8.1 Engine Died While Driving Down The Interstate.

[Brian]

I have never had a problem with this 2500 Avalanche until yesterday. I was driving down the Interstate doing 72 mph and the engine just died. I pulled it off to the side of the road and all it would do was crank over but no start. To me it acted like the fuel pump died. After about a couple minutes I used the On Star service for help. Tow truck the way. While waiting 20 minutes went by and the engine started fine. I contacted On Star back and canceled the tow truck and the check to see if there were any fault codes. None found. I continued on my way for another 200 miles that day with no problems. Today still no problems. The only thing I did before this was about 5 minutes before hand I just filled the beast up.

Any Ideas?
Thanks for your guys help.

 

[jasgot]

I read a TSB about this (maybe). Basically it said, sometimes the passlock system thinks the truck is stolen and shuts the fuel pump off. It says very clearly that it takes five minutes to reset. It also says that if you try to start it before the reset, the five minutes timer starts over!

 

[gpfahler]

This may be a stupid question,,,,,,but does this only apply to the 8.1? or all Avalanches.. You would also expect to get some kind of trouble code from Onstar..

Gary

 

[venado]

According to the manual the "passlock" is on all AVs. The "security" light should have flashed continuously.

 

[jstrickl]

Another problem could have been if you just filled up the tank. I have heard on other cars that filling the tank right up to the top of the neck may result in a very poorly performing engine as it has trouble sucking fuel. Apparently, an overful tank won't allow the fule pump to create the neccessary vacuum to draw fuel. Problem goes away as soon as enough gas is burned off or siphoned out of the tank.

Jamie

 

[weskico]

Brian
I hope your situation is not specific to the 8.1L engine, or even a Black 2500. Maybe the Onstar people had something to do with it. Either by accident, or maybe they were just playing with you. Had you pissed one of them recently?

 

[shafman1]

Regarding the Onstar people. I asked them once if they could shut off the engine and they told me no. Has anyone else heard any other information on this?

 

[davidw55]

Another possibility could be that you just got some trash in your fuel system when you filled up and that caused it to think it needed to shut down. Did you happen to notice if they were filling the station tanks when you were there? I've gotten trashy gas before and has caused other vehicles to almost die.

 

[bfron]

My guess would be, fuel cap not tight. My dealer warned me to always give cap at least 3 clicks when tighening or you can have fuel delivery problems.

 

[steelheadchaser]

I had a similar incident with my K1500. The engine would die after starting as soon as I attempted to drive. I had a cold engine, and a half tank of gas. Quit about 5 times. Next time I started it, it acted just fine. The dealer wasn't able to find any problems. Hopefully it was a one time deal.

 

[boatnfool]

If they can unlock your doors they can , in theory, turn off the Av. I think it had more to do with the pass system getting confused...seems like I have heard this before.

 

[shafman1]

I know in theory they could, but they told me they weren't given the capability. Plus, all you have to do is pull the Onstar fuse and it's off.

 

[etazelaar]

My 5.3L did it to me on I-94 in Detroit one night. Died at 75 mph in center lane, O Shnikees, during rush hour. IT started up after about 45 minutes of checking everything. No problems coming home the rest of the 300 miles. But the next morning would not start fresh. Towed to dealer and they couldn't duplicate problem. They claimed it was my power wireing for my accessories that did it. They did however check the connections under the dash and to the fuse box inside. It hasn't happened since for the last 23K miles.

 

[RJLACK]

First off if there was a passkey system fault it would store a code in the ecm. The gas cap being loose or the tank too full would have no effect. I would ask if the key chain you use has more than 1 new model key from another vehicle on it next to your AV key. All late model keys have transmitters that the passlock system read codes from. There is a TSB about this problem. A problem with ignition or fuel pump secondary circuit should also have stored a code. I have not seen a problem like you have stated yet so I cannot say for sure. Did you say you were at cruise speed or idle when it shut down? I will check for similar problems on Iatn and post info if it is available. By the way anyone who has a problem I as a Automotive Technician and having access to the Iatn - International automotive technicians network would be happy to research them for you. Please be patient as each member has a limited number of inquiries a week and it can take several days to get a qualified response on a question, so please exhaust other means before asking.

 

[GreatWest]

I just had the same thing happen. I have about 60K on my 8.1 2500. A friend and I were at lunch, driving down the road about 35mph returning to the office and the engine just died. No warning, no lights, nothing on the little computer display, it just died. I stopped and tried to start it. Sounded like there were no fuel or ignition. Waited a few minutes and the engine started up, I put it into drive and touched the gas, it died. This was repeated a few minutes later. Figuring twice was one to many times, I started looking for a tow truck to come and tow me off the road. After about five minutes I figured I'd try one more time. This time the truck fired right up, put it into drive and drove the rest of the way to the office, absolutely no issues, nothing on the display, no idiot lights, all readings were normal. Strange, this is the first time this has ever happend. I'll be signing up for AAA towing tonight now that I can no longer trust my truck to keep running. After getting to the office, I popped the hood and took a look for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing, everything looked fine. Very strange!

 

[DougD]

Crank Position Sensor

 

[RichUF]

I'm surprised that OviedoAV hasn't posted in this thread.  It is one of his most favorite topics for which to give the quick answer that dougd gave 

 

[GreatWest]

Crank Position Sensor

Don't think so. When the truck stalled while at the stop light the other day I shifted to park and noticed that the indicator on the dash still showed I was in drive. I shut the key off then turned it back on. The tranny shifted to park. I could hear the tranny shift and the indicator stepped through to park. I started the truck and pulled the shifter back into drive, and drove home. The truck stalled twice that day though I only noticed it stayed in drive the one time when I shifted to park. This sounds more like a computer failing. What do you think?

 

[OviedoAV]

I'm surprised that OviedoAV hasn't posted in this thread. It is one of his most favorite topics for which to give the quick answer that dougd gave

Ok , here you go. If you have the 2002, 2500, it is the Crankshaft Position Sensor. No ifs, ands, or butts. Replace the CPS, and your problems will be solved.  BTW, don't let the dealer try to change your mind, just have them replace it. Good luck, and let us know what happens!

 

[OviedoAV]

I just had the same thing happen. I have about 60K on my 8.1 2500. A friend and I were at lunch, driving down the road about 35mph returning to the office and the engine just died. No warning, no lights, nothing on the little computer display, it just died. I stopped and tried to start it. Sounded like there were no fuel or ignition. Waited a few minutes and the engine started up, I put it into drive and touched the gas, it died. This was repeated a few minutes later. Figuring twice was one to many times, I started looking for a tow truck to come and tow me off the road. After about five minutes I figured I'd try one more time. This time the truck fired right up, put it into drive and drove the rest of the way to the office, absolutely no issues, nothing on the display, no idiot lights, all readings were normal. Strange, this is the first time this has ever happend. I'll be signing up for AAA towing tonight now that I can no longer trust my truck to keep running. After getting to the office, I popped the hood and took a look for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing, everything looked fine. Very strange!

GreatWest, please see my post? above, this also applies to you. Go get it replaced, 0r it will get worse.

I have never been wrong in diagnosing this problem, I am 18 for 18 so far. Prove me wrong!

 

[GreatWest]

GreatWest, please see my post? above, this also applies to you. Go get it replaced, 0r it will get worse.

I have never been wrong in diagnosing this problem, I am 18 for 18 so far. Prove me wrong!

I'm changing it out the crank shaft position sensor this weekend for sure. I've also posted with the nths. Thanks to all for the information and help. This was driving me nuts, or uh, stalling I mean.

 

[2002AVA]

When this happened to my 1500 it was a lose battery connection. I had taken it to the dealer 3 times with no fault codes. So finally the truck was there and it died. It shut off their little computer tool also. They tightened the battery cables problem solved.

I did notice that before it would die I would get a whining noise in the stereo speakers like a lose ground.

My battery had been in there for 90k at the time of this.

Hope this helps.

 

[GreatWest]

Checked all that and much more. No issues found so I do think it's the sensor. To many dead on issues with other 8.1L 2002 2500's. Even if by some slim chance it's not, for $100.00 in parts it's worth changing out. If it hasn't gone bad, it will  So I"m with OviedoAV on this one. Thanks for the info though, every little bit helps.

 

[albinomeatball]

I have a 2002 2500 as well.  I bought it about two months ago and had a remote starter installed at purchase.  The dang thing died on me five times now.  The dealer kept thinking it was something to do with the remote starter.  Two rremote starters later they hooked it up to a diagonistics machine.  The concept was that they let it run until it died again and the machine could record the problem.  My baby ran through three tanks of fuel until it finally died.  All the machine could figure was that it was either the fuel pump circuit or the crankshaft postioning sensor(CPS).  I belive it's CPS.  For those who don't know, the CPS tells the individual injectors when to release fuel in relation to the crank.  I know for a fact that my pump is working because I had my buddy listen for it near the tank when I tried cranking just to make sure.  I hope this helps you.  It's been annoying the heck out of me!

 

[GreatWest]

Picked up the crankshaft position sensor Saturday and after locating it on the back of the block I decided it would be worth the money to let the Chevy Tech install it. Thanks to you all in pointing me in the right direction. From the service order - "Customer states the vehicle dies while driving - customer has own part. Replace crank sensor. 57687 P0355 stored in PCM. 2.5Hrs Diagnosed and replaced faulty crank sensor." Total out the door with Texas Vehicle inspection $281.68 + $113.00 for the sensor. Much better than $1000.00 fuel pump and filter that wouldn't have solved anything.?