hesitation problem w/ my SOHC
 

so this started two days ago. I have a 92 sohc protege with 269,000 km on it. not sure when the last tune up was.

tempratures have been really high lately in toronto, about 30+ degrees ( in centigrades )

after driving the car for a period ( 40 or more minutes ), the car starts to hesitate in any gear. anything above 3,000 rpm and it feels like its bogged down and i depress the gas more but nothing and all of a sudden engine rpm jump up in steps and then goes back down to 3,000 rpm level.

I tried downshifting and forcing a higher rpm, but car just doest not want to stay above 3,000 rpm.


any ideas what could be causing this?

so now the car has now tured off twice. everytime i break hard and turn at the same time.

under 3,000 rpm the car is fine.

i think its the fuel pump?

i've now done a complete tune up on the car, problem persists.

put fuel injector cleaner and am running on 91+ octane gas with a full tank.
problem seems to have subsided.

leads me to believe fuel pump malfunction.

We are haveing the same problem with my sisters saturn, we've done everything except change the timing chain (saturn uses chains instead of belt) and fuel pump, so it's gotta be one of the 2...

i found a fuel pump at the junkers, now to just pick it up and slap it in there.

i'll let you know if it alleviates the problem.

Do these cars have a fuel filter "teabag" right at the tip of the in tank fuel pump? If so, check that filter.

Also, you might want to check the catalytic converter. Try shaking it to see if it rattles. It might be broken inside and clogging the exhaust. That would make the car run like that.

Watch your check engine light... if it light up sometimes... then check the code, it will probably be the coolant temperature sensor....

Well... I had this problem, and I needed to replace that sensor...
My .02 cents!

I've heard the thing about the car dying when you corner hard before.... I don't remember what they did to fix it but keep this in mind: our cars have power steering. That sucks up a lot of juice when you're turning. Alternator? I don't remember.

The reason I mentioned the filter at the tip of the fuel pump is because I had a similar problem with my Miata. After a trip to Arkansas (and buying gas at this station that had its pumps running very, very slow), my car and a couple others started sputtering bad when flooring the car on a turn. I noticed that the lower the gas level, the worst it was. Eventually, I pulled the fuel pump and noticed that the "teabag" filter was clogged with what looked like mud. I changed that filter as well as the in line fuel filter and drained the tank and cleaned it. That fixed the problem.

Just at thought.

i'll be looking at the fuel pump and regulator this weekend.

thank you everyone for the suggestions.