I just got back from Afghanistan a month ago. Since being back, my car has been ....erratic. When I drive and it's under 2000rpm, the car is jumping by about 100rpms. I see it on the tach and feel it. There is hard shifting in the first few gears and I've lost ALL power twice when trying to accelerate from a stop sign.

I was told THIS is impossible, being an automatic, but when I step on it to pass a person (4000rpm or so) I have noticed a few times that burning clutch smell.

The dealer found NO codes at all ( wonder how hard they looked) and I had a shop who specializes in euro cars look, with the same result.
The dealer said it may be the fuel pump....but change the fuel filter to see if that fixes anything. It didn't
Anyone who can help.....I'm afraid of how much damage I might be doing to my car

 

fuel pump of later 02 and 03 models is under recall i believe. Someone correct me if im wrong.

 

I should have said earlier. it's an '04. I'll try to find out what recalls there are

 

I'm noticing that when my car switches from 3rd to 4th gear, there's a short vibration and hum (lasts about 1 second, or less) and I think I saw the RPMs move back and forth about 100 or so during this. The car only does this ONCE after being turned on and switching gears for the first time. If I turn it off and restart it again, it does the same thing ONCE. I'm really confused. No other problems, really, so I'm stumped.

 

Were you getting a humming/buzzing/howling sound from the area below the rear passenger side seat? If so that would indicate a problem with the fuel pump, which shows up as the FPR inside the filter reacting to insufficient flow. Mine was intermittent at first, and even went quiet for a few months before coming back. As the sound got louder/more frequent, I also started to have loss of power and hesitation, and finally starting throwing some CELs related to lean fuel mixture and misfires.

Since replacing the filter did not change anything, it's almost certainly the fuel pump. I'm taking advantage of the situation to upgrade to a Bosch 040 (on order).

Without the fuel filter noise or CELs as symptoms, it's hard to diagnose your problem.

Cheers

 

How long did the car sit?

 

vitamin lemme know if the fuel pump resolves ur cell cause i seem to have the same problem.

 

My hum and vibration sound/feel like they're coming from in front of the driver's portion of the car, not passenger. Does it sound like it could be the fuel pump for my issue as well?

 

Fuel pump's in the gas tank, so you're having some other issue.

Pa4ul, I'm planning on posting a new thread with the results of my fuel pump upgrade. The part's still not shipped, so no telling when yet when this will happen...

 

It sat for about 7 months, with my wife firing it up almost weekly. I've spoken to the dealer and they're going to need the car again to go through the "bullitens".
When I talked to the mechanic, he also informed me that the CVT is one of the worst he's seen...That hee'd never buy a car with one.....uh-oh.
I never really noticed any noise from the rear seats, but I'm trying to listen for anything. I am leaning strongly to the fuel pump now, as opposed to the tranny.
ALSO: to this point, haven't found any recalls on '04's except for a "xenon headlight coating"