To those of you who have had fuel pump proplems, can anybody describe some of the symptoms of a failing fuel pump.
My issue is that sometimes when the gas pedal is stepped on lightly I "lose my gas pedal". At this point I can here the air intake struggling to take in air and the car appears to be getting no gas to the engine. The tach is also stuggling to stay at idle . This senario only takes place for a few moments until I put the clutch in and or change gears, then the problem dimminishes. Any information that anyone could supply would be great.

germaneater92

 

I was just curious, do you ever hear a gurgling noise that sounds like water running??? I've been trying to figure out if it is my fuel or water pump, or something else. I've also been getting bad gas mileage but I think its an accumulation of little problems since I need to replace my o2 sensor, TB sensor, clean the TB, new fuel injectors, etc. Also, have you checked the fuel injectors? They could be dirty and help contribute to the problem as well. I believe one way to check is to start the car and get under the hood. Then I think I heard you can listen to the injectors for the clicking noise they're supposed to make. The clicking from all the injectors is supposed to be simultaneous. I noticed on some of mine the clicking is a little faster (I guess its pumping more since they're dirty). Also, if you push on the injectors (they're exposed so you can just push on the outside of them) and your car starts idling differently, I think that also shows the injectors are dirty or malfunctioning in some way. I don't know as much about the fuel pump though, so I wouldn't know what to tell you about it.

 

Fuel pumps begin to make more noise when they are near their end of life. A reasonable test is to get a fuel pressure guage. Pressure should be 36 psi at idle with the vacuum line to the pressure regulator connected and 43 psi with it disconnected.
It's difficult making a diagnosis on a 10 year old car without looking at it, since so many things can be wrong with it.

 

I'm going to have to try that. Thanks for the help Brubenstein. Have you ever heard of the fuel pump making a gurgling noise though? I was thinking that noise is coming from the fuel pump but I need to test it like you said, to find out.

 

Gurgling is usually from the cooling system, and is caused by air in the system. A sure sign of this is if you aren't getting much heat from the vents.

 

Yep, I'm not getting much heat. Though, it just takes a long time and then it will heat up a little. I thought it was something to do with the cooling system but I wasn't sure.

 

[ I have noticed that after shutting the vehicle off it sounds as if there is a motor going. It stays on after the antenna goes down so its more than antenna motor noise. I will have to check out those mentionrd items. Thanks for the input, and other ideas are always welcome.
Germaneater92