I have a 90 iroc 5.7 tpi. Yesterday I was driving and the car just shut off after bogging down and then violently backfiring. My fuel pressure is 40 with the key in the on position but immediately begins to fall off. Down to zero within 10 seconds with key still on. I had no spark at the distributor so changed the coil. Still no spark. Now I have issues with my vats system however my ignition coil and starter are connected to a switch and push button because of this. Any ideas what my issue could be? Please please help

 

The ignition module (ESM?) in the distributor died while the engine was running. Spark stops, fuel still goes in, does not burn, goes through, then boom out back as the engine dies and shuts down.

 

WOW! You must know TPI like the "Back of your hand"!

I thought FOR SURE, it was failed Muffler Bearings!

 

It does sound like the ignition module is the first place to start testing.

GD

 

I'm not bad at TPI but I'm pretty sure because it happened to me and it went down exactly like that, Lol.

Always change the muffler bearing filter!

 

Ok so i replaced the ignition module along with the coil. They were both under warranty. Still the same. I read somewhere about the pickup coil. Could that be the cause of my issue? I measured the resistance across the 2 leads of the pickup and its open. Is this normal?

 

It could be the pickup coil as well, yes. It shouldn't be open.

GD

 

I have also seen the distributor gear strip many times on factory TPI motors.

 

Yeah, I should've mentioned the pickup also. Once you are in there better to just freshen up everything.