Whether you drive a light-duty or heavy-duty truck, you can expect to get about 100,000 miles out of the fuel pump in today’s automobiles. Once the fuel pump goes bad, however, Moose Jaw Truck Shop advises that your vehicle will experience one or more of the following symptoms of a faulty fuel pump. It’s important to have the fuel pump replaced at the first sign of trouble to maintain your engine performance and efficiency.
Sputtering at Higher Speeds
The fuel pump does exactly what its name suggests: it pumps the fuel from the tank to the engine. If it is going bad, it may not supply the necessary fuel needed to drive at faster speeds. When this happens, your engine will sputter at the higher speeds. In severe cases, the engine may be unable to maintain the speed at which you desire to drive.
Engine Stress Power Loss
Your engine will also lose power when it is under stress if the fuel pump cannot move additional fuel into the engine. For example, if you are towing a trailer with construction supplies and your truck slows down significantly, the engine is losing power because it is under too much stress without enough fuel.
Picking Up Speed Erratically
The opposite of the above two problems is picking up speed erratically. This can happen if the fuel pump releases too much gasoline or diesel fuel into your vehicle’s engine. Rather than slowing down and sputtering, the engine will rev higher and your vehicle will go faster by itself.
An Overheating Engine
The fuel pump can cause your engine to overheat if it is malfunctioning. The fuel pump uses the fuel from the tank to keep its motor cool. If it is failing to draw fuel out of the tank, the fuel pump’s motor will overheat. Consequently, your engine will overheat, as well.
Reduced Fuel Mileage
Because the fuel pump is causing your engine to run inefficiently, you will notice a significant difference in your truck’s fuel economy. Whether the engine is being fuel-starved by the faulty pump or receiving too much fuel, you will head to the petrol station more often.
Difficult Starts or No Starts
Finally, it can be difficult to get your truck started when the fuel pump is malfunctioning. In this case, the engine does not have enough fuel to ignite. You may be able to get the engine to start after several tries or the engine may be completely dead.
Call Moose Jaw Truck Shop in Moose Jaw, SK, today if you believe your vehicle is having problems with the fuel pump.
