Sorry for a long post. My car is a 1995 Legacy with 135,000 miles-really. It was parked for several years after the owner died. I’ve had it for about three years and replaced most sensors over that period due to codes. Mostly runs like a scalded dog except...When I bought it the owner said the fuel pump was less than a year old. I’d had it for about 9 months and one day the car wouldn’t start, no fuel delivered to engine. Replaced fuel pump and put in a new filter and tank screen. In April I took it on a trip and it ran great except once after a fill up the car would start but only idled very slowly/ 200rpm or so, then die. Fuel starvation? After about a dozen tries it fired up and ran perfectly for the 500 miles back to my home over 4 days with lots of starts and stops and fill-ups.
A week after getting home it would crank but not start at all. Fuel pump again, right? I replaced the pump with a mid-range pump from Rock Auto. After installation we went for a short test drive (15 minutes, less than 10 miles, ran great). After a 10 minute stop it acted like it had before: very slow idle and died within seconds. Wouldn’t run, got towed. On an older car I’d say it was vapor lock. Checked fuel filter for flow. Tried removing the gas cap. Let it sit for a few days. Didn’t help. I replaced it with a Hitachi pump a few days ago. It starts and runs great. I let it idle for an hour, shutting it off every 15 minutes and restarting. No problems, no codes.
Here’s the thing, the last failed pump that only lasted 10 miles runs when bench tested. What if the slow idle problem that went away once (but not the second time) is some other problem that acts like a bad fuel pump? What else could it be? Now I’m hesitant to drive the car. Any ideas?
