Grand Am Pontiac 2002 issues?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Eveamlizya
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Eveamlizya

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Ok, my friend's car has been having issues. They said it's been going on for a couple years always in the summer and it only does this once and then it's fine for a while. We were driving yesterday (it's in arkansas so it was feeling about like over 100 degrees yesterday and humid) and the car just shut off while he was driving. We pulled over and tried to start it again and it would try to start but wouldn't...after waiting for a little while it finally started and we drove a little more and it did the same thing again. There was one of the times when we stopped that I saw a white hazy smoke which looked like cigarette smoke but wasn't. We finally got it to start again and drove into a parking lot...went to a restaurant and ate lunch then went back out and it started perfectly fine.
We've asked a couple people about it and we've got a couple ideas as to what it might be...the main idea is the fuel filter. They do have a major oil leak and we don't know where it's coming from...they just got a new starter.

Any ideas would be great...
 
If the engine just shuts off like a flip of the switch then the common heat related component that fails is the crank sensor but electrical failures will almost always set an error code but not running out of gas which means fuel pump.

After the engine dies listen for the high pitched whine sound of the fuel pump. If it is present then the pump has not completely died. If it is gone but the pump sound returns and then the engine starts - there you have it. A related condition is needing to turn the key on and wait several seconds before cranking because you learned the engine will not start until you hear the pump noise decrease. If so then things are pointing to the fuel. A new fuel pump makes very little noise. That grows as they age.
 
Go to the "GM Litigation" web-sites. It is VERY possible that your intake manifold and gasket are mixing coolant with your incoming air. This would cause the smoke you mentioned. Improper oil use can sludge over your engine seals and gaskets, too. Fix the intake gasket, de-sludge your engine, and only use oils that state on the label, "designed for use in GM vehicles." SEE???
 
You might be overheating and you dont even know it. That is why the car keeps shutting off. The car is trying to save the engine before you mess it up. Check the oil if it looks kind of like chocolate milk you might have messed it up already.
 
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