2003 4 door Blazer 4X4 4.3l 89K miles

Drove the 60 miles to Cincinatti today with no problems. Picked up a small trailer (5x8 mesk floor) and started home. This is my first time towing anything with this car. Ran fine on the highway running at 65-70 and for about 25 miles at 55 on two lane black top. Suddenly she loses power and I am coasting to the side of the road. All guages look ok but the batt light is on. There was no hesitation or stubling before this happened. The car started right up and idled fine. I did the usual checks for bad battery connections, oil, tranny fluid, anything that might be an issue when hot. I was 15 miles from home so I decided to try and make it in. I made it another 10 miles and it happened again. This time there was no sholder so I put it in Neutral and restarted it while coasting. I had to turn the key to the off position and then restart. It would not start just retrying with out turning the key off. Thinking that the trailer was the only thing that had changed, I unplugged the trailer lights at the next driveway and started out again. I made it the final 5 miles to home with no more shutdowns. I checked the trailer lights for shorts and verified that the ground thru the plug was good. I took the car and trailer back out for a 20 mile run with no issues. I then took the car out for a 40 mile run with no problems. (After it sat for about an hour while I verified all wires and such were OK)

I would think a trailer wiring problem (4 wire conector to the factory harness) would cause a blown fuse or no lights on the trailer and not shut down the engine. What other items should I be looking at? Any thing I can test to see if this is an electrical issue with the trailer or just a coincidence?

 

I'm thinking more of a fuel issue, as in your fuel filter. I can't see any reason that trailer lights would cause a problem but the increased load of towing would cause a need for more gas and if you haven't changed your filter in a while that could be the problem.

 

You say your battery light is on-have you checked the output on your alternator?

 

The BATT light being on is likely due to the fact that the engine has stalled.

I doubt the problem was the trailer, but there are a number of things which can cause this.

When was the last time you did a complete tune up? How about cleaning the MAF, EGR, and throttle body? Changed the fuel filter or air filter?

 

I have only owned this car for about three months. The dealer I bought it from had it tuned up, oil changed and a new air filter put in as part of the deal. I will change the fuel filter and see if that makes a difference. I'll also check and clean the MAF, EGR and throttle body.

I agree that the batt light is probably due to the engine stalling as it goes right out once the engine is restarted.


Thansk for the suggestions!

 

Flashgp, You find the problem yet? Mine is doing the exact same thing, al beit I wasn't pulling a trailer but I was on the road for about 5 hours with A/C on and outside temp was in the 90s.

 

I changed the fuel filter and took the car for a 70 mile drive with the AC on and didn't have any problems. I will be taking the trailer and my bike on a long drive next weekend. I'll let you know if this fixed my problem.

 

"I can't drive 55!"


Ahhhh song references...

 

Sounds good. Thanks for the followup!