2003 taraus ses

I bought 3 weeks ago with almost 90k. Has stalled twice, but starts again in a few minutes like nothing happened. After the second time, the check engine light came on. A mechanic said the code reader shows code 191, but he couldn’t find anything wrong. Then he decided it had to be the fuel pump, and would cost about $450 plus a bunch of labor, because fuel pumps on newer cars are complex modules. i’m from the old days when a fuel pump was a simple fuel pump, and not that expensive. Aren’t there sensors and other things that could be causing this problem. Or, should I just go ahead and replace the fuel pump, since I have 90k miles already?

Get another opinion. Code 191 means something. Find out what it means. These days the fuel pump is inside the gas tank, which is part of the reason it’s so expensive to replace. But if your car’s fuel pressure is good there may be no reason to replace the pump.

It sounds like your mechanic is guessing. Fuel pumps can be tested, don’t accept a guess.

Thanks, that was my gut feeling about it. When I stopped by late in the day, he was running the engine and "trying to make it fail, but couldn’t. Early next morning, he wroteit up for a new fuel pump. My guess is he doesn’t have a scan tool, so he’s guessing, and wants to get something for all the hours he spent guessing and farting around.

Code P0191 means “Fuel Rail Pressure Sensor Circuit Range/Performance”. It probably means that the fuel pressure sensor is getting a bad reading, or possibly isn’t reading correctly.

Has he actually tested the fuel pressure? It could be just a bad sensor, or maybe even just sensor wiring.

thanks, buck. i’ll find out today.