97 Blazer stall/electrical shutdown

[Spit]

My daughter's 97 Blazer with a 4.3 has started shutting itself down on a random basis. It doesn't run rough or sputter prior to shutting down. It seems like the electric power to the engine is interupted but only for a second. right away the Electric door locks click and SEI and Seatbelt dashboard lights light up like it does when the ignition key is in the on position with out the engine running. The dashboard doesn't blackout it's just like the power to the engine was cut. It will normally restart right away without any trouble.

I replaced the battery last week and it still occurs. I've been looking for and cleaning all the electical connections I could find under the hood.

Any ideas on what and how I can check out would be greatly appreciated

Spit

[NC17]

I had the same problem with my 97 4wd 4d blazer

I took it in to pep boys and they said it was the fuel pump (it cost like $780 to replace)

Now my truck runs fine

Here is what happend to me

Was accelerating and when i hit about 40mph my engine cut off, power steering went out and brakes lost power (i had to push them really hard to stop) but my instruments, radio and everything else were still working fine

As soon as i stopped i was able to turn my engine back on just fine but once i started to accelerate it cut out all over again

Hope this helps

[wlf2812]

Originally Posted by Spit

My daughter's 97 Blazer with a 4.3 has started shutting itself down on a random basis. It doesn't run rough or sputter prior to shutting down. It seems like the electric power to the engine is interupted but only for a second. right away the Electric door locks click and SEI and Seatbelt dashboard lights light up like it does when the ignition key is in the on position with out the engine running. The dashboard doesn't blackout it's just like the power to the engine was cut. It will normally restart right away without any trouble.

I replaced the battery last week and it still occurs. I've been looking for and cleaning all the electical connections I could find under the hood.

Any ideas on what and how I can check out would be greatly appreciated

Spit

If the dashboard lights go out momentarily it could be the ignition. Fairly easy to replace by removing the cover of the column. Had this problem when the car was at about 70K in miles.

[Spit]

The problem was the ignition switch in the column. Replaced it 2 months ago and it is working fine no more stalling or hard starting. what clinched the diagnosis for me was that my daughter told me it had gotten to a point where she couldn't get it to start unless she used the remote starter (after-market unit). It would start every time if she remote started it, but that when she tried to start it with her key it wouldn't start.
I notice that with the new switch installed, the dashboard gauges and lights seemed to fire-up much quicker that with the old, defective switch. This might be a clue to anyone having a similar problems

Chuck

[west30capt]

I was just about to reply without reading all the posts. But then I found your followup regarding the ignition switch. My 97 Blazer did exactly the same thing. First it started just shutting off for a few seconds at a time driving down the road. But one day my girlfriend was driving it and it totally shut off on her. She freaked because she wasn't strong enough to steer and it was hard for her to stop due to power loss on the brakes. My first hunch was the ignition switch. Changed it, no more problems. Also mine did have a remote starter, too. I took it out though because I found that the shop that installed the starter didn't splice the wires very good. I figured that is what caused my failure.

[BlazerLT]

this is a wire short in the ignition.

Check remote starter wiring for exposed wires, replace the ignition and make sure your grounds are good for the block.

[tspencer73]

Change the ignition switch. not the key switch but there is a black box under it inside the steering coloum. This fixed mine.