My wifes 2002 LXI 2.7L just had a fuel pump installed by our local mechanic because the vehicle would have a stumble or mis/hesitation only while traveling at freeway speed. The mechanic said the computer code showed maxium fuel was being required at all times and at freeway speed the weak fuel pump couldn't deliver enough fuel up to the engine and would cause a mis/hesitation. He said no other codes were shown.
Problem is the car still has the issue and we are frankly out of money and are waiting to talk to the shop owner. We have dumped a ton of money in this car since about the 100,000 mi. mark and now has 130,000mi. and is a commuter. The car has a recent tune-up including plugs and coil packs and has had regular service since new. Can anyone please help? Thanks ahead of time.

 

Update: We had the car at the shop again after the fuel pump install to try and find the continuing issue of stall/hesitate at freeway speed with no luck. There are no codes showing on the computers and the car now is getting worse. It will buck badly when you try and give the car throttle when the stall/hesitate happens to the point that it will almost quit running but when you let off the throttle it will regain power. The car as mentioned still is not showing any codes and we plan to try and drive the car this weekend to see if it will pop a code so they can try and fix the issue. PM. <><

 

Throttle position sensor

 

Looks like we finally have a fix for this problem. The car finally did show a code after it died on the freeway and did restart on the third try. It showed PO106 - barometric pressure out of range, namely the MAP sensor was bad.

So the fuel filter in the fuel pump was plugging up and the pump was on its way out and was replaced but the main issue was the MAP sensor. Mechanic said this controls fuel mixtures needed for different altitudes and was intermittingly malfunctioning. The Sebring has 140,000 miles and now runs as good as when new. We'll keep our fingers crossed for now. Thanks for the reply helo735. PM. <><

 

I know on GM cars (I know, apples/oranges) the PCM only occasionally references MAP values to determine WOT air/fuel ratio and to error check the mass airflow sensor.

Either way, it's usually the dumbest little sensors that cause the most problems, and usually don't throw codes until you're at wits end. I had a 1999 Jeep Cherokee that had serious surging and stalling issues that I chased for months. Then one day, the Check Engine light popped on and I had it scanned. Came back to the front O2 sensor. Changed that sucker out, and never had another problem.

I'm glad to read that you got it fixed.

 

If you have problems with this you can remove the MAP sensor and spray throttle body cleaner in it. This will fix the problem if it is the MAP sensor. It will save time and money.