Randomtask1190

Hey guys, I've got a 94 pickup with a 3VZE. On my way to school today, my truck suddenly stalled for about a second, then ran back to normal. This has been going on recently, usually while I was either accelerating or just cruising. I'm clueless to how this is happening. Any help would be appreciated!

nothingbetter

don't know if it would happen with an automatic, but with a standard, you can push start it. Useful if your starter dies. essentially, in gear, clutch pedal in, key in on position, get it rolling somehow (hill, towing, pushing) dump the clutch and it will start up and drive away. Its just spinning the engine, same as the starter does. Although much harder on the drivetrain :p so now that the starting is figured out, why is your truck stalling frequently?

BMcEL

Check your grounds, EFI main relay, circuit opening relay, and distributor/ignitor connections first. Also look for codes.

How is this relevant to the OP's problem?

goodyota

x2, check for codes and it wouldnt hurt swappin in some new plugs either. do the easy stuff first, thats the rule.

Randomtask1190

Thanks guys, I'll take a look on the basics. If this helps, while I was driving my radio was turned off as well and when the engine came back on the radio came back on too. So I was thinking it was an electrical problem. Also, I didn't have to start the engine because the car just came back alive. Could it also be a bad distributed rotor causing this? It's still the original rotor, and the truck has 158,xxx miles.

goodyota

i would do cap,rotor,plugs and wires definately if they are that old.

nothingbetter

he said he was clueless as to how this was happening, so I explained how it was "starting on its own" And judging by his next post, he either didn't read it, or overlooked it as he states "also,I didn't have to start the engine as the car just came back alive" I'm just telling him why "it came back alive." If the OP doesn't understand whats going on, they'll never learn why they're fixing it.

I was hoping someone would have better info than I would on the subject but since we're all throwing out random advice in hopes it helps...If all the power in the truck dies (radio goes out, like he said) it sounds to me like what ever is bad, is killing power to the ecu. Having a bad ignition system (plugs wires rotor) will just cause it to run like a turd. And even if it does stall due to ignition failure, it won't cut power to the ecu, so its probally not ignition.

The most obvious switch that provides power to the ecu is right where you put your key in and turn it. I'd start there. Look for bad connections/frayed wires act. Get a wiring diagram and start tracing. Maybe someone pinched a wire putting the steering column back together.

BMcEL

Everything I mentioned above can cause the exact symptoms described in the original post. Not sure how that would be considered 'random advice'.

With that said, the radio bit (posted after my suggestions) also leads me to believe it may be ignition switch related.

Randomtask1190

I must have overlooked the last part of your post, but now it makes sense to how my truck restarts again. Thanks

Randomtask1190

I'll take a look this weekend, today nothing happened. Truck ran fine. But doesn't mean it fixed itself. Also another symptom I didn't provide is both tach and speedometer dropped while the truck briefly died. One it ran again tach and speedo came back on (I was going 40mph at the time). I'll start looking up diagrams and relays to see any wiring problems.

Randomtask1190

Are there codes that don't cause the check engine light to turn on?

BMcEL

Yes. .

nothingbetter

bmcel, I re-read my post and realized I came off a bit harsh...not what I had intended *hangs head in shame* Sorry about that. Now lets fix his truck!

As far as I can tell, your tach and speedo dropping make sense as they are both electric. Cut power to them and they don't work.

Team420

This is good advice! Honestly... I've had a bunch of other vehicles do this to me, most recently were my 93, and that turned out to be a loose battery terminal (cut in power to the ecu/ignition) The other was a buds jeep yj, and it did same as op's rig, then it got worse, and worse, to the point he couldnt even start it anymore. That one turned out to be the hot wire to the ignition switch (where u put ur key :-) If your loosing power to everything, then start from the source, and follow it "down-wind"

BMcEL

Nothing to apologize over lol. After all, I did call your initial post irrelevant.

Probably just a loose connection somewhere. A similar issue just started with my veezy but I believe it's unrelated.

BMcEL

Welp, fixed mine...bad connection at the distributor. Now it's your turn Randomtask!

yotasavg

This has happened with mine for years, VERY far between occurrences so I have never worried about it. Funny that I saw this thread because it happened to day for the first time in at least 4 months. I too was cruising about 50mph very smoothly, then it died and came right back up within a second. Stereo never stopped playing... I'll check those things too BMcEL, where was your loose connection?

yotasavg

Didn't catch this the first time around, let me know if you find anything, mine does the same and I have had no success trying to cure it thus far.

BMcEL

I still believe my issue is unrelated to the OP's as I was not having any issues with my stereo or tach cutting out (mechanical speedo). I also installed my old Blaster coil tonight (just because), so the lower circle on it is the coil power, same as the plug on top of the stock coil. It was not until I disconnected, cleaned, and reconnected the distributor plug that my issue was resolved.

Fixed my issue. Check these also: