87 5KQ Quits After about 30 miles. Works after rest

[Ti Kan]

Could be a number of things, but fuel pump or fuel pump relay are
suspects.  When the problem occurs, you can check by removing the
fuel pump relay (location 10 in your fuse/relay box), and then
jumper the relay socket between the two biggest contacts with a
piece of fused wire.  You should hear your fuel pump run.  If not,
then the fuel pump ist kaput.  If it does run, then maybe the fuel
pump relay is bad.  Try swapping it with another one and see if
your problem recurs.

The fuel accumulator is not associated with the type of problem
you describe, so you can rule that out.

While you're in there, check the conditions of your ignition wires,
distributor rotor and cap.

-Ti
2003 A4 1.8T multitronic
2001 S4 biturbo 6-sp
1984 5000S turbo
1980 4000 2.0 5-sp
--
    ///  Ti Kan                Vorsprung durch Technik
   ///   AMB Laboratories, Sunnyvale, CA. USA
  ///    ti at amb.org
 //////  http://www.amb.org/ti/
///

Matt Ammann writes:
> My 87 5KQ, no turbo, has run out of stamina.  It seems
> to quit running after about 30 miles or so.  If I let
> it rest for
> ten minutes, it will start up and run for another
> while.
>
> After letting it rest for a couple of months, then
> replacing the
> fuel and air filters, I was able to get a couple
> hundred miles out of
> it before it started crapping out again.
>
> I've a working hypothesis that it is starving for
> fuel, and surmise
> that either the fuel pump is having issues, or the
> fuel accumulator
> has some sort of problem.  Any thoughts on things I
> could check
> out relatively easily?