Erractic idle, stalls in gear, stutters/no power on road

[dirtyoldman]

You might check the ignition module,or the wires going to it

 

[thunderstruck]

you drive a chevy and your wondering why it spits and sputers and has no power??????? hhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Is the motor and exhaust real hot?? it could be anywhere from fuelpump, timing, loose sparkplug that happened to my 90 silverado check the distributor cab that was it's problem there were 2 loose wires under it

Engine isn't overheating, but I haven't checked if the manifolds were getting too hot.

Check your ground wire. I had many stumbling and bad idling issues solved with a $6 ground wire. It was a 400 with just about as many miles.

Now that you mention it I remember someone on FSC having a world of problems caused by a broken ground strap. Good tip!

Thanks for the suggestions fellas. As soon as the weather clears I'm going to check into fuel pressure, ignition, etc.

 

[Zembonez]

I know we don't have a LOT of rules here on TMC but lets not derail a man's thread who is trying to fix his ride.

Need to go read the rules boys!

 

[66nova]

Well I would rule out the EGR valve totally. Especially if you have a code for a while. I had a similar scenario happen with my 95 on 3 different occasions.

Once it was the EGR valve. It had finally built up enough carbon that it stuck open/closed. The idle was so erratic it sounded like it had a big cam in it.

The other times were both caused by a faulty Throttle Position Sensor. The TPS did not through a code either.

 

[Black02Silverado]

Does it have cats? Might be clogged. Also on the timing chain, you can check that easy, pull the distributor cap, and try turning the engine over by hand and see if the rotor moves. If it takes a long time for it to turn then there is a ton of slack in the chain.

 

[thunderstruck]

Does it have cats? Might be clogged. Also on the timing chain, you can check that easy, pull the distributor cap, and try turning the engine over by hand and see if the rotor moves. If it takes a long time for it to turn then there is a ton of slack in the chain.

Cat is gone, it clogged a while back.

Finally got it to throw me a code, "44 - Oxygen sensor voltage was under 0.2 volts for 50 seconds of closed loop operation. (Lean Exhaust Indicated)"

So I guess my best way to go would be to check pressure to rule out the fuel pump and pressure regulator?

 

[Stumpuller6.5]

i would check Fuel pressure, thats the firs thing i rule out on poor running conditions.

 

[Black02Silverado]

Does it have cats? Might be clogged. Also on the timing chain, you can check that easy, pull the distributor cap, and try turning the engine over by hand and see if the rotor moves. If it takes a long time for it to turn then there is a ton of slack in the chain.

Cat is gone, it clogged a while back.

Finally got it to throw me a code, "44 - Oxygen sensor voltage was under 0.2 volts for 50 seconds of closed loop operation. (Lean Exhaust Indicated)"

So I guess my best way to go would be to check pressure to rule out the fuel pump and pressure regulator?

Checking fuel pressure would be a good start.

 

[txab]

i would check Fuel pressure, thats the firs thing i rule out on poor running conditions.

+2

 

[Zembonez]

If it's leaning out, you may have a low fuel pressure or failing pump issue. I still say it's fuel.