illinilefttackle 399 #1 Posted October 14, 2016 Hi guys- I know there is a wealth of talent within the membership of this Forum-SO- here goes- I've been helping a friend with his van. 4.3L 2000 GMC Safari. At first it would start then die in one second- went all thru the Passlock bypass thing- even had the VATS removed from the PCM. Now it started and ran fine for 5 min. then quit- no restart- have replaced pickup in distributor & coil ( which tested bad)- checked fuel pressure above 50 lbs. Any ideas or fixes you have used?- Thanks- Al Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squonk 43,785 #2 Posted October 15, 2016 My first guess is the crank sensor. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rmaynard 16,293 #3 Posted October 15, 2016 When I had my Safari/Astro (had 3 of them) the start, no start problem always turned out to be moisture in the distributor cap. Finally on the last last one (2003) I replaced the cap with Advanced Auto Parts house brand and never had an issue with it again. Having said that, the check engine light should be on, and you should have a code stored in the computer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
illinilefttackle 399 #4 Posted October 15, 2016 Thanks guys- the crank sensor on this 4.3l is moved to the distributor- its a Hall effect unit which we have replaced- cap & rotor are new- because it now starts & runs about 5 min til hot-then dies & no start- I think it might be a heat related ignition failure- going to investigate the Ignition Control Module( mounted on a Heat Sink with the coil) Coil is also new. We have let it sit overnite- now to try to start it- what ever happens should tell us down which path to go- "this is crazyness-cars today are suppose to be MORE reliable"-give some points & condenser and I will set the dwell & timing and be done with it- Thanks- cross your fingers- Al Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
illinilefttackle 399 #5 Posted October 15, 2016 There are times in working on cars when things happen to humble me and show me how little I really know. After all the things we checked we finally replaced the in line fuel filter ( something we should have done first) -and it started right up and is working fine! DUH? Thanks Guys- Al 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites