My '02 blazer just got revived, but today I discovered a weird problem. As I was trying to parallel park, and turned my steering wheel all the way to the left, the engine stalled! It happened 3 times in a row as I had to use hard left turns to back my car into the position. Googled for this and it seems like a rather common problem, but unfortunately there was no helpful solutions. I am hoping to get some insights from this forum.
(information on the revive: the engine won’t start, until a mechanic boosted the battery to 250amp and got it started. for more detail pls see “how did low 4wd kill the engine http://act…37645.page”
Do you mean turning the steering wheel until it won’t go further? Just don’t do that.
When you reach the wheel limit stop the fluid pressure goes way up and the PS pump has to work a lot harder. There’s a pressure limit valve (probably built into the pump) and that might not be working correctly.
so should I get this valve replaced (possibly the entire pump)? it is just annoying when I try to p-park. it is not that i intensionally pull the wheel all the way until it goes no more, but just a habit hard to break…
It’s bad for the whole steering system to hold the wheel against either lock. When you hit the lock, back off just a hair and you will be okay.
I certainly shall do that… but the problem at the moment, is that as soon as the wheel reaches that point, the engine stalls.
You need to ensure that the engine is in good tune. It should have a good idle, AND, when you push the gas pedal a little bit, the rpm should smoothly increase. If in gear, the truck should accelerate smoothly WHEN THE GAS PEDAL IS DEPRESSED JUST A LITTLE.
There is a power steering pressure switch. When the steering is turned, this switch sends a signal to the engine computer. In response, the engine computer commands the fuel injectors (and, maybe the idle air control valve (iacv) to inject a little more fuel (or, a little more air, from the iacv). If something in this circuit isn’t working properly, the engine won’t get that little boost it needs when the extra load on the engine is applied, and the engine will stumble, or stall.
Inspect a couple of spark plugs. If any don’t look real good, replace them.
A dirty intake tract (the big plastic tube and the throttle body) could be restricting air flow into the engine cylinders. The intake tract, iacv, throttle body bore and throttle plate can be cleaned with Throttle Body Cleaner spray. Disconnect the large plastic tube and spray toward the throttle body. Run the engine until it clears. Repeat as necessary.