Occasional stuttering

Tiny
SHANA GEORGE
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 SATURN ION
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 124,030 MILES
I have owned this car for a little over a month. It ran fine first few weeks. We changed spark plugs they were not getting spark hardly, fuel filter which was really black, air filter, oil change an new filter which was overdue, front struts an brake pads. After we changed the spark plugs and I had gotten gas at a small Exxon gas station few weeks ago, after that it has been acting weird. It was just here an there at first but now it is a lot more frequent. It is hard to describe but It is like a stutter at idle or sometimes in park it shakes the whole car. We had checked the spark plugs to make sure they were right and they were fine. We have put fuel treatment in it with a different grade of fuel and it did a little better at first but then it has been doing it really bad past few days even know while driving occasionally it will jolt whole car it feels like an stutter at almost every stop. Today I heard a knocking noise come from tank area when it was sitting running for little bit stuttering off an on. I am really sure it is but Is this the fuel pump going out for sure or something else? I am not sure how to test this to be certain before it is changed.
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Monday, April 24th, 2017 AT 5:49 PM

14 Replies

Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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You would have to do a fuel pressure test when it was acting up. As far as a fuel treatment I would use a good fuel drier and a ethonal treatment and put it in the gas tank to try that. Bg products make a the best one out there.
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Wednesday, April 26th, 2017 AT 1:32 PM
Tiny
SHANA GEORGE
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Okay thank you. How do you test it? Do you think it's the fuel pump going out or something else? It's not reading any codes right now and at times drives fine.
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Wednesday, April 26th, 2017 AT 1:37 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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I honestly don't think it's a fuel pump when they go bad the car shuts off and doesn't start
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Wednesday, April 26th, 2017 AT 7:05 PM
Tiny
SHANA GEORGE
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  • 6 POSTS
Okay. What other things would make it do that that you might know of? Is it ok to keep driving it like that right now it's my only transportation. Its not reading any codes or lights on. Any advice on what we might try or check? I do appreciate your time
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Thursday, April 27th, 2017 AT 8:37 AM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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You after getting gas you started having the problems so that's why I suggested trying the bg fuel dryer and ethonal treatment combo in the gas. Thats where I would start th re e are no codes I would suspect you got some bad gas water in the gas etc. The bg treatment works awesome.
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Thursday, April 27th, 2017 AT 11:13 AM
Tiny
SHANA GEORGE
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  • 6 POSTS
Okay thank you so much. I appreciate it
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Friday, April 28th, 2017 AT 3:09 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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Your welcome you can probably find it on ebay
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Friday, April 28th, 2017 AT 6:43 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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EBay has the two bottles for 25
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Friday, April 28th, 2017 AT 6:45 PM
Tiny
SHANA GEORGE
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  • 6 POSTS
Okay thanks. I had the fuel pump tested it's not running the right pressure so I was told it's definitely the fuel pump going out.
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Monday, May 1st, 2017 AT 6:29 AM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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Intermittent that's really strange what was the pump pressure tested at?
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Monday, May 1st, 2017 AT 12:30 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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I didn't catch the fuel pump first read thru I saw you had a noise from the fuel pump area.
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Monday, May 1st, 2017 AT 12:31 PM
Tiny
SHANA GEORGE
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
The fuel pump pressure test with car running showed no pressure at first then a slow rise in pressure to 40-45. I had only heard the noise one time last week but The stutter its been doing a few weeks and is only occasionally but every day. It seems it's not getting the correct pressure it needs
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Monday, May 1st, 2017 AT 12:35 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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It can't start with 0psi fuel pressure it's not possible and not run maybe the gauge was showing slow reaction time to the pressure. Also if the pressure was low enough to cause a issue it would have a lack of power I have seen low fuel pressure issues and it effects the power of the engine.
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Monday, May 1st, 2017 AT 1:28 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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The fuel pump should be 50-60 psi so 45psi would be pretty close to that.
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Monday, May 1st, 2017 AT 1:31 PM

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