Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Fuel Starvation ?

I'm having an odd problem with my '99 SE 2.5 engine. It will cut out and stagger as the revs get up. What is strange is that it appears to happen as the fuel tank gets lower. On a full tank, the engine runs great. As it gets down near half a tank, the engine will cut out above 4000 RPM or so. Anyone else run into this? I'm at 65K on miles, and the engine has run perfect up until now.

sounds like it might be your fuel pump...have you changed your fuel filter??also you might want to check out your ignition components also...

This is your fuel pump. I had the exact same problem at 49k miles and had to replace mine($266). After that, it runs better than the best!!

Hi!

Something similar is happening to me, only in my case it seems that the weather or atleast the fuel has to be fairly warm when it happens. As you stated the engine sort of staggers in third gear at WOT or near. The fuel pump may be the culpert but what about the fuel pressure regulator. Maybe we ought to change the regulator before changing the pump. Also, I think it might be a good idea to have the fuel system pressure tested before shelling out for either the regulator or the pump...

John

During the 99 model year, the fuel system was converted to a returnless type. Do you know if your's is a return type or a returnless type.

The returnless type has had a lot of trouble with the fuel pump module inlet screen plugging up. You should be able to find a lot of information on this with a search.

Hey bribomn,

Here is an excerpt from something that I just posted:

"Additionally, I have experienced fuel starvation during high speed, long right-turning on/off ramps when I am low on fuel. I had a similiar fuel starvation problem in my 89 Ford Probe GT and it turned out to be a gunked up fuel filter intake sock - I cleaned it and cleaned out the bottom of my fuel tank and that fixed my Probe."

In the Probe, the problem started happening when the tank was real low. Then it started happening when I got down to a half tank. I checked out my Haynes manual and the fuel pump setup looks to be the same (SVT and Probe). As I recall, the job was fairly easy. Try to empty the tank as much as possible before starting. Then remove the rear seat bottom to get to the fuel pump. My book says that you should replace the gasket any time that you remove the pump. Anyway, I just left the pump out in the sun and when it dried, this gunky, rusty, sludge just flaked away. Then I cleaned up more gunk from the tank and put it back together. Hope this helps.

By the way - the sludge formed at the bottom of the sock filter first, then slowly made its way up the sock. That's why the starvation began occurring when the tank was more and more full. The sock filter covers the fuel intake tube.

Dave

Thanks all for the info. I'll try the checks mentioned and post the fix after I complete the repair.