Need help with my 85'

[Pat_OD]

So i bought a 85 Sierra 2 weeks ago thing ran great. Its got a 4.3L V6 i believe. Well i was on I-95 yesterday goin about 67 and the truck died on me almost ran into the car next to me cause the steering was so tight. Anyway so before this all happened i noticed my temp was going up pretty high so i checked the coolant in the resevoir and radiator, everything was fine. Then right before my truck cut out the oil pressure went from 29 to 0 :/ . So i tried to start it 15 min later and it sounded like there was no oil at all, which wasnt the case. Well, im not the best writer but u guys should get the jist. Any clue guys?

[blabhern]

Did it start or did it just turn over and sound like there was no oil? If it didn't start, I would venture to guess the timing chain broke or your distributor shaft broke, which runs your oil pump.

[Pat_OD]

no it started and ran for like 30 sec then died while idling, then i tried 1 last time and i put it in gear and was rolling about 5 mph ran for about 1 minute and the oil pressure gauge when back to 30 then dropped to 0 and truck died again.

[blabhern]

How about an electrical problem? Is your oil pressure gauge electrical? Check for voltages on your distributor. I can't tell you specifics on this since I haven't worked on 4.3l engine in a while. I'm going by my experience on an 84 350 I used to have in a Jeep.

[Pat_OD]

yea its electrical, i dont really know that much about older vehicles so im lost here

[blabhern]

They're actually pretty simple. You get 12 volts to the distributor and to an coil which while running bumps that voltage up to say around 5000 volts, That voltage is then run to the distrubutor and distributed to each plug as the distributor turns. Your distributor (if its like mine) should have a 3 plug connector on the driver's side with 12 volts on 2 connectors and a ground on the third. 1 of the 12 volts comes directly from the battery. Some cars have a resistor in line with this. That resistor should be located on the firewall and should look rectangular and white (most often). The coil is a cylinder that should be connected to the distributor with a cable that resembles the spark plug cables.

Ok, now that that is over. Lets start with the simple things, check the fuses, connections at the battery (make sure they are clean and tight), battery voltage (should be over 12 volts).

Check for spark on a spark plug by pulling one out, reconnecting it to its cable and holding the metal body in contact with the engine block and turn the motor over. You should get a healthy blue spark on the plug. You may also be shocked so be careful, use some thick gloves, well insulated pliers or a piece of wood to hold down the plug.

Good luck