2002 Grand Am 4 cyl, stalling problems
 

Looking for suggestions. My sister-in-law has a 2002 Grand Am 4cyl 2.2 MFI DOHC, with 63,000 miles on it. She bought it new and keeps it in pristine condition! Any noise, fart or fiddle it makes, she brings it to the dealer and has fixed right away, including all regularly scheduled preventive maintenance.

Lately she has been experiencing an issue of the car stalling out. Sometimes it's right away in the morning when cold, sometimes it's after driving for awhile and sometimes it just stops at stop signs or red lights. It always starts right back up, at least by the 3rd attempt. Before it starts, it cranks over very strongly as if there is no fuel getting to the engine, then it just kicks in as though nothing was ever wrong. No sputtering at all. The dealer has told her it is not throwing any codes and they could not duplicate the problem at the shop, despite having it 3 days. She took it to a local mechanic as well and the same thing.

Sounds to me like an electrical issue, such as the fuel pump relay or maybe the fuel tank pressure sensor, but she is low on funds now and does not want to play the parts game of buying more and more parts, only not fixing the issue. Obviously she has to try something, so where do you folks recommend starting? Thank you in advance for any info. It is much appreciated!

Two things come to mind, fuel pump and ignition switch. You want to get the pressure checked on the fuel delivery.

Fuel pumps are a high failure item on some GM vehicles, I can't say what it is for your Grand Am. Replacing a ten year old fuel pump, even if not needed, is not such a bad idea. If you happen to do that, only go with a Delphi pump and have a good local guy do the work. Amazon and RockAuto have good prices on Delphi fuel pumps.

the fact that it does it cold would lead me toward fuel too. like he said have the pressure checked. i would also see if the pump relay is like a different one and can be swapped to see if it changes. look at the condition of the relay socket too. i would also look and see if the pump connector is accessible and measure your power and the condition of the ground.

have her listen specifically for the pump when it wont start, that may help narrow it down. the pump pressure sensor is for emissions

This could also be a crank shaft position sensor. They fail without throwing codes and exhibit the same symptoms you are experiencing. The next time it is cranking and won't start pull a plug wire off a coil connection and see if you are getting spark. Not to say I disagree with the possibilities Mike and Justin mention, but this is also a possible cause of the problem.