Last year around this time I had my fuel pump replaced by GM. Today, someone slowed down infront of my, and I sped up once they got going again, and the car cut out for a second, then came back. Later I drove home 35 miles, let the car set for 3 hours drove another 15 miles, drove back home the same distance, but at a stop light, it cut out again as I was taking off. I was going up a hill, and up the hill the car keep on cutting out, but would go back to regular with more throttle. I came to a stop after this had happened on a back road, gave it some gas, and it would cut out 4 times before I got up to 60. When I say cut out, I mean no throttle response as the rpms drop to 0, just like the car stops! This happened last year the same way pretty much, but this is the first sign of anything happening. Luckily it is guaranteed through gm service plus if it is the fuel pump, do you all think that is it? Thanks.

 

Does anyone know what would cause it to go out so fast again?

 

ttt

 

well i dont know what would make the pump go out that fast but i would go ahead and get a new fuel pump(225 LPH) from summit i got one for $125 and put it in my dads car and i have no complaints and i wouldn't mess with a stock one anymore

 

do you let your tank get lower then 1/4 full on the gauge? if so the pump has to work harder to get the fuel which causes it to get warmer. pumps use the gas to cool itself and you should never let the fuel level get too low.

 

Since the pump went out last year, I never let the gas get below half tank on the guage. The pump will be replaced for free under the gm service plan, so I am not worried that much about that, just concerned that it went out possibly again in a year after less than 7000 miles. We changed the fuel filter today, and it still cuts out under light to heavy acceleration. The filter had a bunch of black gunk in it though. My mechanic said that it may just be water in the gas, so I put some stuff in the tank for that to see if that helps for now...

 

Well my car ran fine for a day and a half after a new fuel filter and something to get any water out of the gas was added, then I went and got gas, filled it up, and it started to miss again. This was almost an almost constant slight miss, and it really showed up under acceleration. At one point, I was setting at a red light and the car started to stutter and died! I drove it home from school after I had parked it after it died-I was only a couple hundred feet a way at the time, and it only missed under medium to heavy acceleration. I called our regular mechanic and he thinks it is bad gas and wants to put rubbing alcohol in the tank, you all heard anything like that before? The dealership says bad gas, and that I can bring it in if I want, what do you all think?

 

I have ran some sea foam through the vacuum hose, deep creep through the throttle body, and some GM fuel cleaner through the gas with no luck. I still have a miss through all rpm levels, but at times it seems to go away. I took the car in to a local shop with a computer, and the car showed no codes whatsoever. They told me to go get a cap and rotor-may as well buy the whole optispark I think-and plug wires because they THINK that may be the problem. Awfully expensive guess. What do you all think?

 

just a suggestion, check the fuel pump relay. i forget where it is, under the passenger side dash maybe. shoebox i think has it on his site.

 

Well, once again doing the basic troubleshooting steps will help you narrow it down. A fuel pressure gauge will tell you if it's a fuel delivery problem, they're relatively inexpensive and its really the only way to tell if you're having fuel system problems.
Yes, it *is* possible for a new pump to fail after only a year, but not the norm. The fuel pump in my '96 failed with 9000 miles on the clock, the car was 6 years old but with less miles than some people put on in a year, so anything it possible
If its warrantied take it back and have them run a fuel pressure test

 

Thanks for the input. Should I just get a whole new opti, or just replace the cap and rotor? The car idles up and down when no one is in it also, and backfires alot. Does that sound like the opti also?