Pickup Died - Any Ideas?
#7642675
08/05/22 08:26 AM
08/05/22 08:26 AM
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DakotaBoy
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My wife took my '87 Chevy K10 to the lake last night to kayak with her mom. It's about a 20-25 mile drive to the lake from my house. On her drive back, around 10pm, she calls and says that the pickup died randomly going down the road. She was able to muscle it onto the side of the road (power steering lost when the motor died). She couldn't get it to start again, but it would crank.
Spark plugs and cables were replaced around 2012; same time as belts and radiator hoses. The fuel pump was replaced around 2014 or maybe 2015, when the tank was replaced. New radiator around three years ago. It's gotten a new battery within the last year or so. That's about all that I've had to do to keep her running, other than oil changes.
I didn't have time to look at it last night as I had to get up for work this morning. Thankfully, my father-in-law brought his pickup over and we were able to pull it to an approach to get it off the shoulder. What do you think caused it to die and not fire back up? Fuel filter? Distributor/cap/rotor? Where would you start troubleshooting?
Last edited by DakotaBoy; 08/05/22 08:27 AM.
"Pretty cocky for a starving pilgrim!" "An elk don't know how many legs a horse has!"
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Re: Pickup Died - Any Ideas?
[Re: DakotaBoy]
#7642682
08/05/22 08:33 AM
08/05/22 08:33 AM
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bandy
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Fuel system is the easiest place to start then electric system pop the fuse box my have just blown a fuse.
No matter where you go there you are.
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Re: Pickup Died - Any Ideas?
[Re: DakotaBoy]
#7642689
08/05/22 08:40 AM
08/05/22 08:40 AM
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DakotaBoy
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I filled the tank to the top before she took off, so there's no way it should have run out of gas. No leaks from the tank or fuel lines. She's got about 118,000 miles on her.
Right before it died, my wife says that it kind of lurched a little bit - like if you were to put it into a higher gear before you had gained enough speed to do so. But, she was already in 3rd gear (highest gear) and going about 55-60mph.
Last edited by DakotaBoy; 08/05/22 08:41 AM.
"Pretty cocky for a starving pilgrim!" "An elk don't know how many legs a horse has!"
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Re: Pickup Died - Any Ideas?
[Re: DakotaBoy]
#7642695
08/05/22 08:46 AM
08/05/22 08:46 AM
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Joined: May 2010
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DakotaBoy
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I guess I'm not sure I could tell you what the fuel pump sounds like when it runs...I've got new plugs for it, they're actually sitting on the dash Been meaning to replace them one of these days just as a good maintenance practice. I've also got a new fuel filter in the cab, for the same reason.
"Pretty cocky for a starving pilgrim!" "An elk don't know how many legs a horse has!"
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Re: Pickup Died - Any Ideas?
[Re: DakotaBoy]
#7642696
08/05/22 08:50 AM
08/05/22 08:50 AM
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Joined: Feb 2020
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Providence Farm
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My luck if you just topped off the fuel tank it would be the fuel pump if it's in the tank. It could be a lot of things but sound like when my fuel pump went out on my excursion except we were 130miles from home.
Could be the alternator having gone out too and died once the battery ran out of juice.
Last edited by Providence Farm; 08/05/22 08:53 AM.
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Re: Pickup Died - Any Ideas?
[Re: k snow]
#7642700
08/05/22 08:56 AM
08/05/22 08:56 AM
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DakotaBoy
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More often than not, I have seen fuel pumps (in tank) fail when the tank is filled. Sometimes I think it is the cold gas hitting a hot pump and it shocks it. Always sucks dropping a full tank. Look into lifting the bed if it is the pump, many times that is easier. Your observation is interesting. It was about 102°F here yesterday, and the pickup sat in the driveway all day, heating up. Wouldn't the pump likely fail right there at the gas station then? Rather than driving another 30+ miles before giving up the ghost? When I replaced the tank and fuel pump last time, I just dropped the tank out from the bottom. Seemed to work ok. The pump is inside the tank in my case.
Last edited by DakotaBoy; 08/05/22 08:57 AM.
"Pretty cocky for a starving pilgrim!" "An elk don't know how many legs a horse has!"
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Re: Pickup Died - Any Ideas?
[Re: DakotaBoy]
#7642705
08/05/22 08:58 AM
08/05/22 08:58 AM
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 6,407 east central WI
k snow
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More often than not, I have seen fuel pumps (in tank) fail when the tank is filled. Sometimes I think it is the cold gas hitting a hot pump and it shocks it. Always sucks dropping a full tank. Look into lifting the bed if it is the pump, many times that is easier. Your observation is interesting. It was about 102°F here yesterday, and the pickup sat in the driveway all day, heating up. Wouldn't the pump likely fail right there at the gas station then? Rather than driving another 30+ miles before giving up the ghost? When I replaced the tank and fuel pump last time, I just dropped the tank out from the bottom. Seemed to work ok. The pump is inside the tank in my case. My pump died when it was -15 in February, so who knows some times.
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Re: Pickup Died - Any Ideas?
[Re: Providence Farm]
#7642726
08/05/22 09:22 AM
08/05/22 09:22 AM
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Joined: May 2010
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DakotaBoy
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My luck if you just topped off the fuel tank it would be the fuel pump if it's in the tank. It could be a lot of things but sound like when my fuel pump went out on my excursion except we were 130miles from home.
Could be the alternator having gone out too and died once the battery ran out of juice. The battery isn't out of juice. Wife left the headlights on while it was parked on the side of the road. Took about 30 minutes last night until I was able to get out to the pickup last night. When I got there, there was plenty of juice in the battery to crank over.
"Pretty cocky for a starving pilgrim!" "An elk don't know how many legs a horse has!"
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