majik

I think I got some bad gas in my car, but I was wondering what else it could be. I filled up in Knoxville at Sam's Club for $1.28. There were 12 pumps, all had 3 cars deep waiting to fill up. I filled up and drove home from school. 200 miles later I return home and my car sat in the driveway overnight. The next morning I go and start it so it warms up. I come out 5 minutes later and leave my driveway and it feels like it's about to stall. My CEL light is flashing, so I go to the mailbox, turn around and head back down the driveway. I pop my hood and the negine is shaking violently. My dad said his Expedition had the same "symptoms" when he got bad gas in it. He took it to Goodyear and that's all they told him, bad gas. He said it took a week for it to fully flush out and one day it just went back to normal.

Well, I need to get this thing flushed out quickly. I want it to go into the body shop Sunday, but don't want it sitting there for 2 weeks with gas problems. I filled up yesterday (immediately after finding out there was a problem) and put 10 gallons (in a 13.5 gallon tank) of Super Unleaded 93 Octane in the car. I also put STP Fuel Cleaner in after filling up. I'm trying to run the gas through so hopefully this problem will stop. I have some STP Fuel Injector/Carburetor cleaner that I will add next time I fill up. I'm going to go ahead and change the spark plugs and wires after this mess is over with, in case this causes carbon or other deposits to wear away at the plugs (they all need to be replaced).

Reasons I think it's bad gas:
-The CEL light is steady and doesn't flash if it's in Park or Neutral... or if I'm stopped at a red light. It starts to flash as soon as I press on the gas (flashes at a constant rate).
-When my car is idling, it shakes pretty violently. When I start to accelerate, it sputters like the gas isn't really getting to the engine. The car shakes and doesn't accelerate very easily.
-I usually average 23-24 MPG (never under 20) but after filling up the morning I realized there was a problem, I had only gotten 16 MPG (wasn't burning very efficiently).
-I can easily smell gas when my car is idling in my driveway.
-After putting 93 Octane and the Fuel Cleaner in my tank, my car seemed to be smoother and running better, but it's still pretty bad.

Could it have been the fact that it was bad SAM'S CLUB gas? there were TONS of people getting the gas at one time (day before thanksgiving, each of 12 pumps had at least 3 cars waiting). My car was fine after filling up, and on the 200 mile drive home, but I'm guessing overnight, while sitting there, the deposits and gunk settled to the bottom and went straight for my fuel pump or something. Any help? ideas? suggestions?

javageek

I got some bad gas last night, and no it wasn't the turkey. wink1.gif

I filled up at BP and immediately after filling up the car ran rough for about 10 minutes. It felt like I was in my 71 Camaro again, that's how rough it was running. Then about 70 miles later my CEL came on.

majik

I would be happy if I was running like a 71 camaro right now what's the current status of your vehicle? still running rough?

javageek

It only ran rough for about 10 minutes. I still have the CEL though.

Mad-Machine

You could have some junk in the tank. The cheapest thing I can think of.. change the fuel filter. If they were as busy as you say they are.. more than likley they get trucks filling them up on a daily basis... filling those big ten thousand gallon tanks stirs up a LOT of junk off of the bottom.

javageek

How much of a pain is changing the fuel filter? Wallet and Work I mean.

Mad-Machine

My shop manual does not list where the pump is (I assume back by the tank, under the car) but it is a matter of unhooking it from power.. starting the car and letting it run until it stalls (to remove line pressure) One bolt holds the pump into place and a couple of lines are connected to it. Just watch out for spraying and splashing, unhook the battery to keep sparks to a minimum, and generally just be careful. It does does not sound hard or time consuming. If you do not want to do it yourself.. any full service gas station or perhaps even jiffy lube could do it for you.

majik

again, how much u think it'll run?

javageek

$13.99 at Autozone, not bad. They recommend replacing the PVC valve at the same time, it is $2.49.

Mad-Machine

You know... I was thinking of something during some downtime last night. The smell of fuel you are getting is bothering me. With a clogged filter you should not be having that.. Check under your car for any leaks please.. and then check your exhaust for black smoke. If you have a leak, you are going to be losing both fuel and fuel pressure.. which would account for both the smell of fuel and the way the engine does not seem to have any power of smoothness.

You could also have a stuck injector.. that would make one cylinder run rich, which would flood it, making the engine run rich and make the car blow some black smoke out the exhaust (especially when accelerating) from it being too rich.

Unfortunatly, either will make the car throw a CEL. I would get somebody to read the code for you.