Loss of power on freeway

[DrewT55]

2003 Yukon XL with 5.7 litre gas engine with about 104,000 miles.
It is almost like clock work when driving from my home to Atlanta Ga, about 200 miles. Once I get into the Atlanta traffic where you have to slow then to catch back up with traffic the engine has to downshift, it will start losing power when the RPM's get high on a downshift and then cut off. I pull to the side of the rode and let it sit for about 5 minutes and then can crank while giving it throttle. The car then runs fine. It is always about the same spot on the highway and at 1/2 tank of gas.
Anyone have this happen to them?
Mechanic is telling me he thinks it is the fuel pump, about a $1,000. job, but cant me sure. If it doesnt fix it I have spent $1,000 for no reason.
Any advise?

[cascott325]

Mechanic is telling me he thinks it is the fuel pump, about a $1,000. job, but cant me sure. If it doesnt fix it I have spent $1,000 for no reason.
Any advise?

are you serious! go somewhere else. shouldnt be more than the part (around $300 +/-) and labor, probably 4 hours worth

also sounds like you could use a good tune up. 100k miles means its time to have all your fluids changed, plugs and wires, fuel and air filters, ( fyi your fuel filter is supposed to be changed every time the fuel pump is changed) all the general 100k mile maintenance stuff

[Kaiser-Wave]

With a little over 100,000 miles that sounds about right, seems like you have a lack of spark which could def be a loss of power especially during cranking, your fuel pump could be going bad too but im gunna lean more towards spark......

[thrasher]

Just for ****s & giggles, next time it happens, jump out of the truck as soon as you pull over & unscrew the gas cap. if you hear a blast of air & feel it, you probably have either a clogged charcoal cannister, a clogged gas cap vent or some other problem that isn't allowing air into the gas tank.

[freddie]

I know we don't have the same truck but my EGR valve went out and it was cause my truck to do the same thing. I would be driving on the interstate and all of a sudden my truck would down shift and the rpms would go way up. I would have to shut it off for a few minutes and it would act fine until I got back on the interstate.
Got it fixed and hadn't had any more problems since.

[unplugged]

2003 Yukon XL with 5.7 litre gas engine with about 104,000 miles.
It is almost like clock work when driving from my home to Atlanta Ga, about 200 miles. Once I get into the Atlanta traffic where you have to slow then to catch back up with traffic the engine has to downshift, it will start losing power when the RPM's get high on a downshift and then cut off. I pull to the side of the rode and let it sit for about 5 minutes and then can crank while giving it throttle. The car then runs fine. It is always about the same spot on the highway and at 1/2 tank of gas.
Anyone have this happen to them?
Mechanic is telling me he thinks it is the fuel pump, about a $1,000. job, but cant me sure. If it doesnt fix it I have spent $1,000 for no reason.
Any advise?

Don't take your truck to a "parts swapper". Anybody can swap parts. A real mechanic will diagnose your trouble and fix it. A mechanic can easily identify a faulty fuel pump. A parts swapper will guess until he gets it right or you run out of money.

If a mechanic can't show you that the results of a fuel pressure test, go somewhere else.
When a mechanic says you need a new fuel pump. Ask him if that will definitely fix the trouble you are having or if it could be something else. When you sign a service order, do not sign one that says "replace fuel pump" sign one that says "repair engine stalling" and let them know that you are paying for a symptom/trouble to be repaired, not to have a particular part replaced.

If you sign a service order for a part replacement and your trouble isn't fixed, you don't have a leg to stand on. If the service order is for repair of a trouble and the trouble is still there after whatever parts are replaced then the mechanic is the one that is left holding the bag.

The idea here is not only to protect you from parts swappers who guess until they get it right, but for you to find a real mechanic.

On today's modern computer controlled engines, many mechanics fall short in their ability to diagnose and repair. Find a mechanic you can trust and partner with him in the care and maintenance of your vehicle. A "parts swapper" may be cheaper on one repair, but a mechanic will save you money over the long haul.

I'm not bothered when my mechanic says "I don't know" I like it even more when he sends me somewhere else for a fix. I always go back to him because he is honest and guaranty's his work.

btw, it does "sound" like you are having a fuel pump issue. Get it tested.

[Afida15]

We had the same problem on our 2003 suburban. we would be going down the interstate and gun it to pass and fuel pressure would drop and stall the car out. we replaced the fuel pump and it fixed the problem. we also had the job quoted while we were in atlanta by the chevy dealer and they said the same thing but wanted 1000 dollars to do it. we did it for about 350 dollars. only hard part is handling the tank if you got a half a tank or more lol.

[bill190]

Don't take your truck to a "parts swapper". Anybody can swap parts. A real mechanic will diagnose your trouble and fix it. A mechanic can easily identify a faulty fuel pump. A parts swapper will guess until he gets it right or you run out of money.

If a mechanic can't show you that the results of a fuel pressure test, go somewhere else.
When a mechanic says you need a new fuel pump. Ask him if that will definitely fix the trouble you are having or if it could be something else. When you sign a service order, do not sign one that says "replace fuel pump" sign one that says "repair engine stalling" and let them know that you are paying for a symptom/trouble to be repaired, not to have a particular part replaced.

If you sign a service order for a part replacement and your trouble isn't fixed, you don't have a leg to stand on. If the service order is for repair of a trouble and the trouble is still there after whatever parts are replaced then the mechanic is the one that is left holding the bag.

The idea here is not only to protect you from parts swappers who guess until they get it right, but for you to find a real mechanic.

On today's modern computer controlled engines, many mechanics fall short in their ability to diagnose and repair. Find a mechanic you can trust and partner with him in the care and maintenance of your vehicle. A "parts swapper" may be cheaper on one repair, but a mechanic will save you money over the long haul.

I'm not bothered when my mechanic says "I don't know" I like it even more when he sends me somewhere else for a fix. I always go back to him because he is honest and guaranty's his work.

btw, it does "sound" like you are having a fuel pump issue. Get it tested.

Excellent post! A+++++!

And this is so true these days. Things are quite complex with modern vehicles. Many different components. If you go by the "book" with many troubleshooting situations, there will many times be a page or two of things listed to check. This begins with the most likely suspects, however it could be the LAST thing listed to check! (If "Murphy" is visiting that day...) Or it could be one of the first things.

Anyway if someone went and replaced every part listed, it could cost a young fortune!

But the WORST thing which can happen is that a wrong part is installed. Or there may be a flakey electrical connector and replacing a part causes this connector to become intermittent. Now you have TWO problems. But because you are replacing so many parts at the same time, you don't know what it is you did that caused the new problem to be created! This can be a nightmare to troubleshoot.

It is much better to do one thing at a time. Troubleshoot and just replace the faulty part or repair the wiring problem.

As an example of a fuel system, the following discusses all the parts involved. Add up the cost of all these parts including fuel pump and injectors???
http://www.asashop.org/autoinc/june98/techtotech.htm

[DrewT55]

thanks for everyones replies and suggestions.
I have a very good independent looking at it next week. It has a full tank of gas so i am going to run most of it off this weekend so he can take out the gas tank, if he needs too.
he says $700.00 if he needs to replace the fuel pump.

[DrewT55]

Replaced the fuel pump and fuel regulator. $800. and the car does not cut off on the interstate and has much better throttle response. Wish I had done this sooner.