A very mysterious 98
 

So I'm a 19 year old girl who knows little about cars so I don't know how to put this all in a coherent order so I will just give you the facts about my car.

Codes: 446 evap(probably not related but it's worth a try)

Problems: Stalling.

Mostly during acceleration and I wouldn't necessarily call it stalling either. It acts as if it runs out of gas the engine never actually ceases. I had it towed they said my spark plugs were arching so I got those replaced and it still hasn't stopped

When it "stalls" the tachometer pulses around 600-800. I learned if you feather the gas you can usually stop it from stalling

I also had a new fuel pump put in to see if that would help. Still nothing

Car runs pretty lean.

Upon acceleration and sometimes driving in general the car will rev all the way up to 3000rpms and sometimes stay there for awhile before drastically dropping to about 2000

other times I will be driving and I will feel it drop pretty low and the surge up too about 2000rpms

Does anyone have any ideas what can be wrong with my car I have taken it to 3 different AAAcertified mechanics and have put in quite a bit of money and have had no luck.

V6 or 4 cylinder engine?

The engine RPM revs up to 3K without you moving the throttle?

What makes you suspect the engine is running lean?

Does the engine run OK before it has warmed up or any other times.

P0446 is EVAP vent malfunction. Given an EVAP vacuum hose system is connected to the throttle body suppose its possible to have a vacuum leak in the EVAP system. Excess air could get into the engine and cause problems.

It's 4 cylinders.

While I was having the car looked at numerous times they drove it around with the gauge on the fuel pump and they said it was running lean. But until it acts up they don't really know why.

they checked the hoses and they said there weren't any major leaks and I did have the 446 code fixed in July so I need to have it looked at by that garage to insure I'm not paying for something twice.

I don't know what you mean without touching the throttle. I'm sorry

Also, it seems the stalling likes to happen in stop go area's(city driving) it is the worst when I drive someplace like to the store and then get back in it after only being off for 10-20mins. That's when it really likes to act up. as for temperatures, it seems it's all over the place cold or warm.

Also they said the best possibility they have is one of the sensors that is connected with the fuel pump but not knowing which one makes it hard to fix because each one is over 100dollars making it an expensive guess as to which one it is.

All the electrical was tested

At this point I'm driving it until whatever is wrong completely breaks because its not worth the aggravation of taking it to a garage who sees nothing really wrong with it. Mechanics rely too heavily on computers to be able to know what's wrong with my car that is showing no error codes.

"I don't know what you mean without touching the throttle. I'm sorry"

Does the engine RPM increase or decrease without moving or using the throttle pedal? The RPM moves up or down on its own without your moving the pedal?

Has the MPG dropped?

My foot may be physically on the acceleration but when it jumps out of control I'm pressing or letting off at all.

And the MPGs have actually seem to increase. though I did also fail to mention problems get significantly worse under a half of a tank so I always keep it full.

Update
 

When I start my car in the morning recently it sounds like a drill running and nothing happens.

When I turn the ignition off and try again its fine. is this related at all? Can I finally fix my car with this new symptom

The drill sound may be the starter pinion not engaging the ring gear on the flywheel. The result is the pinion is now rotating against the ring gear and making noise.

Or several teeth on the ring gear could be worn down, the pinion is unable to engage them and just rotates at high RPM making this noise.

Remove the starter and check at the starter pinion teeth. Have someone rotate the engine by hand via a socket wrench installed onto bolt holding the engine pulley on while you look into the hole left open by the starter being removed. Look at the ring gear teeth as the as they go by for areas of damaged teeth. Rotate the engine CW.

As to the throttle. Your foot is on the throttle when the RPM jumps but is not pressing or releasing it?

It has a very high RPMs during acceleration. And the throttle is when my foot is on the gas at times. and sometimes when I let my foot off the gas and it kinda drops really hard. Could all these be a timing belt related thing?

Determine if this is not a transmission problem? The transmission slipping causing high RPM but little acceleration.