Greetings.

After getting gas yesterday, I got onto the freeway and accelerated to approx 70MPH. I heard a consistent "Tick, Tick, Tick" just a bit louder than a turn signal, and about a second apart, and sounded like it was coming from the dashboard. After approximately 30 ticks, the RPMs dropped and I had little to no power. The truck bucked violently. The engine gave me enough intermittent power to exit the freeway. I parked the truck and there is no longer a ticking sound. The ticks went away once the RPMs dropped and I notice there was a problem. At idle, the truck runs almost normal. The second I add gas, the engine bucks and the RPMs run up and down, mainly down. I think getting the gas was just coincidence. The truck has been poorly maintained. Anyone have a guess on what this could be? I have read several posts on this forum and I haven't seen anyone write about the ticking sound I heard prior to the event.

Update: After having it towed home, I was able to start it several times but not accelerate because the RPMs would drop. Today it won't even turn over to start.

Thanks!!

 

Thanks for all the replies... NOT.

Just in case someone else has this problem...

The ticking sound was my distributor cap going bad. Once the distributor cap was removed, I could see an unusual burn mark through the plastic. I replaced the rotor and cap and now the S-10 works again.