I recently took a 3-hour trip in my '89 IROC (L98) and towards the end of the trip, after I pulled off of the highway, I noticed a whining sound coming from the back seat. It was even more noticable when the seats were down, and it was most obvious at idle. It changed slightly when I gave the engine gas, but it seemed to always be there. I've heard it make that sound again after longer trips, but I can't usually hear it when the engine is cold. I can't think of what else it could be comming from the back except for the fuel pump.

Also, something else that I have noticed is that, recently, the engine often times has trouble starting. It can happen when the engine is completely cold, and it can even happen when the engine has been running. Basically, I'll turn the key and the engine will act like it's going to start right up, the engine speed hits like 1000 RPM for about a second, and then it just sputters out. If I let it sit for a couple of seconds or so, it will usually start up on the second time, but I often find myself having to give the engine gas immediately after it has started to keep it from dying.

Could the two problems have anything to do with each other?

Also--and this is probably the most frustrating thing about all of this--I JUST changed my fuel pump this past Summer for the first time. Does the whining sound mean that the fuel pump is on its way out? I don't think the fuel pump had ever been changed before, which means that the stocker lasted over 115K miles (and it wasn't even bad yet--I just changed it because I had the tank out).

Thanks!

 

I don't really know if your fuel pump is about to fail or not but the problems definatly can be related if you do have a bad pump, theres also a good chance that there not related. My fuel pump started making the loudest humming noises a few months back, I thought fuel pump was getting ready to go, then blamo all of a sudden after like three weeks it justs quites down again, car still runs great a couple months later. Not really sure what was going on, I was positive it was my fuel pump making noise though. Could mean maybe its still bad, maybe I just had some debris stuck in it that was causing it to struggle who knows, maybe you'll get lucky to. I was ready to tear it apart and wasn't looking forward to it so I was procrastinating now I am glad I did.