P0141 and P0171 codes 99 Sunfire 2.2L

[Rodc]

Very suddenly experienced surging, poor acceleration and rough idle. Excessive black smoke and soot from exhaust pipe. Scanned and retrieved these two codes. Seem to be related but not sure if one caused the other.

Mechanic is telling me that high fuel pump pressure is causing the engine to flood. Wants $600 for a new fuel pump. My gut is telling me he is way off base.

On a side note but possibly related, I have had to add coolant to the reservoir periodically over the past few months but have not noticed any puddles on the ground. I suspect I have a small internal coolant leak.

Any advise or suggestions would be most welcome.

[Denman123a]

Originally Posted by Rodc

Very suddenly experienced surging, poor acceleration and rough idle. Excessive black smoke and soot from exhaust pipe. Scanned and retrieved these two codes. Seem to be related but not sure if one caused the other.

Mechanic is telling me that high fuel pump pressure is causing the engine to flood. Wants $600 for a new fuel pump. My gut is telling me he is way off base.

On a side note but possibly related, I have had to add coolant to the reservoir periodically over the past few months but have not noticed any puddles on the ground. I suspect I have a small internal coolant leak.

Any advise or suggestions would be most welcome.

My scanner book shows code 141 as "O2 Sensor Heater Circuit Malfunction (Bank1 Sensor2)" and 171 as "System too lean (Bank 1)". I'm not sure how to interpret this, but there it is. If you pressurize the coolant system you may force the coolant leak and clear that, but "system too lean" could be injectors dirty. Cheapest fix for that is fuel additives that clean injectors. Shadetree Rule #1 is "cheapest thing first". Be sure to keep us up to date on this as there are lots of these cars around

[The_Mechanic_33]

If the vechicle is running lean,It`s dumping lots of fuel and u will ruin your converter if you continue to drive it, if spark is ok and injectors are not stuck open,check the fuel pressure regulator and replace or test your o2 sensor.also check for any vacuum leaks.