Symptoms of bad fuel pump????
 

HEY guys,

i have an sl2, with 70, 98'....and lately mayb 2 months now, when the car warms up, ten minutes or so of drivin around .a whistlin-slighty hi pitched sound emerges from rear driverside. not comin from the exhaust.

it happens in park or drivin. but usually takes 5-10 mins for the car to warm up and the sound appears.

if we hit the gas the sound does not increase in volume. the sound also isnot coming from the gas cap area, but underneath rear tire almost near the lower gas tank.....


were stumped, we were told by a friend it mayb a fuel pump bearin?duz tha t make sense bc it drives fine. what can it b????

rather fix it now than be stranded.

any suggestions would b appreciated???
thanks guys!!!!

When you say with 70, i assume that means 70K miles on it?
Check your fuel filter, that is in the same area. It regulates pressure so that might have something to do with it.

If not, try pulling the fuse for the pump when you hear it, that might beable to point you in the right direction.
Just make sure your pulling the right fuse.

I know you said the sound is not coming from the gas cap area, but humor me on this for a minute. Get off somewhere that you can hear the 'whistle', then leave the engine running and take the gas cap off. Let us know whether the sounds goes away or not, please?

yes 70k

if i pull a fuel relay or fuse?? but if i do wont the fuel pump stop workin anyway and the car stalls i guess?

i see what ur sayin if i pull either one of them and the noise stops and the car keeps running then it could be relay or fuse or pump for sure? bit confused there please elaborate.

i changed the filter 10k, ago, it def. doesnt sound from there, why wouldnt the sound occur the minute it starts rather than ten minutes of warmin up, could it be cat converter?????thats under the rear part of the car?

yes, i ddnt take the cap off when checkin, but i will get it to warmup and make the sound and remove cap when car is on to see if its louder when i put my ear to it......what will that prove???

elt me know thanks!!!

If you warm it up and remove the gas cap and the sound goes away, it means that you have a defective seal on the gas cap and either need a new one or the seal on the filler tube is leaking.

i havent check the gas cap yet, but the sound is def. comin from under the car, not near the fuel filter or gas cap but will try......can it be a fuel pump bearin is what i asked???? or bad cats?????

whatother tests can I perform? tks!!!!

Won't know what other tests to suggest, until you do the one I've already suggested .......

ok....but was thinkin we jack up the car and we go under the car to pin point the car sound, is it safe and a good test???? i am goin to pull the fuel relay or fuse, not shure what to expect from that test, what am i lookin for?

GUYS,what if it is comin from the fuel tank , then its the fuel pump then????rite....shld i change it right away? or is that a common noise?

letmeknw tks?

Who the hell knows what she means, with the english being used.

I'm still trying to get her to start the car, get the whistle going, and then pull the gas cap. She's like totally resisting my suggestion, and is trying to fly off in six different directions at once. (SIGH) If I could just get my question answered......

Look, fuel pumps don't have bearings. Someone is messing with you. Just do what some have suggested here and post back. If you're not willing to take the advice given, then why do you keep asking questions?

sorry guys it took so long


we got the car warmed up so where the noise came up, open up the gas cap, the noise was not comin from there to the best of my knowledge, it was appArent it was seperate, comin from somewhere under the rear part of the car......ok what next??? does it rule out the pump?

what do bad fuel pumps sound like?whinin or whistlin sounds wheter ornot they have bearings.


we ddnt pull the relay pump or fuse???should we while the car is on willaccomplish what?

THANKS

Yes they do and are held in with the same wingnut that holds the muffler bearing in.
It's normal for a bad fuel pump to sound like nothing because they stop working. Now a leak in the fuel system can make the type of sounds your talking about. But ya never know for sure untill you get your backside under the car and investigate. Biggest problem for us here on the internet is we can't hear it, we can't see it, and you can't type or spell.

PS: The fuel pump is inside of the fuel tank.

Possibly Defective Gas Cap
 

OK - Now, we starting to move. As a couple of people guessed, I wstrying to see if the gas cap gasket was defective. Bad seals let air in and causes improper mixture ratios for the engine.

You will probably have to get the car up on jackstands (or find somebody with a lift), and get underneath the car with it running and look at the area in the rear where the whistle is coming from. I suspect a rotton/defective hose that connects to the evaporative canister.

so it can be a bad hose vent to the fuel tank your sayin?if i am wrong please explain which hose ur talkin about and where is it, how much?

if ur rite, thats a much better diagnosis than replace in fuel pump......

so next step i to get under there, the ques. i have w hose to canister is how come it takes a while to warmup the car b4 make that noise if its just a hose???shldnt it make that noise rite away?


yes, my friend said the pump has bearins, whether or not it does i dnt care but that noise is annoyin, its not been gettin louder but if it does its got to be the pump i guess.....

any other tests i can do? can some1 explain pullin the fuel fuse/relays what will that show us???ddnt want to mess with the electrical unless i had to.

THANKS

Look .... if we knew the exact problem you'd already have the answer. At some point you need to listen to advice & help yourself.