I have done some searching re: this but haven't found too much talk about it...

I drove my '98 TA about 90 miles a week ago and the ambient air temp was about 90 degrees f. With a half tank of gas, the fuel pump developed an excessive whine, yet the car ran perfectly. The next day, the whine was gone and has not returned. I have maintained 60 p.s.i. with no further noise. Car still runs perfectly, nothing seems wrong at this point. I know that excessive noise can be an impending failure, but this has only happened once and was gone the next day when it was cooler outside....

So, my question is... Can higher ambient temperatures, or longer trips, temporarily cause the fuel pump to produce excessive noise?

 

OEM, or aftermkt pump?

 

OEM. Car has 73k on it so it's very possible the FP is on it's way out, though I've never experienced this type of scenario before. Other cars I've had that had pump failures always had a "no-start" issue without warning, no prior noise etc... Just curious if this is a common occurence or something I should be concerned about...

 

do you have a fuel pressure gauge?

 

...Fuel pressure seems fine , it's around 58-60 p.s.i.

 

This is a fairly common way for fuel pumps to fail. I've had a pump fail less than 5k miles after starting to whine, and I've had them last over 20k more miles. Some never whine before failing. At least it is giving you fair warning.

 

pumps make that whining sound when they're about to go. I have the same problem, i just keep it at over half a tank til i can get around to it.

 

To the posters above, when your pumps were on the verge of failure did they whine continuously? Mine whined one time in extreme conditions like I mentioned above. It's been fine ever since. Also, did you monitor your fuel pressure during this time? I've since put about 100 miles on the car and the fuel pressure is strong and everything appears normal at this time... No noise, good pressure.