View Thread: 00' Malibu died while I was driving it


annegia
Hi :)

A couple weeks ago, my Malibu died as I was driving on the road. Tried to start the car back up and each time, the crank got weaker and weaker til' it didn't crank at all. Checked under the engine and I saw that there was some corrosion on the battery Cleaned it off, got the car jump started, and all was fine.

A few days ago, my car died again while I was driving. Each time I tried to start the car, it would crank but not fire up. I waited a few minutes and tried again...this time it worked, but only for a few minutes...then it died.

I don't know what's going on...not sure if it's related to what happened a couple weeks ago or if it's totally unrelated. Was wondering if this has happened to anyone else...any suggestions? Bad alternator, fuel pump maybe? Thanks !

-annegia

FabUlous
i can sum your problem up easily.....YOURE DRIVING A CHEVY :fro:

mustangdriver
That's not a very good welcome to the forum! :D

Some of our gearhead guys should be on later in the day, one of them may have an idea. I'm not all that mechanical unfortunately. I can drive em, just can't fix em :D

FabUlous
yeah sorry man i didnt mean to come off as an asshole, but welcome to the forums, its a really good time....i learned almost everythnig from this forum!!!:hitit:

annegia
FabUlous - At this point, I'm gonna have to agree with you :) lol

preludedriver - I hear ya'...driving is the easy part, hehe...fixing them is a whole other story :) I'll check back later and pray that the 'gearhead guys' have some suggestions, lol...thanks!!

-annegia

SLP Addict
HEHE, maybe you got somthin poped in ur gas tank........marbles, powder cement, of so, thats gonna be a bitch.

911GT2
I'd say something in the fuel delivery. Engine heat can make the fuel pump seize or some fuel in constricted lines to congeal and block off. That would explain it running for a couple minutes.

I know this can happen in early 90s Fords (usually a fuel pump seizure). But without actually checking, it's sorta impossible.

Rotary Boy
Originally posted by 911GT2
I'd say something in the fuel delivery. Engine heat can make the fuel pump seize or some fuel in constricted lines to congeal and block off. That would explain it running for a couple minutes.

I know this can happen in early 90s Fords (usually a fuel pump seizure). But without actually checking, it's sorta impossible.

ding, ding, ding we have a winner

if you have a feul pump that has been damaged(for whatever reason) then as the feul pump heats up it can begin to fuck up. this is what happens if you have honey in your gas tank(syrup and molasis do somthing totally different) that may not be what it is however. I would look into getting your feul delivery system checked out, have some one take a look at your feul pump and you lines(change that filter while you are at it). if you have somthing in them then they can foul at what will seem like random times. does the problem only happen if the car is warmed up? is it hard to start other than the times right after it has died(ie hard to start for no apparent reason?) is the car running funny in any way other than this(lag in accleration, poor overall performance?)

it's somthing you will want to have looked at, it may be just as simple as a new feul pump, filter and maybe lines.

911GT2
Haha, sweet!

I remember that in particular because a friend's Mercury Sable broke down with that exact problem on the highway going to another friend's cottage.

annegia
911GT2 - Thanks! We ended up taking the car to a shop for a diagnosis. They'll be checking out the fuel delivery system..I supsect that it is the fuel pump.

Rotary Boy - Thanks much for the explanation and suggestions :) To answer your questions...yep, the problem only happens once the car has warmed up (after about 15 minutes of driving). This last time before it died, I did notice that there was a lag in acceleration after taking a couple turns...that's about all. As far as having problems starting it at other times...there have been just a few instances in which I've had to crank it a second time to get it started.

I'll let ya' know the outcome...thanks again!

-annegia

TURBOZ
I'm thinking fuel pump as well, if its not, have them check the fuel pressure regulator, I think its the same one as in the monte carlo, and they go out every once in a while.

masestylez
Originally posted by SLP Addict
HEHE, maybe you got somthin poped in ur gas tank........marbles, powder cement, of so, thats gonna be a bitch.

Well if thats it you know who fuckin did it.

Rotary Boy
well that stuff is not the worst thing you can have in your tank, it's pretty easy to diagnos and thus deal with.

last fall a girl came in with an obvious hand-me-down accord that was suddenly not running properly, hmm figures out it the feul system, when through one at a time checking stuff to find the culprit, eventually i was alittle stumped, turned out someone really hated this girl becuase they had taken a peice of cellophane(size of sheet of paper) and folded it until it was the size of a credit card and then tied it with a rubber band and put it in her tank. it confuses service people because it presents them with the symptoms for problems the car doesn't have, and is a bitch to fix(the rubber band falls apart and the cellophane opens up and blocks feul delivery, but when you drain the tank teh cellophane sticks to the wall of the tank and you think it is out when it isn't)

a mean thing to do to someones car.

masestylez
Originally posted by Rotary Boy
well that stuff is not the worst thing you can have in your tank, it's pretty easy to diagnos and thus deal with.

last fall a girl came in with an obvious hand-me-down accord that was suddenly not running properly, hmm figures out it the feul system, when through one at a time checking stuff to find the culprit, eventually i was alittle stumped, turned out someone really hated this girl becuase they had taken a peice of cellophane(size of sheet of paper) and folded it until it was the size of a credit card and then tied it with a rubber band and put it in her tank. it confuses service people because it presents them with the symptoms for problems the car doesn't have, and is a bitch to fix(the rubber band falls apart and the cellophane opens up and blocks feul delivery, but when you drain the tank teh cellophane sticks to the wall of the tank and you think it is out when it isn't)

a mean thing to do to someones car.

Also creating what you use for vengence on the person who did it to you. Napalm.:flame:

P.O.P.Crypt
Hi my name is tom and i'm new!

who is the main administrator?

masestylez
Hi Tom! You mean the owner? Sia Bani is.

FabUlous
welcome tom! yeah the owner is sia, the administrator is preludedriver, and theres a buncha moderators........then theres SLP......we donno what he is :fro:

scubie02
I would have thought fuel filter first, or crap in the tank. As you drive it gradually plugs the filter. Then once it has stalled and sat a few minutes, the crud settles off the filter again and it'll start usually eventually. Though it could also be the doohicky that keeps the fuel from leaking back and sort of flooding it...can't think f the technical name...

As far as things in the tank...I had an aide who swore someone she knew (sister maybe? Can't remember) had bought a car at one of those gov't sales of confiscated vehicles etc--big ol' caddy or lincoln or something--but they never seemed to be able to get much gas in and the fuel gauge was always acting funny, etc, so finally it went in the shop and they took the tank off and it had body parts in it. I know, sounds urban legendish, but she swore it was true and her sister sort of hung w/ an "unsavory" crowd, so nothing would surprise me...

scubie02
Originally posted by P.O.P.Crypt
Hi my name is tom and i'm new!

who is the main administrator?

Ok, this sounds sort of like an ominous, or possibly trollish, sort of question...

annegia
Just an quick update...turns outs it was the fuel pump. I had it replaced and all is fine (for now anyway, lol). Thanks guys!

-annegia