Got a check engine light. Error code P 0441 - Evaporative Emission Control System Incorrect Purge Flow. All of my research - including on this forum - suggests this should have no driver noticeable effect on the operation of the car except the illumination of the check engine light, but I've been experiencing other issues. Admittedly not knowing much about cars, I'd like to ask if the other issues I've could be related or if something else is wrong.
Twice in about a month, the car has cut off on me at red lights. Beyond that, while driving at a steady speed of - for example - 45 miles per hour/2500 RPM, the car will suddenly buck. Speed is maintained but the RPMs will continue up to 3000, 4000, etc. After this, acceleration is slow. If I was going 45 at 2500RPMs, at 4000RPMs, I'm only going 47mph or so and the engine is noticeably louder. Strangely, if I come to a stop light, turn the car off, and turn it back on, everything goes back to normal. In the opposite direction, if I'm crawling through a lot looking for a parking space at a very low speed, if I try to speed up, the car sometimes won't speed up for a few seconds even though I'm hitting the gas.
Shop up the street wants $75 I can't immediately afford just to diagnose this. Little help? Hoping to discover what's wrong, fix it myself if possible, or call a freelance mechanic to the house to take care of it for a lesser charge. Just bought it two months ago, so with the down payment, car payments, insurance and all, I really need to handle this as cheaply as possible.
Thank you for your help,
Trevor.
P.S - The car has 148,000 miles or so on it.
Twice in about a month, the car has cut off on me at red lights. Beyond that, while driving at a steady speed of - for example - 45 miles per hour/2500 RPM, the car will suddenly buck. Speed is maintained but the RPMs will continue up to 3000, 4000, etc. After this, acceleration is slow. If I was going 45 at 2500RPMs, at 4000RPMs, I'm only going 47mph or so and the engine is noticeably louder. Strangely, if I come to a stop light, turn the car off, and turn it back on, everything goes back to normal. In the opposite direction, if I'm crawling through a lot looking for a parking space at a very low speed, if I try to speed up, the car sometimes won't speed up for a few seconds even though I'm hitting the gas.
Shop up the street wants $75 I can't immediately afford just to diagnose this. Little help? Hoping to discover what's wrong, fix it myself if possible, or call a freelance mechanic to the house to take care of it for a lesser charge. Just bought it two months ago, so with the down payment, car payments, insurance and all, I really need to handle this as cheaply as possible.
Thank you for your help,
Trevor.
P.S - The car has 148,000 miles or so on it.