Fuel Pump, Grrr..... Options

[BluuFire]

So I was driving to a job interview when all of the sudden I push my A/C button and my engine revs drop to about 300 or so rpm. So i pull over and tried to start my car up again and the engine would crank but would not turn over. So I had to get my car towed to a local mechanic to have them look at it. They give me a call the next day and said they started it up right away and it ran fine. At this point I was really confused... I went to go pick it up earlier today and got it back and started driving away. I got one block away from the place and it died on me again so I got it back to the shop and he takes a look at it. He checked it over alittle bit and he says he thinks its a bad fuel pump.

First off, does this sound like a bad fuel pump to you guys/gals?
Also, if it is the fuel pump, what is the best brand to go with?

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated! Sorry, Im done ranting...It just peevs me when a mechanic looks over things that should have been looked at in the first place.

[alltracman78]

It could have also been the fuel filter clogged.
Obviously not in your case, but that's a good symptom.

It just peevs me when a mechanic looks over things that should have been looked at in the first place.

Alot of people are IDIOTS when it comes to thier cars, and don't explain it at all.....
If you told him exactly what happened, how it happened, disregard.
But,
I am a tech for Toyota. We get ALOT of people bringing in cars with "issues" [most are still under warrenty] when there is nothing wrong.
For instance, I just had a 06 Tundra on Fri that the owner complained it didn't idle right [common one] and the cruise control wasn't working. These trucks have a electronic throttle, so I figured the throttle was bad, but I always check the problem first.
So I spend 45 minutes letting the truck warm up [to get normal idle] and drive around messing with the cruise control. Absolutely fine. NO problems what so ever.

I come back, and find out later that the problem was when the brakes were applied, and then resume pushed on the CC the rpms would raise way up while the truck accelerated. And he knew something was wrong "because I've had CC before and it doesn't work that way".
Perfect example of why techs don't [normally] spend much time trouble shooting [some] cars that come in.
If you bring it it with a supposed problem, and the tech can't duplicate it, he's not going to spend alot of time checking things out.

So you drop your car off saying it won't start. Or it died while you were driving it.
I hop in and it starts right up.
Unless you give me some kind of indication, I'm going to do a quick look over, then figure you are an idiot, and pull the car out.

[Bitter]

It could have also been the fuel filter clogged.
Obviously not in your case, but that's a good symptom.

It just peevs me when a mechanic looks over things that should have been looked at in the first place.

Alot of people are IDIOTS when it comes to thier cars, and don't explain it at all.....
If you told him exactly what happened, how it happened, disregard.
But,
I am a tech for Toyota. We get ALOT of people bringing in cars with "issues" [most are still under warrenty] when there is nothing wrong.
For instance, I just had a 06 Tundra on Fri that the owner complained it didn't idle right [common one] and the cruise control wasn't working. These trucks have a electronic throttle, so I figured the throttle was bad, but I always check the problem first.
So I spend 45 minutes letting the truck warm up [to get normal idle] and drive around messing with the cruise control. Absolutely fine. NO problems what so ever.

I come back, and find out later that the problem was when the brakes were applied, and then resume pushed on the CC the rpms would raise way up while the truck accelerated. And he knew something was wrong "because I've had CC before and it doesn't work that way".
Perfect example of why techs don't [normally] spend much time trouble shooting [some] cars that come in.
If you bring it it with a supposed problem, and the tech can't duplicate it, he's not going to spend alot of time checking things out.

So you drop your car off saying it won't start. Or it died while you were driving it.
I hop in and it starts right up.
Unless you give me some kind of indication, I'm going to do a quick look over, then figure you are an idiot, and pull the car out.

you make it sound like its not your job to diagnose an intermittent problem? well it is. it sucks because its difficult sometimes, but when you do get a real intermittent issue you shouldnt just brush it aside so easily. true, alot of warrany complaints are due to id10t problems, but there are some geniuenly odd intermittent problems out there.

case in point, a teacher of mine was a GM tech before he moved up to teaching at the training center. he had a woman come in about 5 times saying she heard voices in the back of her car. they all thought she was nuts and couldnt hear anything and wrote her off as a whackjob. she went around to several dealers in the area until she came back to where he worked again. this time they took the car over night. just before closing he hopped in to give it one more check and....he heard voices too!! well at night some radio signals are stronger because the ionosphere is calmer (not facing the sun) and the car was parked outside (not in the metal garage). that particular car had a rear amp for the back speakers. the wires leading from the radio to the amp were picking up faint faint faint signals and the amp was boosting them to just barely audible levels. so what sounded like an insane woman was a legitimate problem! they wrapped the wires in foil tape, grounded the foil tape, and the issue went right away.