Well, I have a 1988 S-10 Blazer with the 4.3L and 4x4. The weirdest thing is happening. I stored the vehicle for a while (2years) and when I took it out of storage I drove it for a while then all of a sudden it would hesitate and cough and it had no power. I replaced the fuel pump, cleaned the fuel tank and lines, replaced the filter, injectors, and fuel pressure regulator. No difference.... I then replaced the cap, rotor, plugs, coil, ICM, magnetic pickup and was trying to drive it one day when all of a sudden I noticed the voltage drop on the voltmeter in the dash. Suddenly the truck ran great! However, the alternator failed. I got a replacement alternator, now the truck will start and run for a second or two then quit. You can't even feather the gas to keep it running. However, if you remove the belt or unplug the lead on the back of the alternator the truck runs great on battery power only. Seems like something is voltage sensitive. Please help! Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks!


Hogpilot

 

anti-theft issue? does your key have a chip in it or are you getting any kind of theft light flashing on the dash? definitely a goofy one for sure

 

Unfortunately, there isn't any anti-theft system in the truck. It is a completely stock '88. I have had it for 22 years and it is cherry. I am now thinking maybe the ESC module is bad. I got the truck to give me a code 43 which is the ESC only momentarily the other day. I tried to get it to run with the timing wire under the dash disconnected for base timing, and it will not run that way either. Just before this happened the timing was checked and everything was good. Can a bad electronic spark control module exhibit these symptoms? I am not sure, I never had one go bad. Of course, it is the original part that is 24 years old with 210,000 miles.

 

youre kinda in that guessing game scenario. i bought a 1990 and had a issue where it was kinda doing the same thing but not as bad, driving it the volt gauge would randomly drop down and the engine would kinda kick down for a hair of a second. i did the same thing, started changing tune up parts, coils, distributor etc. i was lucky as i had basically a entire truck at my house to swap parts so i wasnt wating money. anyways swapped out the computer and that fixed it

 

I ordered an ESC module with a knock sensor. I will swap them out and see what happens here in a few days when the parts arrive. If this doesn't fix the problem, I am completely out of ideas. You know what they say..... The last part you replace is always the fix!

 

Problem solved! It ended up being the new fuel injectors. It is an impedance issue. When I replaced the original injectors with Autozone injectors the truck was unhappy. As soon as the alternator volatage regulator would kick on and the truck would get more than 12.3 Volts from the electrical system the injectors would stop firing. I can't believe they make new parts that don't work. Anyway AC Delco injectors ended up fixing the issue. Thanks for all of your inputs and advice. Cheers!