Okay, so I am going nuts here. When dropping my son off at day care I left the car running and when I came outside it had stalled. WEIRD!!! Then when driving I stopped at a traffic light and noticed my oil pressure dropping rapidly, then I stalled!

Okay so what have I done so far? Not much, just change oil and filter (it really needed it anyway) but I am not sure where to go from here.

It has happened 2 more times....

I have 98k miles on it and I love it, it had been so reliable up until this point. Please help!!!


Danielle

need more info. does it idle funny, do the rpms drop off slow or does it just die. try a fuel filter as well if it has been a while

The oil pressure is dropping because the engine is stalling. The oil pressure is not causing it.

When it is running, take a voltmeter out and test the voltage on the battery. If it is below 14.0 volts, you have a bad alternator.

Also, when is the last time you did a complete tuneup including:

New plugs
New Wires
Cap and rotor (Both, not just one or the other)
Air Filter
PCV valve
Fuel Filter
MAF Sensor cleaning.
If over 100,000 miles you should replace your O2 sensors.

I'm not that familiar with 01's, but is it possible it has a cut off built into the electical circut to shut the engine off when the oil pressure drops? Thus, maybe a bad oil sending unit??

True, could be the sender.

But is the rpms dropping along with the oil pressure?

I'm not that familiar with 01's, but is it possible it has a cut off built into the electical circut to shut the engine off when the oil pressure drops? Thus, maybe a bad oil sending unit??

There is no cut off switch if you have low oil pressure. In other words, the truck will not stop running for lack of oil pressure as a precautionary measure. It will stop if theres no oil pressure, but because of engine damage.

You could have a weak charging system, maybe alternator, but if its stalling and restarting, chances are that is not the case, as I gather the truck is restarting. It would still be good to take a look at the charging sytem to make sure.

Is the truck only stalling at idle, its not cutting out when your cruising down the road? Do you notice any loss of power when driving it?

It could be something as a MAF sensor dirty, causing problems.

could also be something as simple as a sticking PCV valve or EGR valve, more info needed. any hard staring or drivability issues such as engine roughness, sluggishness, or misses?

I just replaced the TPS and fuel filter and cleaned the throttle body last month.

It has done this while at idle and once when I was driving (right after I pressed on the gas to go at a traffic light).

No the RPS do not drop until it stalls, then of course they are 0.

Air filter was also replaced last month.

No error/warning lights come on. The truck does restart afterwards. The engine does not sound loud or run sluggish. This is only an intermitent problem...arghh

I am going to replace the PCV valve tomorrow and a few other things.

Any other suggestions so I just don't keep throwing money at it.

Could be the coil overheating and failing.

have it scanned for b-codes possible passlock problem. converter clutch another poss.\with you coming to a stop.

Did you replace the TPS to try and solve this problem?

The oil pressure is dropping because the engine is stalling. The oil pressure is not causing it.

When it is running, take a voltmeter out and test the voltage on the battery. If it is below 14.0 volts, you have a bad alternator.

Also, when is the last time you did a complete tuneup including:

New plugs
New Wires
Cap and rotor (Both, not just one or the other)
Air Filter
PCV valve
Fuel Filter
MAF Sensor cleaning.
If over 100,000 miles you should replace your O2 sensors.
Definitely heed the advice from BlazerLT.
I had same problem with a Silverado, and the Dist Cap had been on there so long it had built up little chunks of a white conductive material. (From Ionization of air particles due to high voltage). These chunks would fall off, drop down into the distributor body, and short out the pickup mechanism. Had to pull dist, clean it out, new cap & rotor, problem solved.