EXPERTS PLEASE HELP!! POSSIBLE FUEL PUMP PROBLEM !?!?

[SeeKay]

Hi Guys

I have had a bit of a rough trot of late with my 95 GR Tiptronic (82,000kms). For the past 3 months or so my car has been playing up. The most noticeable problem occurs in the morning when I start up the car. Ill turn the ignition to fire it up and it will struggle to idle at all. I mean it will really struggle as if its about to stall (the whole engine bay slightly shakes in a struggling fashion) and then just as you think its about to die it comes to life and starts revving at around 700rpm (still too low) and starts warming up. For this reason I usually let it warm up for 5-10mins before driving every morning. Yet recently it has been struggling and then dying, so I retry turning the ignition and maybe after the 3rd or 4th try the car gets going. I read a whole heap of threads about the ISC and giving it a clean and a tap and intend to do that tomorrow to see if its the problem,(cant now coz its 4 am and have been looking for data on this problem thru threads for last 5 hours) but there is another problem that I have that I have seen no threads on.

The second problem is that after I drive home from work of a night, I may have dinner then get back in my car 30 minutes later. When I restart my car I find that the car just wont accelerate. It usually starts ok (may struggle a little) but I will go to accelerate and the car will let off a spurting sounds (think its coming from the exhaust). The car will be revving at around 3-4K rpm and ill be goin around 10-15kms max. This lasts for around 5 minutes and then the car sort of starts working after that but is idleing scarily low when at traffic lights 200-300rpm, and today actually stalled on me at the top of my street whilst waiting to drive to a mates place.

I have had gearbox cleaned and checked twice before and this aint the problem. I also have replaced the battery so I know it aint this. Could it have anything to do with the tappets or fuel injectors?

My guess is that its the fuel pump, although I aint a mechanic. Could it be that a fuel line is blocked? Are there any ways to check if I have a faulty fuel pump or if its had it? I have a bad feeling my engine is getting starved of fuel and these are the possible things that I think could be screwing it. Dont want my precious FTO to suffer anymore guys


Any help would be greatly appreciated by any of you.

Thanks heaps guys

CK

[salacious]

You can remove the plug from the ISC and see if the car still hunts. To check if the ISC is faulty you can measure the resistance between the pins on it. You have two rows of three pins, measure the resisitance between the centre and the outside pins. It should be about 28 ohms. When one of my coils went it was about 130ohms.

You can fit a fuel pressure gauge just before the fuel rail and this should tell you if you have a blockage in the fuel line. I've seen this section detailed in the workshop manual and if you need more info on it let me know.

Good luck,
Brian

[Breza]

Hi,

Before forking out for a new fuel pump, try fitting a new fuel filter as a much cheaper option as this can cause your car to splutter and surge especially when first started..

Cheers

Chris
blk_fto

[smorison]

as brezza said check your filters first, if they are in ok condition the easiest way to test your fuel filter is to grab some flexible fuel hose and a container (with measurements on the side)...

* disconnect the fuel return line from the fuel rail
* connect the flexible fuel hose you purchased (need say 1 metre)
* place end of hose into container
* turn on car
* watch the container fill.

if you don't get any fuel into the container or less than 500ml per minute your fuel pump will be crook... easy to replace but get it done professionally if you are not confident working on your car

[Boris]

if you don't get any fuel into the container or less than 500ml per minute your fuel pump will be crook... easy to replace but get it done professionally if you are not confident working on your car

Couldn't it be your Fuel Pump Filter also?

[smorison]

Couldn't it be your Fuel Pump Filter also?

for sure.... this test will show you if it is a problem at the back of the car

[MADFTO]

If it was fuel pressure related, he wouldn't be able to get to get the car driving "normally" as he states. CK, could you confirm whether or not that car drives normally after reaching operating temp? just idles badly?

If it was a carby engine, I would of said a faulty choke but hmmmm EFI =)

Spurting sounds sound could be muffled backfire.

I just want to know, if you give the car some stick (As in what) does the engine work fine. If you haven't done this, don't try it, just in case =)

Reason I ask this is that one of the sensors might have given up or a vacuum line not being hooked up.

Thinking MAF sensor might be dirty, hence the what question.

Also, have you had any piggy back computers hooked up at any point as far as you know?

Also, which city are you in??? One of the tech heads might take a look if they are kind enough =)

[payaya]

stepper motor.

If he manages to drive the car normally after a while it wont be a filter.

[MADFTO]

Stepper motor would cause bad idle yeah???

However, it won't cause all the funkiness with the gearbox and sounds coming from the exhaust under accleration?

I'm thinking more and more that it's a dirty MAF sensor. I'm assuming FTOs run a hot-wire MAF (I wouldn't know, MIVECs run MAP sensors)

Anyways, we'll need the original poster to post something back, need more info =)

[elmo]

OK start with the basics before you fork out any cash...
Check your spark plugs are clean and correct gap, all the plug leads are attached properly and not cracked. Have a good look around for any vaccum hoses which may have come off, but dont touch anything your not sure about.
My car had a similar problem. RPW reset or adjusted (dunno which one)the Throttle position sensor (TPS). This works with your traction control and only allows 1/3 throttle if set wrong or if TCL is engaging. The sensor may be damaged or come out of alignment(loose.) They also rebuilt my ISC as something was worn inside. Finallly we replaced the plug leads, reset everything again and presto, all good.
To me it does not sound like a fuel flow problem but more like a vaccum or sensor prob. The engine is trying to compensate for something being wrong.
Did you do any work on the car prior to this or did it just start, and when was the first time you noticed?