* Looking for some help.
2003 STR 36K.
Filled the car with gas tonight, and felt like it was driving rough immediately after (vibration at low speed). I assumed it was a flat. I pulled over and checked the tire pressures which were fine. A short trip out later, I got a restricted performance light, reduced acceleration, and the car stalled. It had trouble starting (turned over 10-12 times), but I got it going again. It then cut out in an intersection.
Autozone was near, and I got these codes: P0352, P0353, P0354, P0355, P0356, P0357, P0358. Also got P1362, P1368. Autozone insisted it was water in the gas (and I swear, It WAS gas I filled it with…)…but no difference with Lucas cleaner. I was able to drive the 4 miles home, then it died in my driveway. It will now turn over but not start.
Any ideas appreciated.

 

Have a beer - one from a clear bottle. Save the bottle. Rinse and invert it on a peg or maybe bake it in the oven at lowest setting for a few minutes to dry it out. Remove the Schrader valve from the fuel-rail, force a short length of fuel hose over the nipple and place the other end in the clear dry beer bottle. Turn the key on and pump a fuel sample into the bottle. (I'm not sure if you will only get 2 sec. bursts...or if it will run continuously, but either way, you can get a sample - fill the bottle about half full. Swirl it 'round and hold it up to the light, if it's watery fuel, it will be obvious.


If so, appeal to the station you bought it from - they have insurance for such eventualities and with patience, letters, and leg-work will cover the cost of having the dealer restore your car to pre-fuel-purchase condition. However, the experience I have made is that neither their insurance, nor the station itself will reimburse you for the fuel-purchase. (Lesson-learned circa 2008/9 when I pumped $108 "worth" of pond-water labeled as diesel into my Excursion at the hilltop Chevron in Decatur. Was happy to get the $1100+ service for tank cleanout and new fuel pump installation though still a little raw about my $108 of unusable fuel.)


If they dispute your purchase and you didn't get a receipt, remember most stations these days have mounted cameras to catch drive-away's - ask for their films.

 

+1

It pretty much HAS to be bad fuel.

 

A few quick thoughts:

1) Do you normally purchase fuel at this particular place? I've always tried to stick with one brand (Chevron is my preference), and actually had lots of fuel-related trouble (on an '84 Ford pickup) when I could only find off-brand fuel in the boonies during the middle of a long trip. After draining and inspecting the old fuel, it was cloudy reddish-brown, but with no trace of water. As best I could figure, there may have been years of varnish build-up in the tank, and the off-brand stuff loosened it up. I was fairly lucky in that it only wrecked the fuel pump ($30) and required a couple of new filters after I drained the bad fuel. It might have been a different story on a fuel-injected vehicle.

(On a barely related note, while parked at a campground for a few days, somebody siphoned approximately 25 gallons of the nasty fuel before I could figure out what to do with it. Saved me a lot of work, and hopefully it did a number on the thief's car.)


2) If you decide to go after the gas station for damages, your case may go a LOT smoother if you have the repair work professionally done, even though it will cost more. Even if you are a very competent mechanic, the holders of the purse strings may not agree with your diagnosis. It will help your case immensely to show a professional work order stating the damage was caused by bad fuel. FWIW.

 

make sure you have fuel pressure before going further. it can be coincidental that it started after filling and have seen fuel pumps die in this manner before where the car looses power, then starts misfiring etc as the pump is working but low pressure and then it dies. It it has goes pressure should go to 35-45psi on key on. if you have that the use the pump to pump fuel into a clear jar and let it settle. water goes to bottom and it doesnt take much since it does go to the bottom of gas storage tanks and car tanks. call the station and see if others complained. many times theyre honest and will say so and cover repairs.

 

Gas is fine. Turns out there was a short in the wiring harness under the right front wheel (broken wire), and this was interfering with the relay to the ignition and coils. Seems fine now that the wire is fixed.

Incidentally, I did note that the radiator fan has been intermittently coming on for a few minutes after engine shutdown for the last week or two (coolant is fine). I heard that may be a symptom of the faulty electrical relay.

Thanks for the advice, folks. Hope my update helps someone.