my chevy truck is totaly dead but battery is good

[spankygirl]

i own a 1990 chevy scottsdale 1500 4.3 liter pickup after driving to the store i turned the truck off like normal when i went to start my truck to go home there was nothing no clicking noise starter would would not work lights did not work no horn no blinkers no headlights no dome light. as i checked the positive cable for tightness i noticed sparks coming from the 2 wires that go to the starter were arcking on the exhaust manifold so i pushed the wires around and taped them so that they werent touching anything i got a jumpstart from AAA still nothing at all. nothing at all works the tow truck driver thought i might have burned out what he called the main circuit breaker my question is where would the main circuit breaker be located i saw a picture of one from advance auto parts but cant find anything like it at the fuse box or under the hood could that be my problem or something else any help would be greatly apppreiciated thank you

[TerryAuto]

With the large positive cable arching on the exaust, that may have shorted out the battery. A battery can be shorted internally where a jump start will do no good.

I would first get the battery tested, or even swap it out with another one. This may be your only problem since you have no power to anything.

If that checks out, then check ALL fuses. A straight dead short to ground could have burned out many fuses, modules, relays, etc.

[bamagirl]

My truck will turn over but acts like it ant getting any fire, what is wrong?

[carriedi]

out of gas? No fuel pressure, no spark? no injector pulse?

what model is your truck? S10, C/K series? what motor? 4.3L, 5.0L, 5.7L, 6.5L diesel...

take the coil wire out of the to of the distributor and place it a good ground and have someone crank the engine over. Do you get a good and consistent spark? If not we might be looking for a distributor or coil problem. Make sure with the key on and also in the cranking position that you have power to the + side of the coil.

If spark out of the coil wire looks good, plug it back into the cap and pull a spark plug wire off and do the same thing. the spark should do the same thing but with an 8 times linger space between the spark times. If you don't have a good spark there then you need to look at a cap or rotor problem. If the spark is good there then go to the fuel system next.

with the air cleaner removed have someone crank the engine over and watch the spray pattern of the throttle body injectors. (you could also do this when you were checking for spark but keep the wires that are sparking far away from the throttle area so as to not start a fire) Are both injectors spraying a good full cone of fuel? (the injectors should both spray a cone of fuel that starts from the injector and spreads out to cover most of the throttle plate opening) If you don't see any fuel check for fuel pressure. If you have only one spraying you may have a bad injector, injector wiring or injector driver problem. further diag would be needed. If fuel and pattern look good and strong maybe the truck is flooded. Crank the engine over with the gas pedal all the way down to shut off fuel (clear flood) and see if you can get it started.

it goes on and on from there but those things would be the first things to see what is happening to you truck. well, unless you have a diesel...

[TravisS]

i have a 1993 chevy 1/2 ton truck 5.7 L V8, when i start it it dies i replaced plugs,wires,distributer, coil, fuel filter. when i unplug the map sensor and the sensor that is right at the front of the motor where the water comes in it will idle but it will not drive when i put it in gear, it just dies. anybody with any info please help!!!

[carriedi]

well, I would say scan the engine to see what it shows is happening as far as the computer is concerned. You might want to forget the codes you may have entered into the system by unplugging things.

have you tried to start it with your foot opening the throttle a little so that when it starts you are controlling the air so it's more than just idle? or, once it starts you keep the throttle moving to see if you can keep the engine running?

Have you measured what your fuel pressure is? (9 - 13psi) you might want to see if when the car dies does it still have good fuel pressure, are the plugs still getting spark and are the injectors still firing. by finding out which of these things goes away , it will lead you to look in the right direction. Ignition module, (or distributor), ecm, fuel pump, poor connection to power or ground...

[TravisS]

when i get it started i throttle, it thats the only way to keep it goin. when i unplug those sensor it will idle as smooth as a brand new truck for awhile then it dies.

[carriedi]

when you unplug the coolant temp sensor and the map the engine will run richer. the coolant sensor unplugged will have a default unplugged sensor reading of -40F. That will make the injectors stay open longer just as if your choke was on in a carb car. But that is before your computer really kicks in and looks at everything to set your fuel mixtures. You should stop unplugging stuff because it will make the computer screw up other things. by unplugging sensors the computer will see those things as being bad. Then it has codes that you won't know if they are actual codes or codes because you put them in there.

You can do maintenance and mechanical things to see if they make your truck run better. But it would be very rare that you can cut off sensors from the computer and have the computer do a better job. You should have your computer scanned to see what the actual reading are. If the engine seems to run better with pieces turned off maybe you should look to see if your fuel system is running rich enough. is your fuel pressure to low? Look at your injectors as the engine is running. do they both have a good spray pattern? While you are watching the injectors and the truck dies, do the injectors have a good strong spray pattern all the time before it dies or does the spray seem to piddle out and then it dies? If you have a can of carb cleaner, when the truck seems like it's about to die can you keep it running with carb spray? (Be careful though, a backfire could cause a fire ball to come out of your throttle body) If the fuel system stops but you cab keep it running with carb spray as fuel then you need to look at fuel pressure and/or fuel injector pulse. (DO NOT USE STARTING FLUID! USING STARTING FLUID TO KEEP AN ENGINE RUNNING COULD DAMAGE YOUR ENGINE)

A scan tool and a fuel pressure gauge are tools just like a spark plug socket and ratchet. If you want to work on today's vehicles you are going to need to use tools that can help you know what your car is doing. A scanner will also tell what your Idle Air Control solenoid is doing. If you can keep the engine running by opening the throttle more than normal idle, that might tie in to your problem.

[Bear]

I have a 2004 chevy colorado 3.15 5 cylinder. what do the following codes mean. u1064, c0899,

c0220, c0035, p0446, p0506?

[carriedi]

U1064 lost communication to Body control module
C0220 electronic brake control module found low voltage on Ignition 1 circuit
Low voltage at one of the front wheel speed sensors
C0220 left front ABS channel in release too long
C0035 left front wheel speed sensor malfunction
P0446 EVAP vent system performance, (check for blockage)
P0506 Idle speed too low

[thermos199]

i have a 2005 chevy colorado truck and my window defroster only blows out on the passengers side and not the drivers side anyone know what the problem is and how to fix it

[carriedi]

I would check for some sort of blockage of if the drivers side defrost connection has been moved and doesn't line up correctly. Anything been done under the dash recently?