Engine shut off while driving my '90 Suburban. Sup with that?

Giant Rock · Apr 21, 2021

Was driving the other day and all of a sudden my engine was off. I lost power steering and power brakes, was kinda scary and thank god I was going slow at the time. My lights and radio were still on but no engine. I pulled over, turned the key off and then it started again. Since then I've driven about 20 miles and it has not done it again. However, I regularly drive this thing into the middle of desert and now I don't have as much confidence.

I checked under the hood (I'm a noob) and didn't see anything wrong with any belts and the battery terminals are tight with no corrosion.

Anyone have an idea what could be wrong and how worried I should be that it will happen again or leave me stranded?

gmbellew · Apr 21, 2021

the same thing happened to me about 2 months ago. code 42 was stored and I assume it was something with the ICM not being happy. although the ICM was only about 6 months old at the time. I've driven at least 1500 miles since then and no issues. but I do carry a spare ICM in the truck at all times.

Giant Rock · Apr 21, 2021

gmbellew said:
the same thing happened to me about 2 months ago. code 42 was stored and I assume it was something with the ICM not being happy. although the ICM was only about 6 months old at the time. I've driven at least 1500 miles since then and no issues. but I do carry a spare ICM in the truck at all times.

Hey thanks, I just looked that up and its definitely a better guess than anything I could up with. Awesome that it's a relatively cheap fix too! I'm gonna go buy a spare one like you have.

Giant Rock · Apr 21, 2021

gmbellew said:
the same thing happened to me about 2 months ago. code 42 was stored and I assume it was something with the ICM not being happy. although the ICM was only about 6 months old at the time. I've driven at least 1500 miles since then and no issues. but I do carry a spare ICM in the truck at all times.

So I found that an ICM at Napa Autoparts runs about $80. But then I found it on this site for under $30 and people give it good reviews. Is this one of those parts its better to spend more money on or they pretty much all the same?

Thinking if I went for the cheaper one I would buy two and always have a backup.

https://www.1aauto.com/ignition-control-module-diy-solutions/i/1aeci00156/823636/1990

Vbb199 · Apr 21, 2021

Fuel pump maybe cutting out, or the icm like he said... but ive never had an issue with an icm just shut off on the 87-91 trucks ive had... they just outright fail, no warning, like a coil.

Maybe its just "my luck" but your FP could be shitting out...make sure ground strap to drivers frame rail isnt ******.

Poppy 87 · Apr 21, 2021

Giant Rock said:
So I found that an ICM at Napa Autoparts runs about $80. But then I found it on this site for under $30 and people give it good reviews. Is this one of those parts its better to spend more money on or they pretty much all the same?

Thinking if I went for the cheaper one I would buy two and always have a backup.

https://www.1aauto.com/ignition-control-module-diy-solutions/i/1aeci00156/823636/1990

I would only use ac delco ignition control module. Do not ever cheap out on electrical components

Giant Rock · Apr 21, 2021

Vbb199 said:
Fuel pump maybe cutting out, or the icm like he said... but ive never had an issue with an icm just shut off on the 87-91 trucks ive had... they just outright fail, no warning, like a coil.

Maybe its just "my luck" but your FP could be shitting out...make sure ground strap to drivers frame rail isnt ******.

hmm ok thanks, I will check the ground strap if I can find it...
Are there any other ways to tell if the fuel pump is going bad?

Giant Rock · Apr 21, 2021

Poppy 87 said:
I would only use ac delco ignition control module. Do not ever cheap out on electrical components

10-4 that's all I needed to hear, going to order the AC Delco ICM, thanks!

Daveo91Burb · Apr 21, 2021

TBI era distributors are notorious for corrosion on the pickup coils. I was driving up a hill out of my neighborhood when it just quit like that. I got it restarted just enough to get it turned around pointing downhill. Then it quit again, wouldn’t restart, but I was able to coast all the way back to my house. When I took the dist apart the pickup literally crumbled apart. I couldn’t believe it ran at all before.

not saying this is your problem but at least take the cap and rotor off and look for signs of corrosion in there.

gmbellew · Apr 21, 2021

did you check for stored codes? OBD1 stores codes temporarily for a certain number of starts.

Giant Rock · Sep 8, 2021

Just wanted to update that I finally replaced the ICM in my Suburban and my truck has not stalled out since! Very happy it was such an easy fix. I had inquired in this thread about saving a few bucks and purchasing a cheap ICM that was half the price of one sold by AC Delco, but based on the advice here I got the real deal and ordered from AC Delco. Which is funny because when I took the old ICM out it said "SINGAPORE" on the bottom. Guess I know why it went bad!

dvdswan · Sep 8, 2021

How much gas did you have in the tank? The level of fuel effects how hot the FP gets. Being in the desert, summertime temps were a good culprit to killing the FP on a low tank of gas.

Vbb199 · Sep 9, 2021

Yes ^ most of those fuel pumps really like being submerged to keep them cool, especially the cheapass ones. If you are a "driving on fumes" type of guy, they dont last long.

Engine shut off while driving my '90 Suburban. Sup with that?

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