xenite Posted May 25, 2013 Report Share Posted May 25, 2013 Day before yesterday my 95 grand prix 3.1 automatic stopped working long enough to drive it. Its been having a problem past two and a half weeks with fuel delivery it seems. Gotta constantly floor it to get acceleration and when i try to drive at a constant speed, worst in between 30 and 40 mph, it shakes to an extreme, making it very hard to drive. RPMs stay around 1200. Only happens when i push on the gas though, unless i floor it to gain speed. When i let off the gas and let it coast, no problems whatsoever. So i changed the fuel filter. Made a difference enough to barely notice the difference. Day befire yesterday, i knew i was low on gas, but not low enough to be our. Suddenly the car starts acting like its out of gas, so i push in the pedal to give it whats left to get to a parking space. RPMs skyrocket and i start flying. I go get a gallon, put it in, and it starts but still sputtering like theres nothing in there. I was ib somwones driveway so i go ahead and chance it. Drove around the corner to a park and turned the car off. Couple hours later i start up the car and its acting like "normal" compared to how it was earlier. I stop at the grocery store, turn it off, get back and turn it on no problems. Couple miles down the road it starts acting up again and theres no way its out of gas with how littke i drove. I pull into a dog park parking lot and stayed the night in it. Thought it was the fuel pump, but when i turn the key to on without starting it, i hear the fuel pump coming on no problems, everytime. Try to start it a couple times with no problem. Decided to try to move it to the next parking spot. When i had the car in reverse or drive and let the car pull itself, no problems. I step on the gas however, dies. Went ahead and changed my spark plugs. After pulling them and taking a look they needed it bad. Plug wires also look like they need replaced, but Im a broke one right now so its gonna have to wait a minute. My battery died from tryin to start it several times(it also needs replaced, but for now it does its job). A guy was giving me a jump today and the car would start then die imnediately. We tried a couple more times. Last time the engine blew a puff of air somewhere between the engine area and the air intake loud enough for me to hear it inside the car. When the car first started its shaking i checked all around the airflow intake area for holes since i had that problem with a previous car. After he showed me where the air poofed out he left and i checked the area to determine where it came from with no avail. Hopped back in the car to try again and same thing, starts and dies a moment later. Tried my 2nd gear start. The start sounded slightly more powerful and it died. Tried pushing the gas as its starting to give it a rev but youd think my throttle cables broken, it doesnt do ANYTHING. Tried a couple more times until the battery died. Now im sitting here at a loss. Did the air puff have anything to do with this seemingly fuel delivery problem? I cant move the car to get it looked at nor do i have the money to. Check engine light would come on for literally a couple seconds to a minute or two at random times last couple of weeks, but would never stay on long enough for me to get to autozone to have them get the code. This car is my lifeline and im dead in the water at the time. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Beth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich_e777 Posted May 25, 2013 Report Share Posted May 25, 2013 Do you get a odor of gas when the engine is running? Underneath the airbox on the transmission there is a modulator with a vacuum line running to the top of the engine. Check and see if that is where you heard the noise, when the rubber gets old and stiff it doesn't hold as well. Also how long has it been since the spark plug wire were changed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 the problem is obvious. the car is not charging well and the battery is toast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 yeah dying alts can do wonky things. Get it tested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 i would take a look at the coils/ICM, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xenite Posted May 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 The car came into the family a year and a half ago and got to me in January. I know since I've had it the wires haven't been changed, they look like they have some white corrosion on the edges spark plug side. Also to note a txt to my brother asking bout fuel pump had me pushing on schrader valve to check pressure. A short two second hiss with no fuel squirting out. I recalled doing this to depressurize my fuel line when changing filter since pulling the fuel pump relay while car was running didn't work. The same two second hiss without squirting fuel. I thought it was depressurized. When I unhooked the fuel filter engine side, a short steady stream came out. When I unhooked the filter fuel pump side you'd think that side hadn't been depressurized, fuel sprayed everywhere for a few seconds. Fuel coming out of the filter was pretty orange from rust. I tried blowing through the new filter to test and could feel air coming out the other side with ease. Blew into the old one and it took all my might to feel even a slight pinprick of air for a moment. Decided it was pretty clogged. Any chance somewhere in my fuel line could be clogged? Looked at my fuses today and my I/P electronics battery feed fuse was the only fuse blown. What the hell does this fuse do? I can't find it's function anywhere online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xenite Posted May 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 No odor of gas and can't find any holes or loose hoses. Do have two unconnected wires I found in the engine with no idea where the go, can't find the connectors they go into Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 injectors could have been clogged if the filter wasn't doing it's job. sounds like it was though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 if the inline filter was that bad, i imagine the "sock" on the pump looks horrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xenite Posted May 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 Soon as I have the tools and knowledge of how to drop the tank tO look at fuel pump I'll let you know, should be within the week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xenite Posted May 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 Changed the strainer and car finally started. Shaking on and off at all times and when I'm sittin at a light the rpms fluctuate between 600-1000. When I'm coming to a stop rpms really drop down to 500 at times and car comes close to dying. No check engine light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA1 Posted May 30, 2013 Report Share Posted May 30, 2013 are u getting any codes , is the MIL on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xenite Posted May 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2013 It will come on for 3-10 seconds at random times. Soon as I see it's on it's off. Been watching the dash like a hawk and it has done this three times since I got it started yesterday. Car is acting like it doesn't have much power, terrible acceleration, can't take going uphill so I have to floor it. Fuel pump has been coming on so I didn't think that was the issue but I'm wondering if it is on it's last breath. Been stranded in Denver, 700 miles from home. Down to my gas money so I'm gonna have to chance it home. Gonna try a new fuel pump when I get back and I will let you all know if that did the trick . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimMadsen Posted May 31, 2013 Report Share Posted May 31, 2013 Check your Idle Air Control and see if the throttle body needs cleaning. My car went through something pretty similar (see thread about rpm jumping at stop) and shop not sure what it was but tested a bunch of things. They found the IAC spring to have unscrewed from the plastic some and the throttle body had heavy carbon build up. Car seems to be running fine now. Luckily they only charged me about $60 to do all of the checking and above work. I also had them do a coolant change at same time. All done for less than 200. However, if mine didn't die at the service station, I would have spent the next few days trying to figure it out like you are! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1138 Posted May 31, 2013 Report Share Posted May 31, 2013 i would take a look at the coils/ICM, too. THIS. Get ICM/coils from the junkyard for $50-ish and swap, I'd put money on this being the issue... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galaxie500XL Posted May 31, 2013 Report Share Posted May 31, 2013 X2...the coils and ICM can come from pretty much any 60* car...mine on my LQ1 came from a 3100...they're mounted on top of the engine on newer cars, much easier to harvest, and not nearly so heat soaked. THIS. Get ICM/coils from the junkyard for $50-ish and swap, I'd put money on this being the issue... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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