Problem with my avalon please help..

[TRDevel0pment]

Hey guys so I was driving along a couple of days ago on the highway and the car all of a sudden just shut off. I managed to pull the car on the side of the road and tried to get the car to start but couldn't get it to start. I later waited a couple of minutes and it managed to start again so I limped it back home. I happen to share this vehicle (1995 avalon) with my sister and SHE ALWAYS LEAVES THE CAR WITH LITTLE FUEL OR BARLEY ON EMPTY. I was wondering would this be a fuel pump problem possibly?

[kevdude]

Did you notice any CEL's? Could be a fuel or electric problem, but hard to say without more info. Might be something as simple as a clogged filter, or in your sister's case, lack of fuel. Let us know what you find....

[Jack Deth]

take the battery terminals off and check for corrosion. sand, scrape or wire brush the mating surfaces before reassembling.

[fourwheeler]

To confirm if it is the fuel pump or not, have it tested using a fuel pressure gauge to see if the pressure falls within specs.

[TRDevel0pment]

Originally Posted by kevdude

Did you notice any CEL's? Could be a fuel or electric problem, but hard to say without more info. Might be something as simple as a clogged filter, or in your sister's case, lack of fuel. Let us know what you find....

They CEL comes on once in a while for a brief couple of min then goes off. I think im going to start by replacing the fuel filter since it hasn't been done since we owned the vehicle.

Originally Posted by Jack Deth

take the battery terminals off and check for corrosion. sand, scrape or wire brush the mating surfaces before reassembling.

Battery terminals are pretty clean. Should I still go ahead and do this?

Originally Posted by fourwheeler

To confirm if it is the fuel pump or not, have it tested using a fuel pressure gauge to see if the pressure falls within specs.

If I go pick up a fuel gauge which line would be the high side line to check the pressure?

[GOT BOOST]

Was your low fuel light on when this happened?

If you were low on fuel you would get intermittant firing and hesitation in the engine a few seconds before she kicked the can. Sometimes you can get lucky and fire it back up again.

The fuel pump is easy to access. Just remove the rear bench seat. You will see the fuel pump access pannel.

Fill the tank to 1/4 to 1/2 full and drive the car. See if this creates the same issue.

[Jack Deth]

nah, don't bother with the terminals if you had a CEL.
most of the sensors have a failure default value in the ECM that will let you limp home instead of leaving you stranded (remember the 80's?). off the top of my head, the crank position sensor will stop you dead.
i think the ECM will remember the CEL code for something like 50 starts. maybe take it somewhere that will read the codes for free, see if anything is stored.

[kdf788]

Originally Posted by TRDevel0pment

Hey guys so I was driving along a couple of days ago on the highway and the car all of a sudden just shut off. I managed to pull the car on the side of the road and tried to get the car to start but couldn't get it to start. I later waited a couple of minutes and it managed to start again so I limped it back home. I happen to share this vehicle (1995 avalon) with my sister and SHE ALWAYS LEAVES THE CAR WITH LITTLE FUEL OR BARLEY ON EMPTY. I was wondering would this be a fuel pump problem possibly?

Hi, My 98 Avalon did the exact same thing this morning as my husband was coming home from work. We wound up towing it to the shop and just got the call that it was internal engine problems. My husband said that it sounded like that maybe it had thrown a rod. We love the car so much, that we are going to fork out the $2900 to have it repaired. The car is in mint condition so, its worth the money to us to have it repaired. Im trying to find out the information on the used engines from Japan. We have heard that once their engines get 40,000 miles on them, they get rid of them. And you can purchase them for a very reasonable price. Thats my baby! I hope this is not what your problem is on your avalon. But it kinda sounds that way. There were no signs at all that this car was getting ready to give up the ghost. It was not burning oil,leaking oil or using oil. No lights were coming on, on the dash. It drove like a dream! I just don't understand what happened.

[arabianobsession]

Originally Posted by Jack Deth

nah, don't bother with the terminals if you had a CEL.
most of the sensors have a failure default value in the ECM that will let you limp home instead of leaving you stranded (remember the 80's?). off the top of my head, the crank position sensor will stop you dead.
i think the ECM will remember the CEL code for something like 50 starts. maybe take it somewhere that will read the codes for free, see if anything is stored.

Most major auto parts chains will read your CEL for free.