hello,

My truck stalls sometimes for no apparent reason. While I understand the age factor and number of miles on the truck has something to do with it, I would like to get to the root of it so I can be better prepared when going to the repair shop.

I had no problems driving it in summer, although I had to use the 87% rated gas. I notice this problem more often in fall/winter. At gas refills, I tend to use two bottles of Vtech Gas/Carburetor engine cleaner which helps sometimes. The engine idles okay, but as soon as I begin driving and am off to second gear, the engine stalls. I usually wait for about 10-15 and then could start the engine and be on my way.

The problem is I could not replicate this issue whenever I wanted, so the repair shop person almost definitely has an advantage at ripping me off diagnosing yet not solving it completely.

Could it be the carburetor problem, because I smell gas sometimes at the tail pipe? Could it be that there's water in the engine line? Spark plugs? I am open to ideas at this point.


Thanks,
Vijay.

 

It's probably overdue for a carb overhaul but what you describe could be a worn out coil. The coil should be replaced every 100k miles. There are many other things that could cause what you describe but those two items are the most common. The slow fuel cut solonoid on the side of the carb which feeds fuel for idle could be going bad also,it screws into the back side of the carb and has 2 wires going to it. Pretty easy to check. The ignitor in the distributor could also be the problem and is difficult to diagnose if intermittent.