Stalls on hiway

[Steven M]

Hello, I am new to this site, and am seeking info on a Voyager. Its a 96 with a 3.0 and 111,000 miles. When I run it down the hiway at 70 mph for about 20 minutes, it will start loosing power and finally quit. No bucking or missing out just looses power and dies. If you let it set for 10 minutes it will start up like nothing ever happened. When it does this, you can turn the key to on and hear the fuel pump run. I did change the fuel filter, but no change. I do get code 43 which I believe to be the distributor module. After sitting overnight the fault light goes away. this only happens on the hiway, never in town. Since the fault code 43 goes away, I am questining weather its the true problem. I am wondering about the cat converter being plugged. One shop I talked to said that is not the problem, and another shop says it is. Neither can test it, so I hate to spend the money on a guess. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Steven M

[Bernard Feltzer]

Why can't they test it?
Just remove it and look down inside with a bright light and see if it is plugged up.
They plug up, leaving a hole the size of a quarter in the center, very restrictive on exhaust flow.
Does it overheat on the highway?

[Steven M]

Good point about the overheating. No it does not, if fact it runs very cool on the hiway as if the thermostat is bad.

[RIP]

My manual says a code 43 is a coil failure. The 3.0 uses a single coil to excite all six cylinders. This makes it a very likely candidate to fix your code 43 and likely your stalling problem. Appears it is a thermal problem and events depend on the rate it heats up. Very common. Heres how to check it when the engine stalls: http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBr...3d801a3ba1.jsp

You might consider changing the plug wires and cap and rotor as well if they are old. Any cracks on the cap or rotor?

[Steven M]

Thanks for the info RIP. The coil would be alot cheaper than the module. It does have new wires and plugs.

Also Bernard, I did not answer your question about why they can't check the cat converter. The way they want to check it is to drill a hole in front of the converter (pipe) and check vacuum when running. This converter comes off the manifold and they can't get in to drill it. I have some things to check and then I will take your suggestion and take it down to look inside.

Thanks guys for the info, any other ideas greatly welcomed!

I will reply as to what I find.

[caravandrvr]

The just dies out symptom with the ability to restart after sitting could be an indicator of a bad crank, cam, or speed sensor.

[Steven M]

OK guys, after much thought I went after the fuel pump. Installed a new pump and after 2 days of driving, no failure!! Praise the Lord!!

[RIP]

Great news and thanks for posting the fix. Not sure how that fixes a code 43 but, stranger things have happened. Cheers!