It usually needs to cool off to restart. And then it does so like nothing ever happened. Thanks for all the responses. It will go in to get checked/codes/diagnosed Tuesday I’ll post up what is found.

 

Update….car is fixed. It was the Optispark and coil. They put in a “cardone” brand. They never called just replaced it. Cleaned fuel system and fluid flush…..it runs excellent. I’ll post some good pics once I get it all detailed. Thanks for all the input I’m sure I’ll be back with questions…..

 

Thanks for letting us know what happened. I'm having much the same issue. Mine may not get fully warmed up before it dies, but it usually had time for the oil and water temps to get to maybe 170 and 150 respectively. Mine usually starts again after just a minute or two. Then, like yours, runs just fine. For a short while.
Am I right in thinking that's what yours did it did I misunderstand something?

 

Yes, mine would run great until it got warmed up usually 5 min or so, and then would just cut out. The gm tech who fixed it (was older and worked on them). Said the opti was shot and specifically the coil was super hot to the touch. I replaced all that crap. I would guess your opti and coil are bad based off what I learned from owning this for a while now. Once that was changed out I put on 5k miles last summer relatively trouble free. once I got those parts ( my car had basically sat for 7 years). The more I drove it the better it was. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the quick reply.
How long did you have to let yours cool down? Mine is usually just a couple of minutes or less. Except the other day when it took over an hour.

 

It would depend. After 10 min or so it would fire up like nothing happened.

 

Ok. Mine varies. Usually it's just a minute or so. But it has taken as long as an hour. Yesterday, I was able to find a large difference in fuel pressure at the Schrader valve between when the car was in trouble and when it was not. So I'm looking at a new filter and likely a new pump. Or, a wiring issue, but we don't want to say that part out loud.

 

I changed the fuel pressure regulator and all the injectors too. It very well could be your fuel pump. I budgeted for repairs when I bought the car and I want to drive it without worry so I spent some money doing preventative stuff too. Could be your ICM too. There are lots of threads on that too. Hope you get it sorted out.

 

Another major issue I inherited when I got the car was the battery connection was intermittent. The previous owner put on a disconnect on the negative terminal. It caused issues with the car. I took that out and just put it back to the bolt and the negative terminal and it took many intermittent issues away. Along with a new battery. I would occasionally have a power cut out and it was the battery losing connection for a split second. Nerve racking as hell in traffic. Changed that out and all that went away. Just good for thought.

 

Ten years ago we went on an extended road trip. Heading toward Amarillo the car resumed what it had started doing the day before - just as you describe. The longer we waited after it died, the longer until the next failure. But it was 102 degrees and we'd try to coast to an underpass to wait it out. Go like hell, then see where it died.

Long story short, the fuel pump sock had come off somewhere in the past and was just along for the ride. The inlet of the fuel pump was totally plugged with dirt, crud and what looked like tiny grass. Apparently there is a thermocouple which shuts the pump off when it overheated, then let us continue as it cooled. Replaced the sock, fuel pump and pulsator, and 10 years later it's still running fine.

Your issue may or may not be different, but food for thought.....

 

I sure hope it's that easy for me. But I've got to wonder how that stuff got into your gas tank to begin with. I'd probably be kind of antsy for a while after that.
I've had the same idea about my fuel filter. Wondering if maybe some stuff was inside it, eventually would all move to the front, block fuel flow, starve the car down, then the stuff settles down and lets the car start again. I hadn't thought about that happening with the fuel sock inside the tank, though. I'll find out soon enough.

 

I think the stuff gradually blew in there various times I filled the tank. The year before that, we had the same symptom on the way to the forum's St. Jude's presentation, but it cleared up on its own. My guess is the sock had been off for a long time and gradually the crud accumulated in the small orifice on the pump. When we got into the Oklahoma and Texas mid-summer heat, it took less for the pump to overheat.

Normally, the best approach is to diagnose problems completely rather than throwing parts at them. Your test of fuel pressure may not remove all doubt but it sure suggests the possibility of the same issue. How long has it been since those items have been replaced? It's relatively cheap, relatively easy, and relatively quick. If it's been some years since you last had a look, it might be worth just doing it. At worst you will eliminate that possibility and hopefully won't have to deal with it again.

And yes, we WERE antsy for quite a while. The original plan had been to head down to San Antonio, then home across eastern Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. After replacing the parts, we headed back home to NY instead. Never had any more issues with it since.

 

I'm not sure how long it's been, but it's definitely not original. The PO replaced the gas tank and the lines under the car, so I'm assuming the car as well. He had saved all of his old parts and gave them to me. I have the old fuel pump. If he tells me he replaced it on principle I'll swap in the old pump as a test.

 

That's not a bad idea. No cost.

 

Like they say, "Half price is nice, but free is for me!"