Help please!!

[OLY]

I have a 2000 blazer with a 4.3 v6 vortec engine with app. 90,000 miles that wont start. I have had it in the shop 3 times over the last week and have spent over a grand already. The first time it woudnt start I had it towed in and they replaced the ingnition coil and wire. They told me that the distributor cap and rotor as well as the plugs and wires were bad and should be replaced soon. The car then ran for 3 days with no problems. Then I was on my way to my granparents house in milltown wisc, and about half way there the check engine light came on and the truck started to run really bad. As you would accelerate it would start to run really bad at about twenty miles an hour it would feel like it was about to kill and then if you let your foot of the gas and accelerated again it would go and it didnt kill. The next morning I attempted to start it and it wouldnt start. Had it towed into town and they said they could not get a spark so they replaced the cap and rotor and it started. I got it half way home and it started to sputter and stall around 20mph again. I brought it back to the shop and the next day when they tried starting it they had no luck. Replaced plugs and wires as well as the battery. It started, but it was running rough and they had said the plugs were really wet and it seemed like it was flooding. Their next guess was to replace the fuel pressure regulator for a cost of about 500$ but they were not able to get any fault codes of the computer so they had no way of knowing for sure if it was the problem. At this point I was pretty fed up with the whole situation so I drove it the 90 miles home and it ran ok at high speeds but once again at lower speeds it seemed as if it was going to kill. I got home last night and I started it up about 2 hrs after I got home, but this morning it wouldnt start. Any ideas? do you think that the fuel pressure regulator could be the fix? Any thoughts on this would be great as I am at the end of my rope with this one. Thanks.

[The_Duckslayer]

My son had one like that. There was an issue with the ignition timing advance module or something like that. Oh and the dist shaft was 2 teeth off. Honest to God, do not know how it ever ran that way! Aparently that timing advance module was making up for it and when it went bad it would not start. Actually it would start but it was a bear to start and once it was running everything was fine. Something to check though. Good luck... those are the ones that are tough and expensive to fix. Take care and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[pinkfloyd4ever]

sounds like it would have soemthing to do with the fuel system, but what do I know

[Jeremy airjer W]

If its a fuel pressure regulator than it would be an easy diagnosis with a fuel pressure gauge!

Have you tried holding the pedal to the floor and starting? If it is flooded this will clear it out. If it starts after you do this than let it run until it is fully warmed up. Shut off for ten minutes and then try to restart. Does it take longer to start than usual (extended crank)? If it does than this would be another classic symptom of a leaking regulator, but again and easy diagnosis with a pressure guage!

[OLY]

I have tried holding the gas to the floor the first time it wouldnt start and that didnt work. The times that it has started it seems to start normally, but once it gets cold it doesnt start at all, just cranks and cranks and cranks. I will go out and try it though.

[OLY]

Well I tried and it didnt start. It sounded like it was going to maybe 5-6 seconds in but then it just kept cranking.

[OLY]

Anyone else have any suggestions or advice on what I should do??

[DrKen]

first, i would get a fuel pressure guage and check your fuel pressure when it won't start. From personal experience I know that fuel pump problems often are intermittent and troublesome to diagnose. If the fuel pressure is fine and it still won't start then you have to check the spark. A bad coil can give intermittent problems also. Pull the vehicle into a dark garage, put the hood up and then with all lights off, have someone turn the engine over while you look under the hood for sparks and arcing around coil, distributer and plugs/wires. A cracked coil etc will cause intermittent problems also. Again this is from personal experience. These types of problems can be very frustrating to find and fix. If this doesn't help then try a timing light and check for spark. Even with all the new controls a engine still needs fuel, air and spark to run. We just control it more strictly than ever in the name of efficiency. This tends to make us overlook basics that all of us used years ago and get dependent on codes from computers and miss some old time basics. Cars are so much more dependable in todays world.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Do you hear the fuel pump running? There's no question that if this was in my shop the first thing on it would be a fuel pressure gauge! Have you tried a quick shot of carb spray into the intake? Do all the dash lights come on like normal and act normally when cranking?

[OLY]

I tried to start it this morning and I noticed the gas gauge goes from full to empty when I turn the key. I didnt notice this before I dont know if it means anything?

[MonsterMechanic]

OLY, from reading your first post I would be a little suspect of the work that was already performed. Especially if they told you they could not diagnose a Fuel Pressure Regulator problem(very simple test). I would make sure they didn't cross any Ignition Wires. Say cylinders 1 & 3 were crossed...it would be more difficult to start, yet when you got up to highway speeds you would feel less of a misfire. I would check the firing order and make sure they got it correct. Also, the spark output(Kv's) needs to be tested(another simple test) if the plugs are wet with fuel. Sounds like they replaced everything but the Distributor...which does fail on these. As airjer stated, a fuel pressure test would definately be one of the first steps also. The 4.3L Vortec is a well known engine to any technician that has been working in the industry for any length of time. And they are fairly simple to diagnose problems. I would suggest finding a repair facility that has well trained technicians and they will be able to diagnose your problem.

[HOGEYE]

I have wasted lots of money in the past with mechanics just throwing parts at a problem and when it didn't fix it they would say that it would have needed the parts anyways. I have a blazer that acted similar 2 times and once it was the fuel pressure regulator and the second time it was the fuel pump. I hope you are able to get it fixed without buying any more parts that aren't needed right now.