Hello, I am trying to get a truck running for a friend. It is a 96 1500 with the 5.7L. 5 spd manual. 2wd.

He said he was driving one day and it just died, and wouldnt restart. Ruled out alternator. He said there was no banging, just normal driving and then nothing.

I am thinking fuel pump. Am I close??

Any help is appreciated.
thanks

 

It depends...When you turn the key before you crank the engine, do you hear a wining sound comeing from the back of the truck? You should be able to hear it clear as day if the pump is working. If not then it's most likely the fuel pump.

 

Okay, I was finally able to make it out to the truck to look at it for myself today. Turns out its a 2500, but still with the 5.7. I put a new battery in it, put the ignition coil back in it-owner said there was a module on the coil that went bad, possibly the cause of the sudden engine failure?- and put a new fuel pump relay on it. When I turn the key on, the fuel pump runs every time. lights all come on like they should, but when I hit the starter the solenoid just engages with a "click" and thats it, it wont turn the starter. Owner said he had the engine spinning on the tranny when it broke down, so its not seized, I have driven two 97 work trucks with the 6.5 diesel, and both of them did this with the starter, but usually they would eventually engage. Im going to try to pull start it tomorrow so I can at least see if the engine will fire.

Any ideas?
Thanks again

 

a click in my experience was a bad starter solenoid (not on the truck, but same concept).
you may have 2 issues. maybe a clogged fuel filter caused it to die and
a bad starter solenoid wouldn't let it restart.

 

thanks for the advice. I got it running this afternoon. I converted the battery leads to clamp on instead of screw in and it turned right over. The old ones were rusty, not allowing quite enough juice through. Now it runs good as new.