Hey everyone,
I can't find the dang distributor
Thank you
Ryan

this is a really funny post ... did you ever open the hood ?

this truck has NO distributor LOL....
miss fires is typical , but DIY think it is always spark plugs or plug wires... most times it is the fuel pressure is too low.. fuel filter / fuel pump pressure testing procedure .. with your funny post my guess is you do not have tools or ability to do this..

 

Good lord.. I knew it didn't have one. I was so damn confused looking around the bay for a distributor cap. I just got the truck and haven't really dove into working on it. Since the truck has 132k on it, I'm guessing the plugs havent been replaced so I'm going to start there. I really don't want to get into replacing the fuel pump yet, but I know I'll have to eventually. Had to do the same thing with my 93 Camaro.. It was a pain in the ass.

Either way, thanks for the help. Next time, try not to be a dick. I've only had the truck for 3 weeks. I have experience working on cars, just not this one.

 

your 2nd posting is even more funny .. so you work on vehicles you have the fuel pressure gauges ?

I love it when people throw parts at vehicles to avoid troubleshooting ..

helps a child in China to get a job...

 

Have you ever changed the fuel filter? I changed one on a 2002 Astro at around 100K. It was underneath the truck next to the frame rail not far from the fuel tank. Just out of curiosity I cut opened the filter and OMG, it was amazing that fuel was able to get through it. BHW, a year later the $600 fuel pump went including the cost of the tow. I didn't feel like working under the truck with 15 gallon of gas over my head and I had little time to do it, so I had the corner shop do it.

 

Just moved across country and my pressure gauge is 1,100 miles away. Kinda need the truck to run right now.

I'll look into the fuel filter if the spark plugs don't work out. That's a cheap preventative maintenance step I should probably take anyways. Thanks WorthFlorida.

 

Regardless the fuel filter needs to be changed. Not that expensive, easier than changing the spark plugs All you need is a couple of wrenches.
The system is under constant pressure, not much but enough that the gas will squirt out as you loosen it. Just be careful.

https://www.autozone.com/filters-an...?filterByKeyWord=fuel+filter&fromString=search&isIgnoreVehicle=false&model=fuel

 

Awesome, thank you for your help WorthFlorida. I'll replace it immediately since it's cheap and easy to do. The misfire doesn't happen all the time, just started recently but I'm smelling a lot of gas when I get out of the car. This makes me think that the engine is getting enough gas, it's just not sparking which causes the rich smell. Hence the decision to replace the spark plugs. Could be a combination of both. Guess we'll see

 

Misfiring or rich mixture in the exhaust will plug up the catalytic convert(s) real fast. Raw gas is not welcomed and then you'll have a bigger problem. I guess the truck is not throwing any codes yet.

 

Your plugs probably do need to be replaced; but smell of gas is probably dirty injectors and/or lazy O2 sensors

 

Yea that's why I immediately stopped driving it. I didn't want to destroy my cat. The truck is throwing the SES light but it was throwing it for codes in the history. I was going to reset it but hadn't got the time yet. The thing was running fine until the misfires started happening. I'm surprised that the thing is having problems at all to be honest. Yea it has 132k on it but the bay is super clean and it looks very well taken care of. One of the cleanest engine bays I've seen on a truck that's almost 20 years old. She just needs some love!

A little tune up and she should be running fine. I'm anticipating a fuel pump replacement since that issue came up in my Camaro around the same mileage. But working without a garage, limited tools, in my apartment complex parking lot, in the Florida summer sun isn't exactly my idea of fun.

I saw something on YouTube about lifting the bed up with 2x4 blocks so you can get above the fuel pump. I want to try this since I don't want to drop the tank and I don't want to cut a hole in the bed.

 

Fuel pumps don't die at a defined number of miles.
Change the plugs and the front O2 sensors and see what happens.

If you still get misfires, then we'll worry about it.

 

[QUOTE=" I'm smelling a lot of gas when I get out of the car. . [/QUOTE]


you best crawl under the truck and check those fuel lines around the fuel filter common problem .. GM used poor steel lines in 2000 ... reason is I have the same truck you do...............did that job 2X...

 

[QUOTE=" I'm smelling a lot of gas when I get out of the car. .

you best crawl under the truck and check those fuel lines around the fuel filter common problem .. GM used poor steel lines in 2000 ... reason is I have the same truck you do...............did that job 2X...[/QUOTE]

I looked at the lines while I was replacing the fuel filter and everything was spotless. Its a Florida truck without a spec of rust (i'm from the midwest originally so I was pleasantly surprised that I had a vehicle without any rust at all.)

 

Its time for the 100000 mile tune up, 8 plugs and 4 oxegen sensors.

The smell of gas, is this gas smell or the smell of a rich exhast? If its the smell of gas, than what @j cat said, you need to get under there in find out asap

 

So I got the spark plugs, the spark plug wires, and the fuel filter replaced. The truck was running good for a day or two but I'm running into the flashing SES light again. I should be getting my fuel pressure gauge this weekend and so I'll run some more tests on it when I get that.

I should note that the fuel gauge is pretty messed up. It drops to completely empty and it'll go back to an accurate reading after the fuel sloshes around in the tank. I know this doesn't have anything to do with performance but it could be a tell sign of a bad fuel pump. Has anyone experienced any problems with the fuel pressure regulator?

Also I forgot to mention that I had the truck die on me as I was easing out of a parking spot.

Next steps are going to be get an updated read on the SES codes, test the fuel pressure, and make a decision on what to replace from there.

 

Thanks for the help guys