Alright, so the past month or so out of nowhere the ol' 91 Q is acting up.

Now this incindent only happened twice but it may help, I'll start it right up, then a few seconds later, the RPMs flutter up and down like crazy and the car dies. Then it wont start at all until a few hours later, when itll start up just fine. This started it all and it hasnt done this since.

Now, this is where the bigger problem is, I'll start the car up just fine, but at idle the rmps will be about 2 or 300 rpms higher than normal with a fairly rough idle. When i drive, there is literally NO power. i mean, no torque at all. I floor it, and the rpms will shoot up to 3500 and just flutter up and down up and down, the car does go, but slowly. I CAN cruise at about 50 but no faster than that. And after a little while, there is a burnt smell coming from the engine, smells like burnt hair. This only happens every now and then, like once a week maybe. The car does NOT always run this bad. And it only seems to happen when i drop below half a tank. Any other time, the car runs ok, but with NOTICEABLY less horsepower than when i first bought it (about 2 years ago).

So i replaced the fuel filter, had the injectors cleaned, ran some BG44k through it, and changed the oil, just to see if anything helped, which it felt like it did, but i still hav ethe problem. Now, this all feels like a fuel system problem to me. It feels as if the gas isnt being delivered or even worse, like no compression. Fuel pump seems fine, there is no buzzing or loud noises coming from it. So, i was thinking it could be a clog in the lines or something, but if that was the case wouldnt it run like crap all the time and not just occasionally?

Well let me know what you think and ask any questions you need! I really wanna figure this thing out, its killin me. Thanks guys!!!!!!

Historically I've replaced fuel pumps every 7 years or 120k. Really depends on the amount of dirt you purchase and whether you change fuel filter annually or not.

Annual air and fuel filter changes are mandatory! Joe has cheap prices.

Discover the power of the button!

Try cleaning up and removing any corrosion from the connector and the MAF pins, tightening up the pins in the connector (see pic), and coating both sets of pins with dielectric grease before plugging it back together. When you're done it should fit tightly and the free play up and down should be minimal.

94 Q45 160,000 miles.........................................90 Q45 237,000 miles

So if it is the fuel pump, how hard are these things to replace? Is it a PITA?

Just for kicks you can go in through the trunk, pull back the trim and unplug the fuel pump control unit to look for any burning or melting on the connector. That would be an obvious sign that a bad fuel pump is burning out the FPCU or vice versa. While you're there try grounding out the fuel pump to run on high speed only. It's done by running a jumper from the lower right pin (ground) of the FPCU connector to an unpainted ground in the trunk area. If the problems go away you need to replace the FPCU. In the picture the pin to ground has the clip attached and the FPCU is in the background.

What I'm suggesting won't take but a few minutes and if you see a scorched FPCU connector at step one you might as well replace it and the fuel pump. With the mileage on your Q you're due. The fuel pressure test is the best of all since it reads pressure while the problem is occurring. Let us know what you find.

I appreciate the help guys, hopefully this takes care of things, ill keep you updated...