Well, a bit stumped on a recent occurrence on my 86 GT V6 4-speed. Was driving on the freeway when I started to hear a sucking noise coming from the front passenger side (I think?) it would intermittently make the sound, then it became louder and more frequent over the next few minutes. Sounded very much like a dentist's vacuum wand and drill combined. I pulled in to a gas station and the engine died right as I did so. I am hoping that I was running out of gas and the noise was the fuel pump sucking air, but it only took 7 gallons to fill it. Further, After I filled the tank, I've driven it a few times and haven't replicated the noise. Could it be the fuel pump acting up? Fuel filter? Or just really ran out of gas and the tanks are smaller than I had thought?

Might not be related, but I changed the oil just before it happened. Also, the temperature gauge seems to get a little hotter now. Not red zone, but just around the middle. It usually never gets higher than a quarter.

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My Fiero: 1986 Pontiac Fiero GT, V6, 4-speed manual

You have air in the cooling system and you heard it going through the heater core. Check your coolant overflow tank and see if it is empty.

Overflow bottle is still fairly full. I will keep listening as I continue to drive it and see if it persists or was just a hiccup. Not sure how air in the coolant would cause the engine to die though! Didn't overheat.

There seems to be more than one issue. I can't think of one fix that will deal with all the symptoms. Perhaps you got some bad fuel.

The fuel pump pick up may have come loose and is only picking up gas from the top. Hence a fill-up only takes 7 gallons. You would need to drop the tank and check the fuel pump assembly.

That sounds plausible. For the time being I think I will just be sure to keep the tank filled as much as possible, and if it does it again it could be something else.

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My Fiero: 1986 Pontiac Fiero GT, V6, 4-speed manual