Good luck, man. That sounds simply awful lol

 

Well, I tore into the alarm system and saw it couldn't be the problem. It wasn't wired into much at all. So I towed it to a mechanic and he told me there are only two things that would shut down the fuel system and the spark.......the main ECM, and the spark module. Is he right?
Also said it would be about $100 labor to replace the ECM, and about $35 labor to replace the spark module. Aren't both of these just plug in items somewhere in view? Seems pretty steep on labor to me......?

 

By spark module, does he mean the icm?

And it's very rare the ecu goes bad. Everyone likes to jump to that as the culprit for problems they can't diagnose, though. Not saying it's impossible for it to go bad, just unlikely, and proper troubleshooting needs to be done first

 

He said it wasn't the ignition control module because it doesn't affect the fuel pump. The electronic spark module is apparently a separate module apart from the ICM, and he said it does shut down the coils and the fuel pump if it goes bad. It was a new one on me! I had never heard of a spark module until today.
That's good to know the ECU is probably good. It was the more expensive thing.

 

Yeah, that's a new one on me, as well. Never heard of it. Maybe it's something the newer​​ older trucks have?

 

New one on me also ... Think I smell a LIL BS here...

 

That's what I was thinking too, but I typed in "electric spark module for 1988 Chevy S10 Blazer" into ebay and it brought up dozens of them. They were apparently an item that GM put into a lot of vehicles back then. The one that fits the Blazer also fits a Bravada, a Caddy that I've never heard of, and a couple Pontiacs.

 

And you're sure it's something different than the ignition control module?

 

No, but he was.
I was hoping somebody here would know for sure

 

The only two things that will shut down both the fuel pump and spark at the same time would be the ecm and the ignition switch. Please check in with follow ups so we can see what he's talking about.

Edit - OK did a little searching - a 88 is a pre total ecm operated ignition system and prob a HEI system so it should have a ICM inside of the dist and yes it will shut down spark but has nothing to do with the fuel pump operation...

A electronic spark control module ties in with knock sensors to control spark advance and retard same as the ECM does in the newer systems.
However it also does not control fuel pump and with what I have read the engine will run with it failing or even without it