What Computer?

[MikeGo]

Recently bought a 1996 S-10 Blazer, 4.3L, CPI. I am having a problem with severe hesitation and stalling, after wich it may or may not re-start right away, might take up to a half an hour. I keep getting 2 codes (I dont have the numbers handy) one is for the TPS voltage intermittently low and the other is for the o2 sensor, bank2 sensor 1. I have replaced both of them and keep getting the same 2 codes. When it starts to act up, the brake light will come on (not anti-lock), when the brake light goes out, it starts running OK again.I have unplugged the pressure sensor and the parking brake switch, and the light still comes on. After looking at the connectors on the VCM, I noticed that one connector on my wiring harness is white, but where its plugged into the VCM it is marked gray. the other 3 match, black, blue and red. The serv. no. on the VCM is 16208546. How can I verify if this is the correct VCM or find out what the right one is supposed to be?

Thanks for any help,
Mike

[GMMerlin]

What might be happening is the wires to the TPS are intermittantly open...Most times I find the wires broken inside the insulation.
Tug on the individual wires going into the TPS sensor and see if one of them stretches..if so, you have found your problem.
Also check the wiring harness on the right side of the engine contacting the exhaust manifold..seen a bunch of them with burnt wires and intermittant problems.
I have found that the VCM color designation is open to interpertation (white..grey..close enough).

[RABarrett]

What amazes me is that almost every time, someone focuses on a symptom, rather than looking at the entire picture. I guess sometimes, people do not learn from experience, regardless of the amount or from whence it came.
I would focus on the fact that there are several problems, in different areas of the vehicle. Brake lights on the dash, O2 sensor and TPS errors, etc, lead me to the common points of all of these areas. This would be ground and 12 volt supplies to the dash, and the ECM. I would focus on fusible links, ground points, either at the battery, body, or frame etc. Any time that there are multiple failure points, look for the common points first. It is not likely for multiple failures to occur simultaneously. Open grounds, for example, will put supply voltage on every part of a circuit, which will confuse the computer monitoring points, if the computer is not affected directly. If the computer is affected directly, it may make all sorts of errors, leading you in all directions. Think through a problem before attempting to fix it. Ray

[GMMerlin]

Originally Posted by RABarrett

What amazes me is that almost every time, someone focuses on a symptom, rather than looking at the entire picture. I guess sometimes, people do not learn from experience, regardless of the amount or from whence it came.
I would focus on the fact that there are several problems, in different areas of the vehicle. Brake lights on the dash, O2 sensor and TPS errors, etc, lead me to the common points of all of these areas. This would be ground and 12 volt supplies to the dash, and the ECM. I would focus on fusible links, ground points, either at the battery, body, or frame etc. Any time that there are multiple failure points, look for the common points first. It is not likely for multiple failures to occur simultaneously. Open grounds, for example, will put supply voltage on every part of a circuit, which will confuse the computer monitoring points, if the computer is not affected directly. If the computer is affected directly, it may make all sorts of errors, leading you in all directions. Think through a problem before attempting to fix it. Ray

What amazes me is how you follow me around these boards and try to slam me. If you want to give advice to these people about their vehicle problems thats fine, I respect a second opinion.
When people ask specific questions about specific problems, they get specific answers.
If they have general questions or intermittant problems, I give them general answers and hopefully lead them in the right direction.
I joined this forum to help these people diagnos and repair their vehicles.
if you have a problem with the information I give, PM me and I'll be more than happy to discuss it with you.

Now from experiance, I have seen vehicles with just about the same symptoms that have the harness on the right side of the engine burnt on the exhaust. The insulation that is protecting the wires burns off causing the wires to contact ground, pulling circuits low or shorting circuits to power.
As you see, I have given some general information to this person on some things to check without telling him that its definatly this or that part that has failed causing him to waste money on a part that didn't fix his car or to waste his valuable time.

[BOOZER]

Are we going to have to seperate you two?
Anybody that takes advice here as more than just advice & starts hanging parts based on suggestion is a fool. It's advice based on experiance of what you've seen & a starting point only.
And by the way, nothing amazes me anymore & I never say I've seen it all !!! Later people