motor dying while driving

[david.b]

lately ive been doing some spirited driving (read: flooring it to redline) and the car will just shut off shortly after. Now ofcourse the easy answer is stop driving like an idiot but i also am curious why this has started happening and what sort of maintenance should i perform to help with this overheating issue.

i have 130k on the clock.
ive replaced the timing belt at 80k and waterpump. fuel filter is new.
maybe i should replace the radiator/flush the cooling system?

thanks

 

[DC runner]

wow.

How hard redlining? That kills engines. It stresses everything to the max and just pops stuff.
How does it just shut off? Rev limiters don't just kill an engine. Overheating things can.


Does it just quit? Usually when you overheat an engine to the point of dying, it will be pinging like hell. The engine is so hot it is pre-detonating like crazy.

This happening?

 

[david.b]

the motor doesnt die at redline. this is whats strange. if i redline through 1st and second itll die approx. 10 seconds into 3rd gear. and it just turns off and keep coasting. all the lights come on and the power stearing and brakes die. all i have to do then is put the truck in park and then turn the key and we're back on the road.

no pinging
no other noticable changes
car drives fine otherwise

 

[DC runner]

Hell, stop doing that. Your truck obviously hates being treated like you stole it.

In all seriousness, if you don't drive like a crazy, how does it handle? Does it shift through correctly?

 

[Stick Figure]

To throw out a completely random guess I would say ignitor is starting to fail, and when you push it it overheats and shuts down.

Of course thats 100% guess. Do you have any pending codes?

 

[Singtoe]

Sounds like fuel pump to me. probably on its way out. does this problem occur with a full tank of gas?

 

[runnyrunnerton]

x2 on the fuel pump. Had one go out on me, this was the symptom. If the injectors were clogged or fuel line etc, the motor wouldn't start back up after a brief pause, but a limping fuel pump has a way of ramping back to life a thousand times before it finally grenades itself.

 

[david.b]

thanks for the suggestion guys. i will look into the fuel pump.
to answer previous questions, the car runs totally normal otherwise. no codes, shifts smooth, etc.

 

[Baja Runner]

Yes I agree its fuel delivery related. Maybe try something simple like changing out the fuel filter first though.

 

[BlackCat914]

it's probably starving for fuel at WOT. Hook a fuel pressure gauge to it and see what it's reading. Does it give you a hard time restarting, or does it just fire right back up like nothing happened?

 

[nevada]

the motor doesnt die at redline. this is whats strange. if i redline through 1st and second itll die approx. 10 seconds into 3rd gear. and it just turns off and keep coasting. all the lights come on and the power stearing and brakes die. all i have to do then is put the truck in park and then turn the key and we're back on the road.
no pinging
no other noticable changes
car drives fine otherwise

next time, just throw it in neutral, and start it with the key. theres no need to stop, or be in park.

 

[4dailyRunner]

Catalytic Converter Damage/Restriction/Clogged???

I am not a mechanic.

That said, this is what I heard from a buddy. His car kept stalling. It was high miliage. The catalytic convert failed / clogged.

When replaced the stalling ceased.

If you engine is out of tune, it won't burn the fuel. The Cat (hot porous ceramic material) will burn the unspent fuel in the exhaust. This creates carbon deposits overtime. High mileage vehicles OR extreme circumstances may create a blockage which stalls the engine.

Extreme circumstances also generate a great deal of heat which may crack or distort the material within the CAT as well. (Did you ever throw a wet rock into a camp fire? Same concept. )

~~
4DR