Twice in the past 3-4 months I have been driving my 07 Taurus (212,000 miles on Vulcan V6), when the engine just stops running. No warning, no sputtering, no (new) CEL. It feels like it is out of gas even though the tank is far from empty. It will not restart right away although it feels like it wants to start. Both times it started and ran fine after sitting for 5-10 minutes. Fortunately both time I was less than a mile from home and not in any traffic.
What are the most likely causes of these intermittent symptoms?
I do have an unresolved insufficient EGR flow CEL. There is a thread about it here. But I don't think that this is related, although I could be wrong.
It sounds like based on age/mileage I should replace the fuel pump even if it is not failing right now. Is the pump more likely to be the source of this intermittent problem than the fuel pump relay? Car is currently starting and running fine.
My two 2001 Taurus had very similar fuel pump failure symptoms. Those fuel systems are different and stress the pump more. They only lasted for 100k miles Never stopped while driving just had problems after a short stop at a store.
The problem with doing any testing is that the car runs just fine, until it doesn't. It was over 3 months between the 2 stalls that I have experienced.
I use a device called "Carchip" which plugs in the OBDII and will record each 5 seconds whatever you tell it to record. Unplugs and data shows in your computer. My cheap unit will record 4 items that I choose from a long list. Can record to ~300 hours but best download every week as the data gets long. Example fuel pressure in the attachment. Chart is my own but data taken from the computer data from the Carchip.
Other uses, you can record how the car is driven, when, speed and braking and such.
If you have recently let the gas tank get close to empty, the fuel pump can be damaged. I knew a service manager at a Ford dealer and he said never let the fuel go below 1/4 tank in order to protect the fuel pump from being overheating. Once the pump overheats, it is damaged and will run erratically.
I agree with the others, 212,000 miles on the fuel pump is great. It is a wear item and one of these times it may stall and strand you. The Motorcraft pumps state a designed 10 year/150,000 mile life. I think if the fuel filter is just months old it is probably OK to reinstall. Personally because of the pain in the neck factor dropping the tank, etc. I would replace the entire fuel pump assembly. I believe at your mileage this may the one and only time you replace the pump. There is a great YouTube video on doing this procedure by Eric the Car Guy. If you are experienced enough and don't mind going back in to replace additional parts replace the pump and sock. I think the pump itself would be more likely to give intermittent problems than the relay or FPDM. If you have the scan tool think like Jeff K to check for fuel pressure. Even if not stalling might show low pressure and weakness. It sounds as if you are due for fuel pump replacement anyway.
I had the same problem. It was cured after replacing a number of electrical parts, that I now fail to recall. It would just stop dead. After about ten minutes, I could restart and drive away without any trouble. Quite unnerving.
I had the fuel pump assembly replaced. I know I could have done it myself, but it would have turned into an all day job and I just don't have the time or desire to do that.
The car runs fine just like it did before. So I will just drive it and see if the problem happens again and then I will reassess.
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