The car I am asking about is a 1991 Chevy Corsica with a 3.1 motor.
Problem one- This car has first off had the a fluctuation of a
possible over heating problem when idling. It would rise up near 210
degrees or so then once started driving would cool down back to
normal. This is my father’s car as has been occurring for nearly a
month now. He said it only overheated to where he had to pull over and
let it cool down once. I checked it the last time it over heated,
looked for leaks seen none, checked fluid level was topped off and he
said it was a while since he added any coolant. I checked the fan
operation and it appeared to be kicked on when it was supposed to. I
checked the hoses and it seemed like heat disbursement was equal. I
also checked the radiator for cold spots and felt none. I don’t know
if the car has actually over heated or if my dad just pulled off
because the gauge was showing it was red lining. I attempted to check
it with coolant pressure tester but I didn’t have the proper adapter
to check it as it is the place threaded neck style on the reservoir.
One last thing the oil seems clean notice no signs of coolant in the
oil or that coolant is being burned in the chamber.

My second problem is the more prominent one. This occurred the day
after I checked it out for it’s overheating problem. We were driving
down the interstate and the vehicle just died it didn’t sputter or
anything it just all of the sudden had no power, lights and everything
were on. We pulled to the side of the road and it restarted right away
we went an addition 10 miles or so and then it died again this time
sputtering bad. Initially I pulled one of the spark plugs and checked
for a strong blue spark which I was getting I also put a pen in the
fuel rack check valve to check for adequate fuel pressure it seemed to
be a strong pressure. I took over the wheel and keep my foot on the
gas peddle the whole time as when I would let it idle it wanted to
die. I was able to coast home before it died completely and wouldn’t
start. I wasn’t able to look at it again until a few days latter I
checked all for cylinders for good spark and was getting a good spark
and seemed in time. I then check for fuel pressure at the fuel rack
and was getting 40lbs of pressure at the fuel rack. The vehicle
wouldn’t start although when I sprayed it with starting fluid it
started right up initially I was thinking the crank sensor was sending
the signal to the ecm to be relayed the injectors. However the next
day after I got out of work I went to read an engine code as the
engine light had come on before. I got no code just 12 the beginning
code. So I tried to start the vehicle to retrigger the code to come
on. It started a little rough but ran until I put my foot on the gas
peddle and then it would die I did this several times it would start
and then die as soon as I put my foot on the gas peddle. After the
forth try I let it build up for a little bit until it seemed to be
running smooth and then revved it up no problem at all it seemed to be
running fine I ran it for a while trying to get it to act up again. I
turned it off and restarted it about 10 times with no problem and it
seemed to rev fine although it did seem like the peddle at a second or
two hesitation as far as me revving the motor and then taking my foot
off the peddle till the time it came back to an idle position.

This is my dad’s car and he doesn’t have a whole lot of money and this
is not something I want to throw parts at.

I thought one of two things based on dieing and then starting back up,
I was thinking that the ignition control module may be failing when it
gets hot. I was going to take this off and test it for a while to get
the part hot and see if it fails. The other thing I was thinking is
probably the most obvious I think the fuel pump may be failing
intermittently. I was going to replace the fuel filter and the
thermostat relating to my previous problem for basic maintenance and
possible trouble spots. Like I said before originally I was thinking I
had a bad crank sensor but I am doubting that explanation now.

I was a diesel mechanic for about 7 years so I have a pretty good
mechanical knowledge but semi trucks are a little different beast and
am not knowledgeable on every single model of car and what problems
they tend to have.