Stalling while driving can be attributed to a faulty fuel pump relay issue, but it not common. In most situations, people experiencing this issue report the following
- Vehicle stalls while driving, then coasts to the side of the road
- Vehicle can experience difficulty restarting - usually a "crank, no start" situation where it acts like it's out of gas
- After 5-30 minutes, the vehicle will restart normally
- The problem usually occurs when the vehicle has recently been driven in warm weather
- Other variations involve stalling with an easy restart or stalling with no starter activity when you turn the key
If your vehicle restarts immediately after stalling, it's probably worth testing or bypassing the fuel pump relay. Our recommendation would be the TIPM Plug-In Relay System Lite, which has a 30 day money back guarantee.
Stalling with the inability to restart is quite common, but typically not related to the fuel pump circuit or our parts, especially if you turn the ignition key and nothing happens. In discussions with others in the TIPM industry, the following causes are known:
- Powertrain Control Module (PCM) Integrated Circuit (IC) issue
- Cold solder joint where cracks in solder widen due to thermal expansion, resulting in signal or voltage loss
- Thermal expansion of mating connectors
Solutions:
- Check mating connectors for the TIPM and PCM to identify any mating issues
- Inspect TIPM circuit boards under microscope to identify cold solder joint locations (very difficult)
- Contact TIPMRebuilders.com for PCM solutions
How to rule out the fuel pump circuit and/or our parts:
- Most of our parts contain a PUMP ON green LED that is integrated into the design. This LED will be lit when power is flowing to your fuel pump. NOTE: If you don't have our parts, you can use a multimeter or test light with one lead placed on top of the fuel pump fuse (M25 or F70) and the other lead to chassis ground or battery negative terminal to detect voltage.
- Have someone attempt to start your vehicle while you watch the PUMP ON green LED. With some parts, you may need to connect a temporary ground wire per the part instructions in order the make the LEDs light up.
- Attempt to start the vehicle.
- If the vehicle will not start, but the PUMP ON green LED is lit on our parts, then our part is working properly and delivering power to your fuel pump as designed. If using a multimeter or test light, you are trying to detect the presence of 12 VDC across the fuel pump fuse, which should only appear during engine cranking or while running.
- Test your fuel pump using a TIPM bypass cable or TIPM Plug-In Relay System when the vehicle is off to ensure the pump is working properly
