Bad Gas? Please Help

Pulled into my usual Shell gas station today. Car was running fine. Gas tank was down to about 1/8 before I pulled in. Filled the tank with 93 and pulled out of the parking lot.

I could tell something wasn't right as soon as I pulled out into the street, then within 1/10 mile the car started missing real bad and had almost no acceleration. Pulled over, checked the gas cap to make sure it was on tight then got back in the car. Car continued to miss and had problems accelerating. Seemed it could maintain speed ok, but as soon as I hit a hill or had to speed up it would miss. Check engine light also came on. Got home and checked the code with Learning View, there were four of them, all misfires on each cylinder. When I say the car was missing, I mean bad, like the whole car would shake. Occasionally there was a knocking sound that almost sounded like something plastic was banging around in my undercarriage.

Reset the ECU, poured two bottles of HEET into the gas tank and ran the car about 5-10 miles, hoping the HEET would straighten things out. It didn't. Sometimes when I'd come to a stop the car would die. Also when I start it, it seems to idle somewhat ok, but if I gas it up to 1500 rpm and let off the peddle, it will drop to below 500 rpms and spit and sputter. Sometimes it recovers and will go back to idling at 6-700 rpm, sometimes it will die.

Not driving it anymore till I get something figured out. Called the gas station and left a message for the manager to call me. Everyone I have asked said I got water in the tank from the gas station. Car has 101k on it and has stock tune.

Also, and this might just be in my head, but I noticed the pump kicked off kinda soon. Meaning I thought it would have pumped at least $10 more to fill the tank and kick off. Something else I noticed, sometime when I accelerate, if I push the peddle down further, it seems to want to smooth out, but it still doesn't feel like I have full power. Again that might just be in my head.

Anyone have any advice on how to proceed?

If you think it's bad gas, bring it to a reputable shop immediately, and have them assess it and put it in writing. save your pump receipt, notify the station via phone and get the owners information and write or call them as well. Ask them to address your claim for damages or ask for their CGL carrier if they aren't down with that or if they hesitate, send certified letters. Lots of them.

No guarantees this will offer a positive outcome.

Or you can just drain the tank and responsibly get rid of the fuel and add new gas . You may want to reset the ecu too at that point.

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could be bad gas for sure, could be failing fuel pump from overheating due to running on really low fuel level

Is an 1/8 of a tank really that detrimental to the pump? The gas light has come on, MAYBE a total of 4 times since I've owned the car, and today wasn't one of them.

If you think it's bad gas, bring it to a reputable shop immediately, and have them assess it and put it in writing. save your pump receipt, notify the station via phone and get the owners information and write or call them as well. Ask them to address your claim for damages or ask for their CGL carrier if they aren't down with that or if they hesitate, send certified letters. Lots of them.

 

No guarantees this will offer a positive outcome.

 

Or you can just drain the tank and responsibly get rid of the fuel and add new gas . You may want to reset the ecu too at that point.

 

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Can driving it around, to say a mechanic 15 miles away, potentially hurt the car? Don't want to make a bad situation worse...

Also, is there anything else to check before I drain the tank? How hard is it to get to the fuel filter?

It's tough to tell what will hurt the car. By the sound of it, the car is driving extremely poor. I would be hesitant to tell you to drive it far

You will most likely just foul up your plugs a bit, but like I said... There's no way to know what's going on.

I would likely drive it there, but that's me lol

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did you look at the learning view when you pulled it?

what did the tables look like

Kinda does sound like an ignition system issue (coil packs) but its awfully coincidental. Things like that do happen though!

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Coilpacks 1 and 3 were gone on mine. Car. Ran. Like. S&%t.

@OP - Definitely take it to your mechanic and make sure they check the plugs and coilpacks.

If you remove the fuel pump, a couple words of advice from someone who is all too familiar just how bad things can get messing with the fuel pump/tank.

1) Pull the FP fuse, and try to turn the car over ONCE before taking the pump out. This will reduce the amount of fuel that comes out of the lines going to the pump.

2) Not the orientation of the FP rubber gasket. If everything is not lined up (white notch, 3 nipples ), you WILL NOT GET A PROPER SEAL.

3) For the love of all things flippin' damn holy, do not, and I mean DO NOT over torque the flange nuts on the fuel tank. Why? Because they will break. Broken stud = replaced fuel tank.

Just my .02

I live in a small town where the local tire shop is the mechanic as well. Would this justify me having AAA tow it to the nearest Subaru Dealer to have it checked out?

Depends on how good of a mechanic he/she is. If you are mechanically inclined the fuel pump is an easy removal. It will open up a hole that you easily scoop out the gas

I live in a small town where the local tire shop is the mechanic as well. Would this justify me having AAA tow it to the nearest Subaru Dealer to have it checked out?

Wait, u have AAA? Why drive it then?

I would tAke a stock subie to the dealer in this case. However be prepared to pay the dealer bill while u figure out liability, etc.

and be prepared to possibly not get your $ back if the station or their carrier give u the run around or deny your claim.

This could happen with the tire shop too. But, I think a subie dealer will only help your case.

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Cincinnati is a small town?

lol, currently staying about 100 miles south of there, haven't updated my location

if you still have the stock cat,that could be plugged..or what he said^^^^^^^

Yeah cause that happens all the time without warning. Just plugs right up while your pumping gas

Stranger coincidences can happen. No different than a coil pack failing or any other issue that could have coincidentally occurred. Possible I guess. But likely would have had some kind of warning or symptom before hand if it was a cat.

But.... Considering the sequence of events I would put my money on the fuel being the issue.

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^^ i hear you, and its CERTAINLY unsettling to think it could happen to us. though isolated, it can (and does) happen.

This happened last summer here in CT. http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/business/conn-cars-being-damaged-by-bad-gasoline

In a quick search - there were these other examples...

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/06/virginia-investigates-complaints-bad-gasoline-region

http://yorktown.patch.com/articles/drivers-fill-up-tanks-with-bad-gas

OP: If OH has a dept of consumer protection, or something like that - you may want to call them to report this as well. they can also likely tell you if any other people have had this experience.

In all likelihood, more than one person would be effected if there was bad gas. Depending on the batch size, the car its going into, and how much fuel was in the stations tank at the time they received the 'bad gas.'

^^^

Hampton Roads huh? Yeah...that's my neck of the woods. I avoid the 7-11 where I got that crap tank of gas like the plague. Regarding the 'bad' gas, I've heard it can be either watered down or lower octane than advertised. I'm sure there are other reasons as well, and to be honest I'm not sure if I actually got a bad tank of gas or if it was just a coincidence.

What the hell is the deal with all of these 'bad gas' threads around here? I'm not saying anything one way or another, but seriously how often is gas actually 'bad' these days? You don't have to worry about stirred up tanks anymore with filtration systems etc., and if you are going to a top tier gas station (i.e. Shell, in this case) you should have any worries since they have higher standards with their gas anyway.

 

I'm not saying that gas CAN'T be the issue here, but honestly, isn't it the LEAST likely of all the culprits mentioned in this thread and others???

 

If I'm way off base, please set me straight, by all means. By that I mean please provide evidence of what the hell constitutes 'bad gas' and what the causes are and what the likelihood of encountering such a thing is.

From personal experience I spent a few weeks chasing a no-boost condition with one of our WRXs. Tried checking all sorts of things like the boost solenoid and vacuum lines, wiring, etc. At one point, it even dropped a cylinder. All that turned out to be was the harness plug for one of the coil packs had come off. I guess it wasn't full plugged in from when I had replaced the plugs a few months earlier. Of course, it choose to show itself when the boost issue arose.

Finally my wife's uncle popped off one of the fuel lines and we pumped some gas into an empty water bottle. Sure enough it smelled funny and after it sat for a few minutes you could see there was something else mixed in as it settled at the bottom of the bottle. The culprit appeared to be a bit of diesel.

So my point is, don't look past the simple stuff.

Yeah cause that happens all the time without warning. Just plugs right up while your pumping gas

yup it can...No power on hills,sluggish under exceleration..If its not coil packs or bad gas I would look at the cat... Just a suggestion,no reason to get upset...