1993 quit and won't restart

[spacejunkie]

1st post and I have an issue. last week I bought a 93 Surburban with 230K miles, 454 engine, 4x4. It ran like a champ all week. Gave it an oil change and injector cleaning. Went to the junkyard today and found all the little bits of interior pieces that I wanted, just some cosmetic stuff that was bugging me. On the way home, I stopped and put 7 gallons of 85 octane fuel in. when I restarted, i got a thump, thump, thump, thump sound coming from behind the dash on the passenger side. but it eventually quit after about 15 seconds. Then, once on the road, I made it about 2 miles and the engine just shut off. I was able to coast to a parking lot and get out of traffic. I tried restarting, but it would just turn over, but not catch. the thumping sound came and went again, then when I took out the key, it thumps again for about 15 seconds even with no power! Spent about 2 hours there, keeping on trying to start with no luck, although I did get all my interior pieces installed while waiting I did try tapping on the fuel tank to see if that might loosen up any possible debris that might have gotten to the pump, no luck there either. So I'm hoping someone can give me an idea of where to look at now. Don't really want to take it to the shop if its something simple.
Thanks
Bill in SLC

 

[Shane Mane]

I had this happen to me last week. I drive a 1990 R2500 454 2wd. Check your fuses, most of all the ecmb fuse. Mine blew after getting gas also and just cut off on me and rolled to a stop. When I got it home (Towed), I unplugged the wiring to the fuel pump relay, put a new fuse in to the ecmb slot, plugged the wiring to the relay back in and it fired up for me.

2 days ago I was driving to work and tried turning the heat on and it cut right off on me.. Haven't had a chance to look at it but it's obviously some wiring that's grounded out somewhere.

 

[Molson02536]

1st post and I have an issue. last week I bought a 93 Surburban with 230K miles, 454 engine, 4x4. It ran like a champ all week. Gave it an oil change and injector cleaning. Went to the junkyard today and found all the little bits of interior pieces that I wanted, just some cosmetic stuff that was bugging me. On the way home, I stopped and put 7 gallons of 85 octane fuel in. when I restarted, i got a thump, thump, thump, thump sound coming from behind the dash on the passenger side. but it eventually quit after about 15 seconds. Then, once on the road, I made it about 2 miles and the engine just shut off. I was able to coast to a parking lot and get out of traffic. I tried restarting, but it would just turn over, but not catch. the thumping sound came and went again, then when I took out the key, it thumps again for about 15 seconds even with no power! Spent about 2 hours there, keeping on trying to start with no luck, although I did get all my interior pieces installed while waiting I did try tapping on the fuel tank to see if that might loosen up any possible debris that might have gotten to the pump, no luck there either. So I'm hoping someone can give me an idea of where to look at now. Don't really want to take it to the shop if its something simple.
Thanks
Bill in SLC

Start with the simple,1st the thumping sounds like there is air in your cooling system. Being a old truck, service your coolant system and keep it topped up.

2nd see if the engine will star with a small amount of starter fluid sprayed in to the throttle body, note to not use to much starter fluid. To much can blow your intake gasket.

If it does run on the starter fluid then start with just replacing your fuel filter as long as you can hear your fuel pump cycling when you turn the keys, if not there is good chance your fuel pump is bad but inspect the ground wire to your fuel sending unit first.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Molson02536

 

[Leatherneck]

Don't forget to check also for vacuum lines.. I once had a single vacuum line on my Camaro cause a no start issue. After scratching my head and replacing the coil and wires, and having the car sit all winter, once I fixed this, the car ran better than it ever had.

 

[Spikes]

The relays are on the passenger side firewall, how loud was the 'thump'?