TarantulaGuy

I was driving to class this morning and had let my truck warm up for about 10-15 minutes (it's cold in Alaska) and as soon as I pulled out onto a main road noticed that something was wrong. The truck seemed to lack power and was doing a weird shudder/pulse thing, I immediately turned off onto a side road and got out and noticed a burning smell. I drove back home (had only made it like 3 blocks away) and pulled into my driveway where it now sits. I have absolutely *no* idea what this is. I'm not super car savvy, only things I can think of is spark plug wiring issue, fuel pump/line issue, or some kind of transmission issue, which is what I'm leaning towards. The truck actually idles ok, it's a little rough, but it's old and lives in Alaska so that's to be expected. I can in neutral get the engine to 4-5k RPM's with no issues, just when it's moving that it seems to have problems. What's wrong with my baby!

Allan In NE

Something in the brakes? Iced up caliper on one corner?

Allan

TarantulaGuy

I suppose it could be a weird brake problem, mainly because this problem literally developed overnight. The truck drove fine yesterday, no problems, and then it just started happening today. I may take it out here again and toodle around my neighborhood with it to see if I can't get a better handle on the problem, my only worry is that I might hurt it even more than it already is :/

TarantulaGuy

Hmm, spun around the block again, shifts in and out of 4 wheel drive alright, but definitely a severe lack of power. It doesn't want to go about 1500 RMPs when driving, and definitely is shakey/shuddery when cruising. Also a weird knocking kind of noise and my tensioner on my accessory belt is shaking which I haven't noticed before (but also haven't looked for). Could it be possible that my tensioner has just gone bad and needs to be replaced? Not letting the belt spin as fast as it should, so not charging the alternator?

My only other thought is maybe an EGR valve? But I'm completely unfamiliar with those and wouldn't even know where to start.

Allan In NE

Shut the heater/AC all the way off and see if that tensioner calms down. Maybe you've got a compressor trying to lock up on ya.

Does the engine spin over okay when you crank it?

Allan

TarantulaGuy

Turns over alright, if a bit "strongly", it kind of bounced a little, I took a vid of the tensioner bouncing, it's not severe though. I'll hyperlink to it here in a bit. This is such a weird problem, truck has never done anything like this before.

http://s203.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/KsuGuy/?action=view¤t=P1070402.mp4

It doesn't seem like it was bouncing as much as it was earlier. Something is definitely wrong though, I just can't pin down what it is.

TarantulaGuy

I just ran a circuit check on my EGR valve, between connections 1-5(EGR solenoid) I get 0Ω, between connections 2-4(EGR Sensor) I'm reading somewhere in the realm of 4500Ω, is that about right?So circuit is good, should be ok, so not my EGR valve?

TarantulaGuy

Well, EGR valve wasn't that dirty, tomorrow I'm going to try and find a fuel pump test kit and see if my fuel pump is the issue.

TarantulaGuy

Ok, got fuel pressure test kit. Turn key to on position and I get 64 psi pressure. All good there, turn truck on, pressure drops to 56-58 psi, again, all good. Let it sit for 5 minutes after turning the truck off, and pressure drops by 10-15 psi, not all good. So I assume this means I have either A)bad fuel pump, b) bad fuel pump module check valve (i don't know what this is or where it is) or c) leaky fuel injectors. To test the injectors my haynes manual tells me to cycle ignition a few times then immediately shut off the return and supply fuel lines. However, it doesn't tell me how to do this :/ . Any thoughts?

nkh34

When i had this done on my truck the guy that did it had an odd pair of pliers that lock at different points and he just used those. i wouldnt use normal pliers thought these ones had like rubber on the plier jaws. a local autozone or the like might have them. it seems like it would be more of an injector problem then fuel pump if its makeing your tensioner bounce id think it would be closer to the motor. if its the fuel pump burn that fuel dropping the tank sucks and taking the bed off sucks good luck