Car finally left me stranded

[Mr Paul]

I was driving around the city last night and after 181,000 miles my car has finally left me stranded. I was going about 20 mph with almost no load on the engine and there was a big stutter or hiccup. It almost felt like the car died while moving and then quickly refired. 20 seconds later it did it again. And then it would do it every few seconds until I pulled over and shut it down. Every stutter was accompanied by a very fast 500 rpm drop of the tachometer, a very fast flash of the battery light and then right back to normal for a few seconds. When I pulled over it idled for a few seconds and died. When it is running between stutters it runs and feels perfectly normal. Also this is not just a single misfire, it is much more pronounced then that. The car really bucks hard when it happens.

Any thoughts on what is going on? Currently the car is parked on the side of the road in a safe place, but I have family visiting this weekend so I don't have any real time to dig into anything else. Anybody experience these symptoms before?

Thanks.

[az3579]

You haven't yet replaced your fuel pump, have you? If not, it's probably due.

[san]

You haven't yet replaced your fuel pump, have you? If not, it's probably due.

+1
Could be a clogged fuel filter too I think... if the pump and filter haven't been replaced yet, it's a good time to replace both irrespective of which one caused the issue now...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[danewilson77]

You haven't yet replaced your fuel pump, have you? If not, it's probably due.

This is what popped in my head.

MWL come on?

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[KTS317]

Battery light has me thinking its either battery or alternator related


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[danewilson77]

Battery light has me thinking its either battery or alternator related


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Perhaps. Belts all look good?

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[az3579]

Battery light has me thinking its either battery or alternator related


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It only came on for a brief moment. It seems unlikely it's battery related. The car did stall - the battery light comes on at that time.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

[Mr Paul]

It's on the original pump.

You haven't yet replaced your fuel pump, have you? If not, it's probably due.

[Mr Paul]

No MWL. Not yet anyway.

[Mr Paul]

Haven't seen the car since I left it on the side of the road on Thursday. Will go back today and do a little investigating.

Perhaps. Belts all look good?

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk