My truck was running fine and all of a sudden it just died on me. It turns on with no problem at all but will not stay on unless you keep your foot on the gas pedal. I have changed out the spark plug wires, distributer cap and rotor, fuel filter, air filter, and I checked and made sure the fuel pump was working and it is. I have no clue what else it could be. I would really appreciate any help!

Do you have a "service engine soon" light on. I have the same year truck as you and you can check the codes by your self. Check your manual or reply, and I will tell you how.Can't really think what it could be but doesn't sound too serious if it runs.Let me know.

I don't have the manual for the truck. I really would appreciate any help you can offer. Since my first post I have changed out the Idle air intake module and the Idle control sensor and now it stays on a little longer but still dies out after about 6 or 7 seconds. I still have no problem starting it up so I guess that's a good thing.

Nietofred

How are you making out?

You usually have a "service engine soon" light come on when you have a trouble code but not always. You can retrieve your trouble codes by doing this:
1... with vehicle OFF, insert a small jumper wire from two terminals in your computer diagnostic plug in. This is located underneath the dash board on the left side of steering wheel.There are two rows of 6 slots each.

2...You must jump (with a wire) the two terminals on the UPPER row at the farthest right side.(from left to right #5 and #6) The second last and the last terminal. This is your diagnostic terminal and a ground.

3...Once the wire is in , turn key to on position only, don't try to start engine. The computer will enter diagnostic mode. The service engine soon light will flash a code 12 which is, "1 flash, pause, 2 quick flashes" This is normal. It will flash this 3 times. Then if any other codes are there, it will flash them, 3 times.Then once all codes have been displayed, it will flash code 12 again. You have to watch carefully as the amount, and quickness of the flashes is important. If you get a different flash code , let me know and i will tell you what component is faulty.Make sure you turn key off before removing wire.You can reset the trouble light(if it is on) by taking off your neg battery cable for ten seconds.
I don't know how to attach a scanned image because I just scanned my manual on this procedure and wanted to send it to you. If you show me your email address I can send you the two pages in my manual that would help you out.Let me know.

Kevin

Have you figured it out? What is the problem? My 95 just started doing the same and I can't figure it out.

Check the throttle positioning sensor. Easy to replace and pretty cheap. When mine went out on my 93, it would run, but not well and was real hard shifting...

I'm currently having the same problem with my 90 c1500. I might try the trouble codes or go back to the snap-on computer i can use. I have tried replacing my dist. cap and roter, checked all the spark plugs and wires. It won't stay running unless i unplug a timing wire, or its used to reset the time, i'm not sure but it idles and runs roughly with that wire disconnected.

The same thing happened to a friend of mine. His truck would not keep a steady idle. He didn't bother looking into it because he really wouldnt use his truck and was saving his money for a new tranny and transfercase. Well couple of months later the tranny died on him and got both replaced. After that his truck worked fine. Like I said nothing was replaced but the tranny and transfercase. I can't figure out what the drivetrain has to do with the idle???

Have you checked your Coil? My truck has been doing the same thing and turns out the coil is going bad... so i ordered a whole kit from Jegs and hopfully taht fixes my problem.

kit- cap/rotor, plugs,wires and coil