Need some help - Cough at highway speeds

Today I was driving my 1998 2.2L legacy up to West Tennessee. After about a solid 2.5 hours of highway driving, my car sputtered pretty bad. It lost power for about a solid 1-3 seconds then it all came back. The car would drive fine for about another 1-3 seconds, and it would happen again. This cycle continued for about a mile, then it went away altogether. My first thoughts were that I got a little bit of bad fuel and the engine just wanted to pass it. That is until I got back into town (30 miles) and it happened two more times, just two little bitty hiccups.

 

Now my question is, what in the heck is causing all of this? My first thoughts were fuel pump by the drastic power loss but I haven't had one spring back to life like that. I just started it cold after sitting for several hours and everything seemed OK, even during starting.

 

I really need a plan of attack on this thing, as I have to make the trek back on Sunday and really don't want to get stranded in the middle. I'm kind of thinking of checking out the following stuff:

 

1. plugs for fouling

2. induction system for leaks

3. fuel pump?

 

 

Anyway, I could REALLY use some input here. I don't know where to start or if it's even going to be a recurring/fatal kind of thing.

 

Thanks for looking,

Drew

I threw a new fuel filter on today and took it for a long test drive on the highway, everything seems to be working pretty well. I poured the fuel out of the old filter into a bottle and it was black . I mean WAYYYYY black. So hopefully that did it.

Alright. SOS. Help. Send out the search party. The problem is back. Same exact symptoms, not even a month later. Again, it appears to be engine related and seems to only happen in the highway gear/speed range. I have done the following things in troubleshooting, still thinking that it is fuel related.

 

1. Pull the sending unit and check its filter sock - sock looks good, not perfect but acceptable. Looking inside the tank, it is remarkably clean with less than 2 gallons left in it. It looks doubtful that the sending unit has ever been removed - more later.

 

2. Pull the fuel filter and dump from the inlet side, checked for disgustingness. Found no disgustingness. Since the filter is sealed, that's my only going evidence that it is probably OK.

 

 

I'm thinking that I may have a fuel pressure issue. This should be the sending unit's fault. What can be done to troubleshoot In the recent past, I have done the following.

 

Oil change about 800 miles ago, added a can of Sea Foam to the fuel to clean out the remaining gunk.

 

So, my questions are these: What do I need to check for as far as fuel pressure goes? What are some acceptable numbers? What else could cause this cough that I am not thinking of?

 

Again, this has happened to me with a road trip scheduled this weekend. I'd love to track it down by then if at all possible. ANY and ALL help will be greatly appreciated!!!

Just put a fuel pressure test gauge on it and got about 28 at idle and about 30 above idle. Still trying to figure out exactly what those numbers mean.