Thread: Fuel Pump? Advice?

Hey all.. I've got a 2002 GPGT 3.8.. For a couple weeks now, when I start my car in the mornings, it idles sluggishly, and when I start driving, it acts like it isn't getting gas.. I push the gas pedal and it takes a few seconds for the car to respond. After it's been on the road a few minutes, it drives just fine. It is getting progressively worse, and even died on me yesterday. It took 4 tries to get it restarted, and then it drove great all day. I replaced the fuel filter yesterday, and this morning, it ran like crap again.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank ya.

any check engine light on? but it sounds like fuel pump if you have already changed the filter.

Yes the check engine light is on.

if you know someone with a obd2 scanner get it checked out might help you determine where the problem is. if not autozone will scan it but you would have to get it there. it would be worth getting it scanned before throwing a fuel pump at it. incase it's a completely different issue. once you get a code i can help you out with what it could be.

I took my car to Auto Zone (it ran fine btw) and the code was a MAF sensor.. low intake.. The guy said that I could clean the MAF sensor with brake cleaner but it is a tamper proof sensor. So if you know, how is this done? My boyfriend drove it this morning while it was running badly.. It was struggling to go, like it wasn't getting gas, but then he hit a bump in the road and the car has been doing good the rest of the day.

If the fuel pump is working right when the car is tested for the codes, will the code still show that the fuel pump is bad? We are going to test the fuel pressure in the morning while the car is running badly..

Thanks for your time

You most likely will need a new maf sensor or check the wiring to make sure it is not unplugged. The car is running weird because it detects that the maf has failed, it doesn't know exactly how much fuel to add when your driving it, it is going off of estimated values, some cars will run very bad, some just fine when this happens, but both ways end up with a bad idle at some point.

good call on checking the fuel pressure.

P0102 is caused by an abnormally low reading from the sensor. The few times I have seen it, the wires were loose or damaged causing the reading from that sensor to drop to nothing at abnormal times. otherwise the sensor itself is failing.

if you are going to clean it use brake clean or air intake cleaner as it will evaporate. just make sure when spraying the MAF that you don't hit the wire that runs across the middle of it with the nozzle on the can.

most likely though you will have to replace the sensor or repair a wire going to it.

edit: fosh099 beat me to it lol

We just bought some MAF sensor cleaner, and cleaned the sensor real well. Got the security bits to get the sensor opened.. It is still running good, but we'll know in the morning if it fixed it or not. I sure hope it did but am pretty doubtful. We didn't get the fuel pressure gauge yet..
I should add too, the MAF sensor was just replaced about 5000 miles ago...

ick well it could be an issue with the wiring going to the maf as well with that code you were getting so the problem might be deeper.

let us know how it goes in the morning.

Originally Posted by Jessica729

We just bought some MAF sensor cleaner, and cleaned the sensor real well. Got the security bits to get the sensor opened.. It is still running good, but we'll know in the morning if it fixed it or not. I sure hope it did but am pretty doubtful. We didn't get the fuel pressure gauge yet..
I should add too, the MAF sensor was just replaced about 5000 miles ago...

is your MAF sensor an aftermarket sensor? What type?

Originally Posted by Liquifire

is your MAF sensor an aftermarket sensor? What type?

How do I find this out? All I am sure of is that it is a remanufactured sensor.

you can check the values of a MAF sensor with a tuner... ie look for someone in your area with a PowrTuner or HPT.... then scan and let it idle and watch the values.

Originally Posted by Jessica729

How do I find this out? All I am sure of is that it is a remanufactured sensor.

It doesnt really matter. I just wanted to let you know that sometimes aftermarket things are junk or fail more often than OEM parts. It is very common for these to fail on our cars, so I would not be surprised to see that yours failed again as it is a remanufactured device. You never know, sometimes it is bad out of the box. If you know where you got it, do you have a receipt? It may still be under warranty if you purchased it recently. Good luck

So after cleaning the MAF yesterday, we took her for a spin this morning. Idle wasn't great, but she didn't try to stall out. There was a 4000 mile warranty on my MAF.. I'm at 5000. Thats what I get for ignoring that dang check engine light.

I don't know if this is relevant, but the service engine light started coming on when the temperature outside was hitting the 100's.. It would come on while driving on those hot days, but then go off overnight. My temperature gauge never said my car was hot though, and all of my fluids are full and oil is changed every 3000 miles.. Eventually the light just stayed on...


Would that MAF by chance have anything to do with my AC? (feel free to roll eyes if that was a stupid question ) I get cold air on the passenger side, but warm on the driver side, unless I'm driving at night, or if the outside temp is under 85-ish. We just recharged the freon.. This isn't a major issue.. Just curious.

I start my new job today.. I sure hope she gets me there.

Are they going to check the miles on your car if you return the maf or how do they know? lol

Regardless, how many miles are on your car now?

Unplug the maf sensor and see if anything changes.

I don't know if they will check the mileage if I go back to them.. but it really doesn't matter. I've pretty much decided to get that remanufactured MAF sensor replaced with a good one. I am thinking that all of you are right and that it is the problem. I drove today to work and back, and my car ran just fine. An hour after work though, I drove a mile away and she died at an intersection. It started right back up, but I can't be having that dying stuff happening. If the new MAF doesn't fix my problems, I suppose I'll get the new fuel pump. I'm really hoping I win the powerball tonight... It sure would help. Thank you all so much for all of your help and I'll let you know when I get the new sensor if it fixes my problems. Ya'll rock!! ~Jess

BTW... There are about 150,000 miles on my car. Only 5000 of those miles are mine though. lol

We just unhooked the sensor and drove around the block and it ran just perfectly. We then plugged the sensor back in, drove around the block again, and it ran just perfectly again. We will try it again in the morning when she is notorious for giving me problems on start-up. Should we be looking for something specific?

When the maf sensor fails, it goes to a different setting in the pcm, it goes off of a calculated table. If the maf senor did truly fail, it would do the same, if the maf sensor was unplugged, it would do the same. So, in all reality, if the car did get better after it is unplugged, then the maf senor is not your problem. It may even be and IAC.

well.........we really dont know what it is at this point, it could be a lot of things....next time the car is running like crap get out and unplug the MAF...if it gets better then this is most likely your problem. If it does not, then it has a good chance that your issue is not being the MAF.....

I got a ride to work today.. I didn't want to take the chance of being late, and stranded. I priced a new MAF sensor today and plan to buy one tomorrow. I started my car today, it sounded like crap... So I turned it off, unplugged the sensor, and she started right up. I figure since I'm getting an error code telling me my MAF is having issues, I'll just replace it. If it fixes the issue, great. If not, I guess I'll fix something else. I'll let you all know when I get the new MAF.
Thank you a lot. Because of you all, I'm pretty much convinced my fuel pump isn't bad and 220 bucks is a lot of money to spend on something that isn't broken. lol

Have a safe and fun weekend to all of you.