Car has been losing power when going up on bridges?

KARAN KUMAR

MEMBER
2000 TOYOTA CELICA
1.8L
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
230,900 MILES

So, at times my car has been losing power when going up on bridges and after it takes a while for the car to speed up when pressing the accelerator. When I got the car, I replaced the spark plugs and serpentine belt. Over time the car began to run rich I believe. I replaced the cold air intake recently and cleaned the throttle body today. My concern is why the loss of power when going upwards and it’s been backfiring out through the exhaust a lot lately. I’ve looked into this myself and I’m stumped but do have a couple ideas in mind what it could be.

1 Reply

KEN L

MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
47,690 POSTS

The first thing we need to do is run the codes and make sure the air filter is clean. Next, we should do a fuel pressure test because it sounds like the fuel pump is getting weak. Here are a few guides to help us see what's going on:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/engine-has-low-power-output

and

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/checking-a-service-engine-soon-or-check-engine-light-on-or-flashing

and

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-fuel-system-pressure-and-regulator

This guide is to test the catalytic converter:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-a-catalytic-converter

Fuel pressure: 301 - 347 kPa (3.1 - 3.5 kg/sq.cm, 44 - 50 psi)

You can rent a fuel pressure gauge for cheap at the local auto parts store. The fuel pump is changed out under the rear seat so that's good. Check out the images (below). Let us know what happens and please upload pictures or videos of the problem so we can see what's going on.

Images (Click to make bigger)