# Car advice - sputtery engine
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-advice-sputtery-engine/693325
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 17, 2014, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-advice-sputtery-engine/693325 "2014-07-17T01:35:29Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-advice-sputtery-engine/693325/1 "2014-07-17T01:35:29Z")
If a guy happened to be 400km in to a 700km trip when his 2003 Malibu that normally makes 15 minute commutes stalled at 90km/hr, sputters briefly when restarted and shows no codes on an ODBC reader… what would you recommend?
(need answers while I’m near WiFi in the Rockies 😉 )
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-advice-sputtery-engine/693325/2 "2014-07-17T01:42:32Z")
I’d ask how it’s running otherwise.
Stalled once, sputters a little when it starts…maybe cross your fingers and don’t start taking the engine apart on the side of the road if you don’t have to and you’re nowhere near home…
Beyond that? Fuel filter? Fuel pump? Something wonky with the injectors?
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### Author:  [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-advice-sputtery-engine/693325/3 "2014-07-17T01:47:20Z")
Oh, by that I mean it sputters then stops. I haven’t tried revving it. Since it fortuitously died near the Wapta Inn I’m seeing if it will mend itself while I eat. (You can tell I’m a total car guy)
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### Author:  [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-advice-sputtery-engine/693325/4 "2014-07-17T01:49:30Z")
For the past few years its been more thbbbbbth than vrrmmmm, but then it is a 2003.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-advice-sputtery-engine/693325/5 "2014-07-17T02:07:05Z")
So, just to be clear, it’s not drivable right now?
Silly question, but you do have gas in the tank, right?
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### Author:  [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-advice-sputtery-engine/693325/6 "2014-07-17T02:16:50Z")
Over 1/2 a tank…gauges are all good, just the ABS light but that’s been on since last year… electrical seems good cause I had the tunes cranked so loud I didn’t realise the engine quit for 10 seconds.
Just tried starting it - cranks great but not even a splutter this time. I think the fuel pump is a good guess.
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### Author:  [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-advice-sputtery-engine/693325/7 "2014-07-17T02:23:26Z")
It sounds like a fuel problem, but it’s also possible your alternator went out-- are you sure the light wasn’t on? and you were running on battery power until it couldn’t maintain the speed, and it died, then there wasn’t enough juice to start it.
Do you know how long it’s been since you put in gas? sometimes fuel gauges break, or the float gets stuck.
Oh, I see you said it cranks. Cars don’t usually vapor lock anymore, but they can if there’s a leak in the fueline. Are you missing a clamp anywhere you can see?
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### Author:  [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-advice-sputtery-engine/693325/8 "2014-07-17T02:46:39Z")
Well, it’s a problem with either fuel or spark. I don’t think it’s a fuel filter because when they fail it’s usually not sudden like how you described.
Start with the basics - visually check all electrical wires and see if they’re connected and look good (not cracked or kinked or otherwise damaged).
Check the engine for any fuel leaks. You’d likely smell that.
I think you can pull a spark plug and connect it back to its wire, then have someone crank the engine while you hold its plug tip to a metal source (ground it) and see if it sparks - HOWEVER, I’ve never done this myself so do not know if holding the wire is safe or if any other precaution is needed. Hopefully someone here, or there with you, will know. That would tell you if you had spark at that plug. You may need to check all six plugs in this V-6.
As for diagnosing a fuel feed problem, I’m drawing a blank now.
But it has to be either a fuel feed problem or an electrical problem, right?
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### Author:  [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-advice-sputtery-engine/693325/9 "2014-07-17T03:28:39Z")
Is it possible that you put gas from an unrealiable pump ? with water in it ? it usually is not a problem if you have 10% ethanol gas. If you suspect water, add HEET to your tank.
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### Author:  [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-advice-sputtery-engine/693325/10 "2014-07-17T03:34:25Z")
Shell is normally really good quality, so I think that’s OK. Its kinda noisy here, but I sshould normally hear what research indicates is the fuel pump priming when I turn the key. I remember that noise, but its not making it right now, so the fuel pump is my main suspect. The tow truck is on the way, so now I just have to figure out how late I can rent a car way out here.
Thanks!
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### Author:  [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-advice-sputtery-engine/693325/11 "2014-07-17T04:27:57Z")
My crystal ball says a new fuel pump is in your future too, although kind hard to diagnose from afar.
It’s not unheard of for a weak fuel pump that behaves just fine on short trips to get fried on a long trip in hot weather. What happens is that the gas that doesn’t get injected gets circulated back to the gas tank. Since the fuel lines on top of the engine are freakin’ hot, this has the side effect of gradually heating up the gas in the tank and the fuel pump. Since the gas is what cools and lubricates the fuel pump, heating it up can be the final nail in the coffin of a weak pump.
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### Author:  [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-advice-sputtery-engine/693325/12 "2014-07-19T16:42:58Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#):
>
> My crystal ball says a new fuel pump is in your future too
Yep, that was the deal. 900$ and a day later I made it to the hill. Should probably accelerate my trade-in adventures. Thanks for the hints! 🙂
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### Author:  [@Jim\_Bow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_Bow)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-advice-sputtery-engine/693325/13 "2014-07-19T19:42:42Z")
FYI: ]Others have shared your problem.
[http://www.carcomplaints.com/Chevrolet/Malibu/2003/fuel\_system/fuel\_pump\_failed.shtml](http://www.carcomplaints.com/Chevrolet/Malibu/2003/fuel_system/fuel_pump_failed.shtml)
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### Author:  [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-advice-sputtery-engine/693325/14 "2014-07-21T02:14:58Z")
Does your car have a distributor?
The problem may be a bad igniter module; thats the problem my mom’s old civic had.