Hi guys, I'm out here in Seattle on a mini vacation, and trying to help a special girl with some trouble with her car. Hope some of you have some ideas.
2002 RAV4 AWD, 2.0L, around 121,000 miles
Runs well, all fluids full and clean. At around 105K, I did whatever was called for at 100K---plugs, serpentine belt, air filter, cabin filter, coolant, ATF, ATF filter and pan gasket, and so forth.
I'm unable to get a really good description of the problem, and so far it's been driving well for me, but I'm going to drive it more now.
She says the following:
---Car sometimes bucks and loses power, especially when climbing long hills and moderate speeds. She says just try to cruise up a hill around 30-40MPH, and the car just won't have enough power to go, whether flooring the gas or not.
---Problem is much worse when car is low on fuel; seems to mostly go away if fuel level is high.
---Problem comes and goes; it's not there all the time.
---I've driven the car for a few miles already, and it's mostly been OK for me, whether I drive it like an old lady, or get on it a little more...it seems to be OK either way.
---Once, just once, I did try to climb a hill and I did feel a little "skip" like for a 1/2 second it lost all power and then came right back.
---Fuel level is at 3/8 now; I'm going to take the car out for the day to do some things, and I'll try to let the fuel level drop and see what happens.
So, I'll write again later with whatever I find, but I'd appreciate any ideas any of you might have. I'm only here for a short time, and don't have access to lots of tools, but I'd love to get this fixed for her.
To my mind, what she's describing sounds like a car with a weak/failing fuel pump, but I don't want to throw parts at it without a good diagnosis.
Thanks,
Chris
2002 RAV4 AWD, 2.0L, around 121,000 miles
Runs well, all fluids full and clean. At around 105K, I did whatever was called for at 100K---plugs, serpentine belt, air filter, cabin filter, coolant, ATF, ATF filter and pan gasket, and so forth.
I'm unable to get a really good description of the problem, and so far it's been driving well for me, but I'm going to drive it more now.
She says the following:
---Car sometimes bucks and loses power, especially when climbing long hills and moderate speeds. She says just try to cruise up a hill around 30-40MPH, and the car just won't have enough power to go, whether flooring the gas or not.
---Problem is much worse when car is low on fuel; seems to mostly go away if fuel level is high.
---Problem comes and goes; it's not there all the time.
---I've driven the car for a few miles already, and it's mostly been OK for me, whether I drive it like an old lady, or get on it a little more...it seems to be OK either way.
---Once, just once, I did try to climb a hill and I did feel a little "skip" like for a 1/2 second it lost all power and then came right back.
---Fuel level is at 3/8 now; I'm going to take the car out for the day to do some things, and I'll try to let the fuel level drop and see what happens.
So, I'll write again later with whatever I find, but I'd appreciate any ideas any of you might have. I'm only here for a short time, and don't have access to lots of tools, but I'd love to get this fixed for her.
To my mind, what she's describing sounds like a car with a weak/failing fuel pump, but I don't want to throw parts at it without a good diagnosis.
Thanks,
Chris
