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This morning, after coasting thru a 40mph school speed zone in 5th gear, I stepped on the gas to speed back up to 55 and my Dodge BUCKED and the "check engine" light came on! I pulled over and let it idle for a few minutes and tried to drive off again. I put it in gear and stepped lightly on the gas and could get to about 5mph and then the engine would start fussing. I thought something might be wrong with the transmission, so I shifted to the next gear and got another 5mph of speed before it started fussing. Eventually, I was able to drive 20mph in 4th gear (5spd with granny gear) on level ground. At idle or in any gear, the tach read around 1000 rpm. If I tried to add gas, and increase the rpms, it would fuss. So, I drove 20mph in 4th gear for the last 7 miles to work!
I called my mechanic and had it towed to their garage. They said the computer was showing three codes that point to the fuel injection pump. They want to replace this with a factory part with 5 hrs labor for a whopping $2,800! I have had two coworkers mention similar symptoms in their Dodges that ended up being the catalytic converter, not a fuel system issue. It's hard for me to believe that it's the fuel system when it will idle and purr like a kitten (well, I mean LION...boy is he noisy!) It would seem to me that if there were any fuel issues it would not only fuss when I tried to speed up, but that it would also sputter some while idling. But, in the painfully slow 20mph 7 mile trek to work this morning, the engine never missed a beat as long as I didn't try to push the rpms over 1000.
Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
Christine
I called my mechanic and had it towed to their garage. They said the computer was showing three codes that point to the fuel injection pump. They want to replace this with a factory part with 5 hrs labor for a whopping $2,800! I have had two coworkers mention similar symptoms in their Dodges that ended up being the catalytic converter, not a fuel system issue. It's hard for me to believe that it's the fuel system when it will idle and purr like a kitten (well, I mean LION...boy is he noisy!) It would seem to me that if there were any fuel issues it would not only fuss when I tried to speed up, but that it would also sputter some while idling. But, in the painfully slow 20mph 7 mile trek to work this morning, the engine never missed a beat as long as I didn't try to push the rpms over 1000.
Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
Christine