help think i got bad gas!!! haaa

damian911 · 12:28 AM

I put 10 gallons of gas and almost immediately my car thereafter did not want to start. I learned i had fire coming out of the coil and i can hear the whinning of the fuel pump. I had to have the car towed home and now ive tried starting it many time,s with only it staying on about 5-15 seconds, with it turning off and running very poorly. Is there something i can further diagnose and iv tried sticking a water hose down the tank with it stopping a few inches in to get rid of the fuel and start over, is there a trick to getting the fuel out of the tank??? and any other suggestions? thanks damian

air-cool-me · 10-23-2005, 12:28 AM

is there a trick to getting the fuel out of the tank???

there is a drain at the bottom of the tank... that.... or you can remove the line to the fuel pump..

pa911 · 10-23-2005, 01:44 AM

What year car is it?

damian911 · 10-23-2005, 07:48 AM

car is a 83sc.....anyone know if there is a screen preventing a hose from going down into the tank???

k9handler · 10-23-2005, 08:15 AM

I don't think there is a screen, my 75 does not have one. I would drain it from the plug in the bottom if there is one, or simply pull the fitting from the fuel pump and point it into a catch container while a friend forces air into the tank from the filler.

Jim Sims · 10-23-2005, 08:19 AM

Disconnect the battery ground before you drain the gas. Do not drain the gas indoors; many garages have ignition sources (standing pilot in hot water heater) for the gasoline fumes. Also do not run the fuel pump dry; it requires gasoline for cooling its windings.

mmastro · 10-23-2005, 10:26 AM

Beano?

sorry.....i had to do it.

Joe Bob · Joe Bob's Garage

I had a recent bad gas episode......the drain on the bottom is a b!tch to open, so I siphoned everything out and changed the filter. Got 5 gallons of premium and it fired right up.

Sent the bill for my time, the full tank of crap he sold me and the filter to the gas station owner.....I also told him that I saved the gas and would have it tested if he didn't pay up. He paid....

Charlie V · Charlie V's Garage

For my 82 SC I used 1/2" clear plastic tube from Home Depot to siphon most of the fuel out. Car had been sitting for 2 years when I purchased.

Got most of the gas out and then removed the drain plug on bottom of the tank. Used my oil drain pan to catch the remaining gallon or so. The drain plug was very tight - needed to use a breaker bar on it. I think it was the first time the plug had been removed.

There is a fine mesh screen when you pull out the drain plug. Mine had a fair amount of crap on the mesh. I carefully cleaned the mesh (gentle blast of air) and put it all back together. Replaced the fuel filter. Poured in 2 gallons of premium and off to the gas station.

Early_S_Man · 10-23-2005, 02:18 PM

Draining any significant amount of gasoline is a very dangerous procedure! I think siphoning most of it out into approved red gasoline cans/jugs would be the safest route. The fuel tank should then be removed from the car ... where the last gallon or so can be poured out, and the tank should have the plugs and fitttings removed before taking the tank to be steam cleaned and sealed. You can clean the fine bronze screen pre-filters and fittings while the tank is being cleaned and sealed with an appropriate product. A local aircraft maintenance shop can do a good job for a reasonable price, and be sure to tell them it doesn't need FAA paperwork, because it is for a car!

Any less thorough procedure [than the above] risks that fuel injection components such as the fuel distributor may be damaged ... and you will have to do the above and much, much more to clean most of the crud out of the system later on!

damian911 · 10-23-2005, 03:04 PM

well i have made some progress and i have made a big dumb mistake.....I took a chance and i removed the sending unit out of the tank and placed a hose down into the tank and removed the 20 gallons of fuel, and replaced it with 2-3 gallons of new fuel, the car has started but still runs very poorly and isnt keeping a idle right now, but it starts, i thought it was something major like a distributor or something, soooo then i went ahead and put the old fuel into my 81 trans am because i still was not sure the fuel was the culprit, well guess what, it shut down my t/a and now it wont start....what a bad decision, but i did diagnose the problem huh!!!!

damian911 · 08:47 PM

the service station said they are responsible so now i have to see what im getting out of it, two cars with parts i have bought items for as a result and my sunday gone to hell.....thanks for all the advise and ill probably still need some later b/c the 911 is still not runn ing , but filter is gonna get replaced and possibly opening up the drain plug on the bottom of the tank like someone said.....damian

Paulporsche · 10-24-2005, 05:00 AM

Mike and Damian,

What was wrong with the gas?

Joe Bob · Joe Bob's Garage

Mine had water in it. I went to an unfamiliar station and grabbed what I thought was the premium nozzle. It was the midgrade. Midgrades that don't use a mix from the Premium and lower grade tend to have a higher percentage of contaminants as they sell the slowest.

In CA MOST stations use a mixing valve to create the mid grade. I entered a complaint with the agency that oversees gasoline purity requirements but there was a fuel drop by the time a sample was taken. The results were inconclusive.

I did not test it myself but when I siphoned off the gas and changed the filter I found a high percentage of water. I used the left over gas in my lawnmower after decanting the gas from the rather obvious layer of water.

It totally pi$$ed me off and I had to restrain myself from taking legal action against the company. I have a supervisory relationship with gas stations and other companies since I work for a special "District".

Even so, it shouldn't negate my rights as a consumer. Stuff happens....but it doesn't make it easier to swallow.

wholberg · wholberg's Garage

I would go ahead and change the fuel filter because many fuel filters have paper elements that can collapse or begin to disintigrate if hit with a lot of water, and then run a bottle of "Heet", or some other water remover, through the next tank of gas to get rid of any small pockets of water still in the tank.

Zeke · 10-24-2005, 07:27 AM

damian where are you? I got bad gas yesterday (not in the 911 or Box, thanky). I used medium grade Chevron which I never do. I was feeling cheap and I just wanted some gas to drive 150 miles to the D&G 914 Swap meet. CEL came on the domestic car half way out and it runs like crap now.