93 3.6 low power problem....
 

My SC with the 3.6 has an issue....just gassed up and went thru two gears onto the freeway. Third gear fell flat on it's face.....

Pulled over, turned off the motor looked in back for anything loose...nothing obvious...fire it up and pull away....1,2 and third....crap.....

Pulled and replaced the fuel filter...no obvious water in the fuel, "some" sediment on the tank side....replaced with new filter.....went "farther" like about a 1 mile and then still lost power......pull over, wait a bit and starts up, full power then flat again.

Drained fuel and checked screen, clean...waiting on buddy with fuel pressure gauge.....but until then...any ideas?

Does it have a catalytic converter?

yep.....twin sport models..don't think it's that.....they are real flow thru and this is all of a sudden.

dist belt?

That's fine....what's the minimum fuel pressure for motronic?

Does the power drop off like the ignition is turned off or does it start missing and bucking. If missing and bucking I would suspect water in the gas based on the fact you just filled up. I know you check the filter, but sure seems like a hell of a coincidence.

Looks like bad fuel....pressure is fine and new gas...no problems...

Mike,

Fuel in my car was over a year old when I finally got it going and it still ran excellent. The fuel would have to be really bad to be doing something like this to yours.

Anything new yet? If you found water or diesel in the fuel, then thats a different story.

JoeA

Dunno...got rid of the fuel....made a mistake and pushed the mid grade...dumb move...anyhow, did a full tank of premium and added a bottle of dry gas. Driving it hard and no more hiccups.

I will drop the fuel off at the County and get is tested on Monday....will update.

Mike,

Considering what fuel is going for out in Cali I can understand, but our 3.6's have knock sensors and should compensate for low octane ratings. Unless floored and going high revs I would think that the engine should run the same on medium grade fuel.

Would love to see what the county says about whats in the fuel.

JoeA