dasferret

I got the reformulted gas crap in my car and was wondering what the best way to fix was. It runs and starts fine, but when I give it a good amount of throttle it stutters and spurts. I put water remover in it and have yet to re fill the tank. thanks for the help guys.

safemode

iTrader: (1)

are you referring to gas with 10+% ethanol or some other reformulation?

I have pretty much given up getting good gas around me. everyone has 10% ethanol. I get sputtering at very light throttle when the engine is under some load like going up a hill. not pinging, but the engine is definitely choking on it.

Such is the fate of buying gas based on the price.

dasferret

Yeah, it's the 10% stuff. I talked to my Uncle who owns a gas station and he told me it was eating all the varnish and crud that has built up over the years and that I should change the fuel filter very often till it goes away. I had just changed the filter 2 weeks ago and changed it again yesterday. The filter was already almost clogged, so I think he's correct in this.

safemode

iTrader: (1)

the fuel filter is before the gas gets to the engine. What kind of varnish and crud would you have building up in the gas tank? If it's getting clogged from crap in the gas tank then i'd expect fuel pump failure soon.

I'm betting that the gas is being cut with 10% ethanol, but the ethanol is sub-standard and low proof. It's supposed to be at least 85% alcohol i believe, but lots of places cut corners with lower grade ethanol and you get watery gas.

edit: Watery gas would cause stuttering and such in the engine, and it would cause issues with the fuel filter.

72vega

iTrader: (9)

usually older tanks are always all varnished up from gas over the years and if its eating the varnish it wont hurt the pump.. all new gas has to have 10% per some govt reg now.. 85% ethanol fuel is a whole other thing. thats why its called e85..

safemode

iTrader: (1)

You're not understanding the 85% i was talknig about. The Fuel is 10% ethanol. But the ethanol isn't 100% alcohol. It's anywhere from 80 to 90'ish. Some shady places will use cheaper alcohol that isn't very high proof to mix with the fuel, resulting in more water than normally high proof ethanol would provide.

Basically, you can have two fuels that each have 10% ethanol, but one may have a higher proof ethanol than the other.


Edit: your issue seemed to be a fuel starvation problem caused by the filter, mine (same type of stuttering) seems to only happen when at a very light throttle but the engine is under load (going up hill or so). I probably need to add a dry gas additive and change my filter (cuz it's probably trapping water).

dasferret

I changed my fuel pump 2 weeks ago due to the fuel filter clogging up and then changed the filter again 4 days ago and both filters where almost clogged. The car does run MUCH better right after the filter change, but after a good run she goes back to crap. Hopefully this won't last much longer. Glad the filter is only 6 bucks!