Thread: 2006 Equinox 3.4L V6 stalls

Ok, I know this a Grand Prix forum but I'm putting up a Hail Mary. My wife's 06 Nox suddenly died while driving on the Interstate yesterday. I mean it was driving fine and then nothing. Electrical was fine, just no engine. I tried restarting it but it would turn over and immediately die. After about 30 min of just sitting there it started right up and we drove it 20 miles back to the house. It did it again last night but I was almost home and was able to coast to the driveway. Online research seems to indicate this is a fairly common problem but GM doesn't know what it is. BTW there are no engine codes. The only person on any forum that claims to have gotten it fixed, changed the PCM. So, what do y'all think? Its not the fuel pump. I checked and pressure is good. I was thinking maybe the Crank Position Sensor, but a few people have changed that and it didn't help. Calling all wrenches... any ideas?

Update. Went out to start it a little while ago and no fuel pressure. Looks like a failing fuel pump after all. When I checked it yesterday there was pressure at the Schroeder Valve on the fuel rail. I'm thinking there may have been some pressure but not enough to run the engine (I think it needs about 50 psi). So I will change the fuel pump and see what happens. I'll let y'all know.

Ok, I did a little troubleshooting and discovered the fuel pump fuse is blown. I put in a new one and the car runs. However, that doesn't explain what happened yesterday. What it looks like is the fuel pump is in the process of failing. It is drawing too much current through the circuit and it is overheating. When the pump gets too hot it shuts off. Once it cools down it starts just fine. Due to the increased amount of power it is drawing through the circuit the fuse will eventually blow. This is what happened today. So, I put in a new fuse to get me to work in the morning and then tomorrow afternoon I will replace the fuel pump. If there are no further updates then consider this issue resolved. This is the time of year (temps starting to get into the upper 90s or higher) when you start to see a lot of fuel pump failures. They don't like heat. Best way to take care of your fuel pump is to never let your fuel level get below 1/4 tank. The fuel acts as a coolant for the pump inside the gas tank.

Update. Changed the fuel pump and bought a few extra fuses to have on hand just in case. That was about a week and half ago and no problems so far. Told the wife to make sure it never gets below 1/4 tank... especially in the summer. Looks like its fixed.