NHTSA Complaint #747804 — 1997 CHEVROLET G30

1997 CHEVROLET VAN STALLS WHEN IDLING OR DRIVING. ACTS AS IF FUEL SYSTEM SHUTS OFF - THERE IS NO WARNING OR UNUSUAL NOISE. AFTER STALLING, WILL NOT START IMMEDIATELY. BUT, WILL START IF ALLOWED TO COOL 5-30 MINUTES. PROBLEM HAS OCCURRED 6 TIMES BETWEEN MARCH 2001 AND JULY 3, 2001 -- FOUR TIMES WHILE IDLING, ONCE WHILE ON INTERSTATE HIGHWAY, AND ONCE ON A US HIGHWAY. HAVE TAKEN TO 3 DIFFERENT CHEVY DEALERS, BUT NONE HAVE FOUND ANY PROBLEM -- THERE ARE NO COMPUTER ERROR CODES OR OTHER SYMPTOMS THAT CAN BE FOUND BY DEALERS. ONE DEALER REPLACED FUEL PUMP AND REGULATOR IN EARLY MAY 2001 AND STATED THIS FIXED PROBLEM. BUT, SAME FAILURE OCCURRED ON JUNE 25, 2001. MOST RECENT FAILURE WAS ON JULY 3, 2001. VAN RUNS FINE EXPECT WHEN THIS INTERMITTENT FAILURE OCCURS. DEALERS STATE THAT THERE ARE NO MAINTENANCE BULLETINS DESCRIBING THIS PROBLEM. THIS PROBLEM IS SIMILAR TO NHTSA ODI ID 822086. ALSO, 5 DAYS BEFORE WE PURCHASED OUR VAN, WE HAD BOUGHT A GMC VAN OF SAME MODEL. IT FAILED THE SAME WAY (I.E., FUEL SYSTEM FAILURE) THE FIRST NIGHT WE DROVE IT, SO WE RETURNED IT TO DEALER AND GOT OUR MONEY BACK. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY PROBLEM -- WE DARE NOT DRIVE ON INTERSTATE HIGHWAY BECAUSE WE MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO MANUEVER VAN OFF THE ROAD WHEN IT STALLS, OR WE COULD BE HIT BY A VEHICLE (E.G., SEMI) BEHIND US BECAUSE WE SLOW DOWN ABRUPTLY. *AK