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Engine shut off while driving will not start

Tiny
CANNON1349
  • MECHANIC
  • 1993 CHEVROLET S-10
  • 2.8L
  • V6
  • 2WD
  • MANUAL
  • 210,000 MILES
Had it towed it will crank and crank until it drains the battery. Can see fuel shooting from the injector to the carburetor. Distributor, cap, rotor and plugs/wires are about 8 months old. See video

I feel like it might be the ignition switch, or lock cylinder rather because something is letting the battery just die while sitting there, and at some times the truck will have no power but once I bumped into the steering wheel and the lights came back on. Just to repeat, the truck does fire and have fuel, but won't actually start up and run.
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Wednesday, July 31st, 2019 AT 3:52 PM

47 Replies

Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 48,363 POSTS
Hello,

It sounds like the engine may have jumped time. To be sure lets check the compression of one cylinder to see what it is. this guide can help:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-engine-compression

If over 125 let test the ignition system for spark this guide will help:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-an-ignition-system

Please run down these guides and report back.

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Thursday, August 1st, 2019 AT 4:58 PM
Tiny
CANNON1349
  • MECHANIC
  • 672 POSTS
Okay. Did a compression test. Here are the results.

Cyl #1: 120 PSI
Cyl #3: 90 PSI
Cyl #5: 90 PSI

Cyl #2: 90 PSI
Cyl #4: 0-5 PSI
Cyl #6: 95 PSI

The entire time Cylinder #3 shot gas fumes out of it
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Friday, August 2nd, 2019 AT 5:11 PM
Tiny
CANNON1349
  • MECHANIC
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Now that I think about it, I don't think my helper held down the gas pedal all the way. Also the ignition coil was popping and whatnot, could that cause faulty readings? Or is my result obvious enough?
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Friday, August 2nd, 2019 AT 8:06 PM
Tiny
KEN L
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  • 48,363 POSTS
These readings are not good, it looks like it has jumped time and bent at least one valve on #4 cylinder and with 210,000 miles on the engine its time for a rebuilt unit.
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Saturday, August 3rd, 2019 AT 10:11 AM
Tiny
CANNON1349
  • MECHANIC
  • 672 POSTS
So you're saying even replacing the valve it can't be salvageable?
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Saturday, August 3rd, 2019 AT 11:26 AM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 48,363 POSTS
It can but not to sure how long it will last with 210,000 already on the engine.
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Monday, August 5th, 2019 AT 8:59 AM
Tiny
CANNON1349
  • MECHANIC
  • 672 POSTS
What about replacing the valve and the timing chain? Trying to weigh my options.
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Monday, August 5th, 2019 AT 10:00 AM
Tiny
KEN L
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Does the engine burn oil before this all happened? If not you can give it a try but if you were going through a quart ever third tank I would get a rebuilt engine.
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Monday, August 5th, 2019 AT 10:05 AM
Tiny
CANNON1349
  • MECHANIC
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Didn't burn oil, has a pan gasket rear seal leak but still had oil in it when it got here.
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Monday, August 5th, 2019 AT 10:16 AM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 48,363 POSTS
Okay, You have two options if you plan to keep the truck I would install a rebuilt engine or take a chance fixing this one. Please let us know if you need anything else to get the problem fixed.
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Tuesday, August 6th, 2019 AT 9:49 AM
Tiny
CANNON1349
  • MECHANIC
  • 672 POSTS
If I chose to fix it, you recommend doing the chain and valve? Or just replace the entire head?
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Tuesday, August 6th, 2019 AT 10:01 AM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
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Which ever one is cheapest and will still fix the engine.
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Friday, August 9th, 2019 AT 12:58 PM
Tiny
CANNON1349
  • MECHANIC
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I think I may have done the compression test wrong. I'm going to try again but I can't shake the feeling of needing a different way to repair this because the battery dies when you let it sit, like there's a hot wire somewhere and maybe that wont let it turn over.
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Sunday, August 11th, 2019 AT 8:04 PM
Tiny
KEN L
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Can you disconnect the battery from the car to see if it still goes dead? the battery might be bad. Please retry the compression test to let me know.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-battery-load-test

Please run down this guide and report back.
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Monday, August 12th, 2019 AT 11:29 AM
Tiny
CANNON1349
  • MECHANIC
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Well I bought a jumper pack and tried the compression test. Now all cylinders are around 60 PSI and cylinder #4 at 25 PSI. What's going on here? Is it still lack of electrical power?
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Sunday, August 18th, 2019 AT 4:27 PM
Tiny
KEN L
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Is the engine turning over fast enough? Can you please shoot a quick video with your phone so we can see what's going on? That would be great. You can upload it here with your response. If it is it looks like the timing chain jumped.
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Monday, August 19th, 2019 AT 3:27 PM
Tiny
CANNON1349
  • MECHANIC
  • 672 POSTS
Hope this video helps. Battery definitely keeps dying. Also that was cylinder #4 which previously had 0 PSI. Mind you all plugs are out and fuel relay is pulled and air cleaner is off.
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Monday, August 19th, 2019 AT 3:44 PM
Tiny
KEN L
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The battery sounds weak and the engine sounds like the timing chain jumped, the engine will needs to be taking apart to see what happened. If the chain has jumped you might have bents valves on one or more cylinders. Here is how you do the job. Check out the diagrams (below). Please let us know what happens.
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Monday, August 19th, 2019 AT 4:23 PM
Tiny
CANNON1349
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Don't you think it's fishy that there's a low power condition, where the battery just drains while it sits? Couldn't that be an underlying problem? How do I tell if I have bent valves without removing the heads? Will it be evident when starting the engine after a new chain?
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Monday, August 19th, 2019 AT 4:38 PM
Tiny
KEN L
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If you remove the valve covers you might be able to see a valve that is sitting does which will tell you the valve got bent, the battery drains down? You means it goes dead or does not crank the car long enough? Either case it sounds like the battery is not good.
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Tuesday, August 20th, 2019 AT 9:33 AM

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