car accident (not her fault). When we were fishing for the insurance paperwork, the song on the car radio was Elvis Costello's "Accidents will happen". Oh, the irony :rolleyes:


Chris
 
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If it is indeed the fuel pump a lot of time you can tap on the tank and get it to work again...I've been lucky with that twice now. Both times I was able to get my truck 'somewhere'.

The most recent was my expedition. Going to work..stopped for gas (of course filled it up) and no start. I was able to tap on the tank and get to work and home..then to the shop for a new fuel pump
 
I drained and dropped the tank when I did my truck, but if you don't mind the hack, you can cut a door in the bed floor. It was tempting!

I also had to update the fuel pump connectors in the tank for mine. Yours is new enough that it probably has the more current connectors.
 
Get a game at auction, happy.

Truck breaks down on the way home, sad.

Realization that the game is "Need for Speed", and the truck has no power/speed, irony.

SonomaSad.JPG

That is funny and sad at the same time. So I gotta ask....how much did you pony up for the game?
 
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