Engine, airpump, or something else? help!

i own a '99 olds intrigue and about a week ago i started having a shitload of problems.

first of all my car now starts only when it wants to.
what i noticed is that there is some buzzing sound when i put the key in ON position. My car start only if there is this magical sound coming from under my hood right before i try to start it. When there is no buzzing sound, the fuel gage shows how much gas i have and then it drops down to zero..

my dad says it's an air pump for my fuel injector. Is it a an air pump issue as he says or is it some engine problem?

Once i get my car started, it bare;y has any power when it's cold, it barely moves and if i give it too much gas it almost dies on me.:banghead:

i think this might also have something to do with gas quality so i'm changing the fuel filter today.

did anybody else experience something like this?
thanks ahead of time.

That "magical sound" is the fuel pump priming. It should do it every time you turn the key on. But since it's not, I would guess there's something wrong with your fuel pump or perhaps the circuit it runs off of.

that's what i'm thinking now, i also hear that sound coming from the rear of my car, and when there is foul pump sound from the back, it doesn't want to start.

i just changed my fuel filter and that didn't seem to make too much of a difference.

With starting issues like that is the "service engine soon" light on (check engine light)?

I am also having starting issues but not the driveability issues that you are having. i doubt the fuel injectors are the issue. The fuel pump seems the most likely culprit since you are not hearing the fuel pump engage all the time and the car struggling.

Yeah I would agree, it sounds like a fuel pump problem. After you replace the fuel pump if you still have the driveability problem consider replacing the fuel pressure regulator. I`m tempted to say it could be your Mass Air Flow sensor or Throttle Position Sensor but this definately sounds like a fuel problem. P.S. yes don`t forget to change the fuel filter like you said!:popcorn:

Borrow or buy the tool to check the fuel pressure first before replacing the pump, its much cheaper.

If you have low pressure change the filter, from there check the common signs of a bad fpr. start with the cheap stuff first, which a fuel pump is not.