1994 Firehawk stalls while being driven

Post your comments & questions

Moderators: FAOA Administrators, FAOA Moderators

Post Reply
tracyfan_1
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2007 9:09 pm

1994 Firehawk stalls while being driven

Post by tracyfan_1 » Tue Jul 20, 2010 5:02 am

Hello fellow Firehawk Owners,

I have come to you guys because i am having a problem with my 1994 Pontiac Firehawk. After returning from school about a month and a half ago, i started to drive my vehicle again (While at school the vehicle was being driven).
The first week all was fine until the following week when i was going to my sisters house. After being on the freeway driving with a constant velocity of 65 mph for around 2 minutes, the car suddenly shut off. From the time i turned the car on at home to the time it shut off it was approximately 14 minutes. Once i realized the vehicle had shut off, i immediately got into the emergency lane. Once i came to a complete stop, i tried to turn the vehicle back on with no luck. Tried again in 20 seconds with no luck. Waited 1 minute and no luck again. After many more unsuccessful attempts, i waited 2 minutes before trying again. This time it did turn on. I ignored the fact that it happened and got back on the freeway and drove to my sisters house.

On my way back from my sisters house, driving for about 30 minutes, the car shut off again. I waited and got it to turn on once again which it did.

The problem i am having is that my car keeps shutting off unexpectedly.

We decided to take it to multiple mechanics to see what the problem was.
Mechanic 1 told us that it was going to the the fuel pump.
Mechanic 2 told us it was going to the the floater inside the gas.
Mechanic 3 told us it was also going to be the floater.

I put in a new coil and a new module because i was told it might have just been the coil causing the problems, and it was not.

The fuel pump has been replaced twice already, and mechanic 1 was the mechanic who replaced it both times, and he is saying it is the fuel pump again.

The estimate to remove and replace the floater was $1300 and a lot of money has been put into this vehicle already it is ridiculous.

Has anyone had a similar problem, and if so please tell me how you fixed it or what was causing this to occur because $1300 is a big investment to put down to try to solve this problem.

I am located in the Los Angeles area so if any of you know of any reliable mechanics who can help me solve this problem please pm me the shop and ill look into it because i really do want to get this problem solved.

Thank you,
Joey

PontiacFan
Posts: 2629
Joined: Tue Nov 26, 2002 2:46 pm
Location: Kearney, NE

Re: 1994 Firehawk stalls while being driven

Post by PontiacFan » Tue Jul 20, 2010 10:33 am

Have you had the car scanned for any error codes?
Was the SES light on or not? Probably not since you didn't mention it, so you may not have any codes available to look at.

Have you thought about using the 'trap door method' of changing the fuel pump? Much easier job that way.
There are many other sites that will show you where to cut. I found both of these with a quick Google search.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/348183/9
http://www.taekwondoplus.org/z28/fuelpump.html

Has either of these mechanics that recommend the fuel pump had a pressure tester on the system for any length of time? Or are they simply guessing?

User avatar
96AZHAWK
Posts: 779
Joined: Wed Jun 23, 2004 6:35 pm
Location: Mesa,AZ

Re: 1994 Firehawk stalls while being driven

Post by 96AZHAWK » Tue Jul 20, 2010 4:07 pm

My first guess as I was reading is the fuel pump, but that is very easy to check and make sure if it is working or not. Fuel pressure gauge on the fuel rail and a multi-meter to check voltage at the pump. As mentioned above, I am curious if they checked the pump at all. I would recommend the trap door method also, I have done that on my LT1 car.

My second guess is something electrical, bad ground maybe, but I wouldn't jump to that conclusion at all. I am in the Phoenix area so if you can bring it out to me, I can fix it for you. :lol:

The "floater" attached to the fuel pump bucket assembly is only for fuel level... has nothing to do with fuel pump or pressure. Mechanics 2 and 3 to me... would not be trusted with my 94 honda. :lol:

User avatar
BLACK-HAWK
Posts: 2703
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2005 2:59 pm
Location: Somewhere in New Mexico
Contact:

Re: 1994 Firehawk stalls while being driven

Post by BLACK-HAWK » Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:01 pm

i HIGHLY recommend pneumatic shears and the " trap door " saves tones of time and no flying sparks. jump on http://www.ls1tech.com and search: " trap door "


http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/fueling-injection-8/

http://www.custom-products.com/CustomPr ... penelement
2001#194 (Unicorn)

tracyfan_1
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2007 9:09 pm

Re: 1994 Firehawk stalls while being driven

Post by tracyfan_1 » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:26 am

Here is an update.

We just finished getting the fuel pump replaced once again.
Today was the test day to drive the vehicle around and see how it is working. The day stared off ok, except up to a few hours ago. After driving the vehicle for some time today, i had trouble once again.

After driving the car around a bit, i arrived at a friends house. Was on my way a few minutes later.
I get into the car and try to turn it on. First try, it turns on but a few seconds later it turns off. Kept trying and trying but with no luck.

Gave it 5 minutes, tried again, and didnt turn on.

Ended up jumping the car because the battery died after trying it so many times. The car turned on after jumping it. Let it stay on for 5 minutes, shut it off and tried to turn it on again. No luck. Let the car sit out for 25 minutes, and came back to it.

Took some time, but it finally ended up turning on. I know it is not the battery because its a fairly new battery i purchased.

Friend suggested it might be something to do with the exhaust, but im not too sure.


As of now, the car has not turned off while it is being driven, but it is having trouble turning on. The vehicle had 3/4 tank of gas when all this was occuring.

Any ideas of the problems the car could be facing? or as i said in the earlier post, any mechanics you can recommend who can help me fix the problem once and for all?

Thank you guys for all your help.

PontiacFan
Posts: 2629
Joined: Tue Nov 26, 2002 2:46 pm
Location: Kearney, NE

Re: 1994 Firehawk stalls while being driven

Post by PontiacFan » Tue Jul 27, 2010 11:28 am

LT1's have a cam or crank sensor?!?
I dunno, but I'd look at it if it has one or both, or either, ...
Oh yea, that's OptiSpark isn't it, ..., Had that checked yet?!?

Ratchet831
Posts: 314
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 1:51 pm
Contact:

Re: 1994 Firehawk stalls while being driven

Post by Ratchet831 » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:33 pm

PontiacFan wrote:LT1's have a cam or crank sensor?!?
I dunno, but I'd look at it if it has one or both, or either, ...
Oh yea, that's OptiSpark isn't it, ..., Had that checked yet?!?
LT1 did not get a crank sensor until 1996.

User avatar
96AZHAWK
Posts: 779
Joined: Wed Jun 23, 2004 6:35 pm
Location: Mesa,AZ

Re: 1994 Firehawk stalls while being driven

Post by 96AZHAWK » Tue Jul 27, 2010 2:32 pm

I don't think I have ever seen an opti do what he is describing. There needs to be other diagnosing done rather than just throwing parts at it. I wish I knew of a good shop in your area, but I do not. If for some reason you don't get this worked out soon, we will be back in the LA area in May for the next LA Invasion though! :lol:

When it is running does it seem to run fine? Does it stumble/miss when it is running? Is it quieter than usual?

tracyfan_1
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2007 9:09 pm

Re: 1994 Firehawk stalls while being driven

Post by tracyfan_1 » Tue Jul 27, 2010 4:37 pm

When it runs it does work fine, which makes no sense... after taking a short trip earlier today, it started to do the same thing as before.. the car turned off while I was driving the vehicle, luckily I was on the streets and I was able to get out of traffic in time before the vehicle came to a stop. I was able to turn on the car and move it to a back street, giving me 5 seconds before it had once again shut off.

SECRET61
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2011 10:46 pm
Location: Augusta, GA

Re: 1994 Firehawk stalls while being driven

Post by SECRET61 » Tue Jan 25, 2011 10:58 pm

This was happening to me a few months ago in my 94'. My solution was, sad to say, the distributor. Ah, Optispark strikes again, and it was not cheap. Basically, a sensor was fried inside the distributor, a sensor that cannot be replaced. Trouble shoot this area, if you do replace it make sure its the correct optispark, I accidentally bought an early model off a vette, the spline is different.

firehawk293
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 6:12 pm

Re: 1994 Firehawk stalls while being driven

Post by firehawk293 » Wed Feb 23, 2011 6:19 pm

Have you checked your catalytic converters. You know they can get stopped up and that would make your car stop running. Hope this helps.

User avatar
Scott Chab
Posts: 3309
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2002 3:44 pm
Location: Wilmington, Delaware

Re: 1994 Firehawk stalls while being driven

Post by Scott Chab » Wed Feb 23, 2011 9:54 pm

Have you had the PCM scanned to see if it is throwing any codes? A lot of places will scan it for free.
'94 Hawk #110
Back on the road helping me make bad decisions again

Firehawk2
Posts: 37
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2011 9:57 pm
Location: Nanuet, NY
Contact:

Re: 1994 Firehawk stalls while being driven

Post by Firehawk2 » Sun Apr 10, 2011 10:20 pm

Hi, just recently acquired 94 Firehawk #2 and had same problem...car was in a garage for 5 years so I changed all fluids, new plugs. wires and egr. Car starting 'missing' but that was after I degreased it(fluid not foam). After putting in a new optispark distributor and rotor, it runs like a charm. Guess being water free for years, even with the new replacements the hawk is not going to be going out in wet weather or a car wash.

Firehawk2
1994 Firehawk #2

Post Reply