my #$*%@$ car
 

I am handing my car over to the tech for a fix up in mid-june when Im out of the country on a vacation. But till then... I hope my car will make it.

I might have posted a while back that my car stalls on right turns.. it has stopped doing that for a while till recently. Also, the tempreture has increased to about 90*F according to the car temp indicator. After driving around the city for a while, the car makes a humming sound from the back and shortly there after making a right turn, it stalls and I need to stop my car in the middle of a big street :mad: :mad:

I have also noticed that the indicator for low oil lights up. However it lights up after some time. Then when I stop the car at a light, the indicator dissappears. Can I just stop by a gas station, pick up a bottle of 10w40 oil and pour it in? or what?

When I finally arrived home, I was curious as to where the humming sound is coming from. So I park the car, leave the car running and take a look from the back. I noticed the sound comes from the back right side, behind the wheel. There are 2 cylinder shape things stacked one on top of the other with cables coming out of it. I am presuming thats the "fuel pump"? Well.. thats where the sound is coming from.

I should also note that right when I feel the car is about to stall.. I floor the car and sometimes that prevents it from stalling. However... in the process, the car goes through a series of jerks and looks like its having a hard time taking fuel in? I recently put premium gas from Speedway as I always do.. but not sure if that did anything.


So basically... is there anything I could do by myself till I turn the car over? Im sort of pissed at my car.. but I still love it.

Lesse, fuel pump noise, stalling, fuel starvation. Sounds like a fuel pump. Take it in and fix it. As far as the oil light. Check the sender. Your car does have an oil pressure guage right? I wouldn't just blindly dump a quart of oil in it. Check the level first.

Yep that is a fuel pump. Thats why I was wondering how much gas you had. The humming sound comes from the right because thats where the pump is. You are talking about the oil pressure light right? That is because the car losses pressure when it starves it self and kills the engine thus no oil psi. When you floor it the pump tries to suck more in real hard stopping it from stalling but causing it to jerk.
I bet people like Benzmanc can tell you more.

Is the oil gauge indicator the thing on the dash with an indicator pointing at either 3,2, or 1? If so.. yes it functions normally. Its usually around 1.5 and 2, sometimes 3 at idle.... and always at 3 when accelerating.

Does it sound like the entire fuel pump system needs replacement? The thing looks old by appearance. Has some rust and the rubber cables look a little frail.

thanks for your replies

IMO it just sounds like a bad pump from what you said. the humming stalling etc.

Just looked at FastLane


E3000-49707 Pierburg $174.93 In 2 days

E3000-13812 Bosch $198.59 In 2 days

Pretty good prices. Looks like the main pump in my BMW. You may be able to find used stuff if you want to.

I would prefer a new one. I will tell my tech about it. My dad did dental work for his wife, so he said he would do favors in maintance and repairs... so it should work out.

Yes, that is the oil pressure guage. Get the pump fixed first and make sure that this fixes all of the problems. If the light blinking continues, with no change in oil pressure, then look at replacing the sender to the light.

And, presumably, check the oil level with the dipstick!

yes I agree check the oil too

It is not that bad...
 

I recently replaced both fuel pumps in my daughter's 1989 300TE. Only one of the pumps was bad, but both looked original, so I figure that as long as I replace one, I'd replace them both. As you can see from Benzman's post, a new Bosch pump is not all that expensive and it will give you peace of mind to have them both replaced. Your stall problem should disappear once you replace the pumps.

If your car runs at 90 degres, that's not necessarily bad. If you want it to run cooler I'd suggest checking the anti-freeze to water mixture ratio in your car and use a 60% water/40% anti-freeze mixture. Also, try using WaterWetter (sp?), that should help reduce your operating temperature. I have tried both and they work in my 1991 420SEL (213K miles). As part of my evening commute I have to climb a 7% grade that goes on for about 6 miles. Even in summer, with So. California heat and going at better than 65 mph going up the grade, my temperature never goes past 90. so try it.

If your car has high mileage, your valves may have carbon deposits that can cause overheating. Try using Lubro-Molly valve cleaner, a couple of applications (cans) will reduce carbon deposits and that should help reduce your engine's operating temperature.

Try these "fixes" and don't curse your car. You will learn over the years that even our most beloved machines can sometimes develop very annoying problems. Your car's current problems are certainly annoying, but definitely not life threatening.

Good luck!

Hi Snibble,

Something like this happened to me the other day but it was the air conditioners fault because some sort of fuel controller pushed too much fuel in the engine and I bearly made it home because it got flooded. I was pissed but learned to deal with it. ou are lucky that your mechanic will do you a favor so dont be upset.

Your welcome to try what I did to my BMW and put one high pressure pump in. (chevy 350 pump) It's not that bad but still I would rather not pay 200 bucks

well.. If I keep the driving under an hour a day, the car is OK. It only gets bad after that. I will let you know what happens

I wonder if the pump is overheating.