Capitanbadass

I have a 97 Chevy 1500 2wd with a 5.0 305 Vortec I have never had any problems until today. I was driving down the road and it jerkerd hard front to back as if the transmission shifted hard and the gauges went haywire for a moment my rpms dropped really low so I reved it up and it was ok for about 30 seconds, then it jeked again and died it did restart, but it ran rough and died within 30 seconds. After waiting 20 mins for a wrecker it fired up and ran fine I sill had it towed incase it did it again but back at my house it fired up ran and idled fine my belt tensioner has gone out again I put a new one on 3 weeks ago so im gonna swap that out my battery is good and so is my alternator Im stumped any ideas?

06chevy5.3

hey bud welcome to the forum, just wondering how many miles do you have?

hydengr

Capt. B.A.,

I have a 96 K1500 w/ a 350 and manual trans. (approx. 110,000 miles at the time) and it did the same (or similiar) to me. After it died, (along w/ the flickering gages) I coasted to the side of the road, turned everything off, restarted and drove home w/o incident. Next day I drove it around the neighborhood and the same thing happened. I then had it towed to a local garage...

Two possibilities. My truck has the GM security system. The garage I took it to had it for about a week and tried repeatedly to recreate the problem, but could not. The mechanic said that he has seen ignition switches go bad, and since no other problem could be found, I had him replace it. While doing so, he stated that it "seemed" like some of the wires for my security system were loose. He wasn't sure if they were loose enough to cause any problem, but since the system does interfere with the ignition, it's possible that the alarm's connections (not the ignition switch itself) was the problem...

So... if you have the GM alarm (mine was a purchased after I had boughtthe truck, and was installed at the dealereship) I'd look there first for loose connections. If you don't have the alarm or all looks well, you might want to focus your attention on the ignition switch itself.

I've been trouble free ever since. Good Luck...

Capitanbadass

It just rolled to 119000 and I dont know if it has an alarm I bought it used and there was no key fob but my aunt had boh a suburban and a c1500 of the sam year hers had alarms and very 97 Ive seen atleast had remote entry I havnt pulled off the door panel to check for an actuator because I relly dont car bu if it could be causing the problem I will tear into probably tomarrow when im off work
Thanks Im a good suspension man but electrical systems are not my strong point


Edit: My sisters 90 camaro has the gm alarm system but hers just cuts off the starter and I cant find the control box on it so I dont know what to look for in my truck If anyone has a pic or a good description would be greatly appreciated
Thanks again.

dewey

I was looking at some info for chevy C/K trucks. The information shows these trucks didn't have factory theft system till 98.

Can you check for codes? Some of the national brand autostores will check codes for free.

I wondered about a fuel issue or intermittent RPM signal? That intermittent stuff can be hard to track.

hydengr

Dewey,

I never said that my 1996 K1500 had a "Factory Theft System." I did say that it had a GMSecurity System installed by the dealer after I had purchased the vehicle. The exact system is the GM VSS350. (VSS is an abreviation forVehicleSecurity System.) The system included2 fobs, so I gained remote entry, a plus. The system has a lot of wiring which ties to the ignition, inside the steering column, which is why I thought the Capt'n might want to start there, if his truck was so equiped...

Captainbadass,

I'm sure that you would know if your truck was equiped with the system I referenced... Big 'ole horn under the hood, flashing red light somewhaere on your dash (flashes different "patterns" whether the system is on or off), and if you ever had a deadbattery or removed one of your battery cables, the whole thing goes off and must be reset when you reconnect...

When I experienced this problem it did NOT throw any codes (but of course, you need to check this).I doubt that a fuel issue will cause your gages to go haywire (which mine did too). I'm guessing ignition/electrical... poor ground is a possiblility too...

Good Luck... I too hate electrical issues and like Dewey said, chasing any intermittent issue is a pain...

dewey

Hydengr, my post was in reply to the Capitan. He seemed to be headed toward the theft system, and my info didn't show a factory theft system. Yes, he could have had an aftermarket system of some kind.

The factory theft info, I was looking at, was on the gmtechlink site. I have seen revisions on their application years, so they do make mistakes. I make mistakes, sometimes.

After rereading his post, the ignition switch could be an issue. From what I have read so far, If I replaced anything, it would just be a hope and a prayer that I got lucky. Need more diagnostics or something. I wouldcheck codes, fuel pressure, replace filters, if it's been awhile, check the battery voltage, clean cables, both ends. I'd put a scanner on it, it's not a silver-bullet, I've seenseveral vehicles with problems and the scanner didn't show anything wrong. Other than maintenance issues, I'd have a tough time replacing anything without more information, on this vehicle. Everybody have a nice day.

I had to do an edit,my spelling isn't very good.

Capitanbadass

Yeah I looked for a controller today and couldnt find anything. The reson I thought it might have Vss is because it was owned by a rich old guy who had alot of paint work done. The service ebngine light never turned on and I work for autozone and scanned it my first day and yesterday still no codes. I have been running it in the yard everyday but im afraid to hit the road incase it happens again cause alot of the roads around here are just concrete walls but thanks for the help when I get my tax return Im gonna replace th ignition switch cause it 128.99 before tax so yeah when I get it straightene dout I will let yall know thanks again Im sure I will have more Q'S on the truck as I go its the newest chevy Ive owned.