I have an '06 Uplander with the 3.5L and it has just shy of 220,000 miles on it. My wife has run it out of gas twice in the past month or two. The 2nd time, it died 3 times on the way to town everytime she'd slow down heading down hills. There are no error codes showing currently. Now when accelerating when it gets up around 2300-2500 rpm then it starts to lose power and once it gets up around 3000 rpm then it just falls on it's face and wont pull at all. It fires right up and runs fine going down the road if you keep the rpm's down. Assuming this thing probably has the original fuel pump/fuel filter module is it safe to say that either the fuel pump is weak or that the fuel filter is getting plugged up? I ordered a new fuel pump for it but I would like to know what others are thinking before i start throwing parts at it.

 

Could be fuel pump or filter. Is your fuel pressure within spec?

How many miles on your plugs and wires?

 

I haven't checked the fuel pressure yet and was going off of symptoms and odometer reading. I have no idea how many miles are on the plugs and wires. It doesn't misfire. The check engine light never flashes and there are no current codes. I guess I could see if O'Reilly's has a fuel pressure tester that they will loan out...

 

Could be a dirty MAF sensor.

May be a transmission problem. If you are getting to 3000 RPMs but have no power, it almost sounds like transmission slipping.

Check for vacuum leaks as well. Cracked hoses. Disconnected hose, leaking gasket, etc. Make sure your air filter is clean. You may want to do a compression test as well if everything else checks out.

 

i just cleaned the MAF sensor about a year ago. I highly doubt it's a slipping transmission because the rpm's stay steady and dont rise like a slipping trans would do. Air filter is fairly new. I wish it would set a code telling me what was wrong. I thought maybe it would set a code for low fuel pressure but nope. i suppose i will see if i can check the pressure. I'm just concerned that running it out of fuel those 2 times with over 200k miles on it has taken a toll on that old fuel pump or fuel filter. I'm just hoping it's something simple to fix.

 

if you have a scan tool that can display fuel trim....see if its over +10% during a top gear roll on...if yes...its fuel starved. confirm the fuel pressure.

 

this happened to me i cleaned the MAF sensor and replaced the throttle body and the problem is now gone.