hugh_kay@hotma

98 Escort wagon, 2.0L SOHC, auto trans, AC. Runs fine when outside temp is below about 35C, but when it gets above that (as it does most of the summer here) the engine stalls and won't restart for about 20 minutes. Bleeding the fuel pressure seems to help get it restarted, but it stalls again after a few minutes. Acts like a vapor lock. Sometimes (not always) the check engine light comes on for a few minutes after it starts again, but goes off after the engine runs for a few minutes. I've changed the fuel filter and blew out the line to the pump. Fuel pump runs normally, pressure seems OK but I don't have a guage to accurately measure it. The beast has 270,000KM on it and hasn't given me any major problems until now.
Battery, alternator, wiring, plugs, etc all look good; when its running its smooth as silk. But when it gets hot outside, it sputters and stalls...
Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks
Hugh

hugh_kay@hotma

Update: Finally got a fuel pressure guage. According to the manual, should be 30-45psi., and measured 30-34 when engine running. Low, but acceptable. After an hour or so, the beast stalled. Pressure down to 10psi. Installed new fuel pump, pressure holding at 35-38 psi, and no stalling in three days. Apparently, the old pump lost pressure as it warms up, but once it cooled down again it had enough pressure to allow the engine to run for a while. Quite a bit of crud (fine dust, etc) in the tank, pump bucket and filters--probably contributed to the problem.