1998 Chevy Malibu after driving car for a hour it sguts down with no warning?

DORENE

MEMBER
1998 CHEVROLET MALIBU
18,000 MILES

I shut off car after driving for an hour or so and it wouldn't start but turned over with full crank. After about 10 min. It started again and drove for a few more hrs. I changed spark plugs and fuel filter but today it shut down while driving with no warning after about 15min it started back up.

1 Reply

DRCRANKNWRENCH

MECHANIC
3,380 POSTS

The fuel pump relay may be failing intermitantly. The next time it shuts off and won't start you can check the relay. It is best to have an assistant as you are going to listen for the pump to prime the fuel system. It may be a faint noise and it would help to have somone get as close to the fuel pump as possible. When you turn the key to the, "ON" or"RUN" position the fuel pump will run for 2 seconds. It will make a whirring noise as it pressurizes the system. If you do not hear this noise, you might check again with the same test when it is running to see if you can hear the pump at all. If you can hear the pump when its running and not when it won't run, the fuel pump relay needs to be replaced.
The first thing you can do before waitng on it to stall is to have the trouble codes pulled. Any Advance Auto or Auto Zone will do this for free.