97 Tahoe died on the highway and would not start
 

Short story with a happy ending.

I was going down I-95 to work yesterday running around 70 when it just had no power. I coasted off the road and walked the rest of the way.. It wasnt too far.

I dont like trying to fix anything on the highway so I had it towed home. After a little trouble shooting I found it was getting no spark at least to all cylinders. I pulled the cap and saw what you see in the pic below. They were burnt to a crisp. Put a new set in there and it started right up.

These had nearly 60K miles on them so it was time.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...MG_8922_1_.JPG

Re: 97 Tahoe died on the highway and would not start
 

I had that happen on my 02 couple years ago. ILooked at everything but the cap and rotor. I had spark showing, but turned out it was very weak. I guess mine were due as the truck still had original cap, rotor, and wires according to my friend/mechanic. Only 198K on them. :rolleyes:

Re: 97 Tahoe died on the highway and would not start
 

60k is not enough for that kind of wear and the truck not running.

That's easy to understand
 

I've had cap and rotors be fine one day and the exact next day not start.

The vents are critical on Vortecs. Check your vents on the distributor.

Re: 97 Tahoe died on the highway and would not start
 

Location: Mesa, AZ


61_FL_Apache Location: Florida


Salt air will do a number on ignition parts. We were camping on Padre Island for several days and the pickup wouldn't start. I had a spare set of points and put them in and it started but ran like crap until we got into town and a Walmart where I could buy a new cap and rotor.

Re: 97 Tahoe died on the highway and would not start
 

Im near the coast, but never go within 5 miles of the beach in this truck anyway..

I will check out the vents mentioned. Thanks!

Re: 97 Tahoe died on the highway and would not start
 

I'm just talking about the difference between the semi-arid mountain west and sea level anywhere near the ocean.

Re: 97 Tahoe died on the highway and would not start
 

AS you can see, im still working this issue and finally have it solved. Im not a professional mechanic so I did not know that my cap and rotor issues are directly affected by the P1345 code. I have had this code for 6+ years and I did research the code, I didnt think I had the tools to resolve it until today.

Thanks to a guy on you tube, he shows how you can take an old cap and modify it to watch the spark for cyl #5. see below.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...MG_0596_1_.JPG

I took this as I adjusted it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYMKenBb6TA

Here is a 2nd video of it resolved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5RgpjPK8wQ

This is the video that helped me resolve this issue. He did something different with the dist. hold down bracket that I didnt need to do. Mine had room for adjustment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obP09XSt4Yo&t=386s