Just to make things a little more weird, I pulled the PCV and cleaned it. Still the same problem but now my SES light went off :-/

 

also, for what its worth, the SES light went off after running it and it dying again. I'm pretty close to pushing it off into the lake

 

dont do it man.......... i could use your control arms

 

ok, so i know it's been awhile since i posted, but thats cuz i have yet to make any headway. today however, i got another code; says it's the mass air flow sensor. the code for the selenoid has disapeared. Could that be the potential prob? I know it's an easy fix, however pretty pricy



Cleaned the MAF and code hasn't came back (think squirting the carb cleaner into the throttle body was setting it off). Finally got my hands on a fuel pressure testing gauge, readings as follows;
Prime when cold-starts at 58 then builds to 62psi
running-bounces from 50-55psPrime after it dies-35 then slowly builds to 45-48psi

Seems to me that it's a faulty fuel pump. Can't watch the pressure gauge while driving as the hose is too short to run out of the engine compartment without damaging the gauge.


finally solved..... finally got the mech to replace the fuel pump, however wouldn't put in AC Delco since there was still a warranty on the Carter. Still ran rough and surged a little while driving about 50 mph or so but wouldn't die. Today i borrowed a MAF from a buddy that has a '99 S10 pickup; runs great! Now just gotta shell out the money to get my own new one. Just curious, could the MAF be the root of the failing pump?