I have '88 Isuzu Trooper that has been sputtering lately. I’ll be driving for a while then all of a sudden, it will start sputtering, lose all power and die. When I try to restart it, it will go immediately back to sputtering/dying mode. It’s done it 3 times now. The first time, I waited about 20-30 minutes and was able to drive it for 5 minutes before the problem happened again. After waiting ~1 hour it started just fine and drove fine. The car drove fine for a few weeks then the same thing happened… again, after waiting a few hours, it drove fine. I didn’t have the problem again for a year and just happened again last night. Any ideas??? Thank you in advance. Dave
I would have a fuel pressure test run on your Trooper and replace the fuel filter…just in case.
Is the problem rain or moisture related?
Besides the above, check the egr and fuel pump.
Thanks for all the comments. I was able to run it for a while in my driveway to get a better idea of what’s happening. So, it runs fine for a while, then, it will start to sputter. If I give it some gas I can keep it from dying. BUT, when I do this, it sounds bad, almost like it’s running on less than all of its cylinders. After fighting it for a minute or so, finally I can’t do anything and it dies. Could that still be fuel related? @Barkydog , no, it is not rain or moisture related.
sounds like it may be a fuel pressure problem
Can you hook up a fuel pressure gauge?
I would think on this vehicle, you may have to tee in, as I doubt it has a fuel pressure test port
When it sputters, it would be interesting to know what your fuel pressure is