Had to have my pipes bypassed!

[szh]

Hi, all.

I have not participated in a while here ... had to have my pipes worked on (four unexpected cardiac bypasses!), but I am recovering gracefully from this! Been lurking for a few days, but finally posting something I need to know about for my 95 Q.

My question has to do with a low, buzzing sound from the left rear seat area (I have not tried to locate it exactly yet). It doesn't go away after a few seconds after the key turn (like the fuel pump normally does), so I am assuming that the fuel pump is on its way out. Is that a good assumption in this case? Any other possibilities that might be causing this kind of buzzing?

Z

[Chally]

Good to hear you are on the mend.

The buzzing sound, is it your radio aerial motor?The fuel pump is about centre of the rear seats, so the only other thing I can think of is the radio aerial motor.

Anyone else???

[911/Q45]

The fuel pump will buzz while the engine is running, it doesn't run intermittently. I don't have a good measure for how much buzz is too much.

[DAEDALUS]

Hi Z, glad your recovery is going well. Make certain the radio is off, or it could be a bad speaker making the buzz. I assume the pump has a timer, so perhaps that has gone bad. That's not a common problem as far as I know, so I would expect something else is going on, except that there aren't many possibilities. If you can, have a friend turn the key while you stand next to the open trunk so you can listen around for the source of the noise.

[szh]

Hi, all.

Based on the comments, I have tried a few things so far. When I first just turn the key to the on position, I do get the fuel pump start up and go off soon - just as I would expect it to do (to pressurize). But when I start the engine, I still hear a faint low buzzing sound that I do not seem to remember from before. It is not the radio antenna - I turned the radio off based on Chally's thought and I still got the low buzz. Next step will be to get somebody else to turn on the engine outside my garage - I think the engine noise is masking the sound too much to be locatable.

I am still leaning towards a failing fuel pump as being the culprit. Not sure, though, so I will have the local Infinit dealer check it out when I am able to drive there, if I cannot figure out otherwise.

Thanks, folks, for all the good thoughts and wishes about my recovery. It is happening, albeit slowly. I feel good to be alive!

Z

[greg_atlanta]

Have your heart surgeon install a new fuel pump. Should do a good job pumping blood... but might need to install a FPCU too.

Perhaps Dennis can advise.

[Q451990]

Glad to hear you're feeling better! The fuel pump noise will be most obvious at idle with a low fuel level in the tank. If you fill up and can't tell the difference, I'd say it's something else. Does the noise change with engine speed, like an exhaust resonance?

I can't think of anything else that would make a noise back there with the car stopped except the exhaust, fuel pump, or an amp.

Heath

Heath

[VimyJ]

The title of your post led me to believe that you had a difficult and sophisticated proceedure performed. Like replacing hoses under the Q's plenum. You'll feel like a new man in no time. Sneezing and/or coughing was the hard part according to my dad. Take care.

[Mayhem_J30]

Z,I'm putting a copy of this in the tech section for ya.

Glad you're OK!

[AZhitman]

Z - Welcome back!

I had OHS in January 01 to replace a bad mitral valve (I'm bionic now) so I remember the misery - Glad to have you back on board, hope you feel well soon!!!

[maxnix]

szhosain, did you get pictures? You'll have to post an article in the tech section. Good information for some of us older Q owners.

Welcome back.

[szh]

Have your heart surgeon install a new fuel pump. Should do a good job pumping blood... but might need to install a FPCU too.

Perhaps Dennis can advise.

ROFL!!

Z

[szh]

szhosain, did you get pictures? You'll have to post an article in the tech section. Good information for some of us older Q owners.

Welcome back.

Hi, maxnix.

I watched the video of the angiogram while it was in progress and that was a lot of geeky fun, but they did not take any pictures or video of the cardiac bypasses for me to watch!

Although, in retrospect, given the totally invasive nature of this cardiac surgery (just somewhat shy of a heart replacement), maybe I am better off not knowing - to get to my heart, they had to saw through my sternum with the equivalent of a Dremel tool with a rotating blade! It also scares me enough that my heart and lungs were stopped for three+ hours, and a machine was oxygenating and pumping my blood around! The US national average for fatalities from this type of surgery is 4%!

Z

[szh]

The title of your post led me to believe that you had a difficult and sophisticated proceedure performed. Like replacing hoses under the Q's plenum. You'll feel like a new man in no time. Sneezing and/or coughing was the hard part according to my dad. Take care.

Absolute agree with your Dad. The first week, coughing and laughing were unbelievably painful - even with pain-killers in me. Even now, three weeks after surgery, the pain can get quite amazing (I am slowing down the narcotic pain-killers to wean myself off of them) and deep-breathing can occasionally trigger a brief moment of pain if I am sitting awkwardly.

But, I am recovering gracefully since I did not have a heart attack (indeed, my heart pumping function is off-scale in the good direction), so I should make a full recovery. Although I have been told that the sternum remains sore for years - particularly in cold weather. Oh, well! Far better than the alternative, I suppose!

Z

[szh]

Hi, Heath.

[quote=" Q451990 Does the noise change with engine speed, like an exhaust resonance?[/quote]

Hmmm, have not checked that yet. Will do so soon! I can't drive yet, but I will make it a point of going out with somebody and see if I can tell!

Quote »I can't think of anything else that would make a noise back there with the car stopped except the exhaust, fuel pump, or an amp.[/quote]

The amp sounds like another possibility! I will look ...

Thanks for the suggestions!

Z

[szh]

Hi, all.

Thanks for all the kind words. They are deeply appreciated. You are a great bunch of people!

Z

[AZhitman]

Z - In recovering from my OHS, I had NO problems w/the sternum healing or pain.

I experienced some memory loss of the 3 months after the surgery (not a bad thing).

Also, I have had to contend with what i have learned to call "blowouts" - episodes of intense "deja vu" followed by some low-grade panic and some short-term memory loss (lose memory of the past 8-12 hours). Doctors say it is a residual effect of being on the heart-lung machine for a few hours and that it's more common than you'd think. Sucks when it happens, and really hard to act as if nothing's wrong...

Beats having a bad ticker, though!

Glad to hear you're doing well - We missed you.

[szh]

Z - In recovering from my OHS, I had NO problems w/the sternum healing or pain.

I am glad to hear that. Makes me feel that I will be okay afterward soon enough. The pain keeps going down daily, so I do feel that progress is happening! Right now, I am down to one Vicodin every 8 to 10 hours or so, and the pain is low enough that I can sleep pretty easily. Mostly surface pain, from the incision, rather than deep inside, unless I sit funny or move too quickly without thinking. Then it gets intense for a moment or two!

Quote »I experienced some memory loss of the 3 months after the surgery (not a bad thing).

Also, I have had to contend with what i have learned to call "blowouts" - episodes of intense "deja vu" followed by some low-grade panic and some short-term memory loss (lose memory of the past 8-12 hours). Doctors say it is a residual effect of being on the heart-lung machine for a few hours and that it's more common than you'd think. Sucks when it happens, and really hard to act as if nothing's wrong...

Beats having a bad ticker, though![/quote]

Now that is very interesting! I was on a heart-lung machine for 3+ hours too, but I have not experienced anything (yet) like the feelings you describe. I will watch out for it! Thanks for the info.

Quote »Glad to hear you're doing well - We missed you. [/quote]

Thanks much! I missed being here too!

Z