Spent the weekend up at my brothers for the 4th of July. Took the scenic route home, normally about a 3hour cruise. Swung by Starved Rock State Park for lunch. Had a great lunch at teh Back Door grill with a great view of the Illinois River.

Continued on my journey, jumped on interstate 39 southbound and got up to speed, hit cruise control and was having a grand ole time. Bam, engine died, nothing. Pulled off to the shoulder and tried to start it again, nothing, crank but no fire. Called the wife, who drove home with our youngest son. Called the oldest who was coming home later in the day and should be driving past me in about 5 hours. He left early. So here I sit on teh side of the interstate half way home and about 1 hour to kill before my oldest should be there.

Checked all fuses under the hood, all looked good. Checked battery connection, verified the serpentine belt was good, checked plug wires and visually checked everything. Pulled out a lawn chair and coped a squat on the side of teh interstate. I watched all the holiday traffic head home. Called a couple buddies to line up a trailer just in case. Pulled out a map to positively identify my location. Mentally ran through possible problems. No unusual smells or noises. Temp gauge was normal, oil pressure good. No check engine light before she died, gas related? Gas, tank was full when I left my house, should have about 1/4 tank left and the gas gauge confirmed I did. Maybe the gas gauge is broke. Too much traffic to hear the fuel pump. Called my oldest and told him to bring a gas can and some gas just in case. 40 minutes went by and I could feel the sunburn starting. Climbed back in teh truck and out of habit turned the key, she fired up. I put it in gear and drove 55-60 mph for another 14 miles. Engine died again. This time I pulled off between two curves, didn't like my position on the interstate. However this was new key information. She cooled off and fired back up. ICM?

30 minutes later, yea my son is running late, go figure. It fired again, this time I only made it 3 miles, but I was on a straight stretch somewhat going downhill. The hill will help if I have to push it on a trailer.

While I waited, I called the wife and she called the nearest Autozone to me. I called my home Autozone. ICM in Streator (closest store to me and still 30 minutes away, in the wrong direction) $130. Home Autozone, $70.

Son picked me up, added the gallon of gas, still no fire, drove home. Picked up the wife, tools and swung by AZ and bought the $70 ICM. Drove the hour back to the truck, spent the 10 minutes replacing the ICM. Truck fired right up. Didn't claim victory just yet, maybe it was something else temperature related. Drove all the way home without issue. Victory!

To share, and the main reason I am posting.
I diagnosed the problem without tools, scanners, or Blazer Forum. Knowing how components operate and the effects when they go bad can go a long way in diagnosing problems. What may seem unimportant to you when posting a problem, could mean all the difference in the world. Simply saying my engine died tells us nothing. Paint the picture, tell us the story. Don't appologize for being long winded. One the flip side, when we ask strange questions we are trying to rule things out.

I hope you all had a great 4th.
Remember, someone paid for your freedom with thier blood. Honor them!

 

Glad it worked out with the module on the first try! Knowing myself, If I were on the side of the road like that, I would have bought a new coil, module, crank position sensor and whatever else I could think of... and then I would end up with a bunch of spare parts laying around. lol

 

In my younger days that was my approach as well.