Intrepid '99 fuel pump noise?

Some time ago I was driving with my rear seats down and I heard a steady tone that appears to be coming from the rear of the car. Now I hear that tone in the background with the seats up. It's a constant pitch regardless of engine/vehicle speed, and only fluctuates slightly if there is a power surge, such as the power locks locking, so I feel it is electrical in nature. The only thing that is back there that I can think of is the fuel pump.

The pumps sounds normal when I turn the key to ON and it pressurizes the fuel system for a brief moment. Also I can sometimes hear it going through the leak detection sequence when starting it with the engine cold, a normal sound since the car was new. My car has the California emissions package since it was originally delivered in a state that requires CA certification. For the '99 (and a few others) model year, a leak detection pump was used; I think later years used another technique.

Has anyone else heard the fuel pump make a steady noise? Is it a problem?

Thanks!

Reply to
Greg Houston
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I can hear my '99 Concorde's (same car) fuel pump if I try, but only standing in certain areas - a steady whirr - not loud by any standard, and certainly not annoying. I've never analyzed the sounds as far as a leak detection system sequence, so I wouldn't know about that. I guess when it stops making noise is when we need to worry. 8^)

From reading LH car forums for a couple of years, it appears that fuel pump problems on our cars will become very symptomatic (drivability issues) before you notice any unusual noise characteristics.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my adddress with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

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