BAD GAS?
 

Although this didn't happen with the Camaro, wanted to get some input on experiences with a bad tank of gas... So, last weekend took a road trip to upstate NY to visit my significant others family. I've always been on the fence about weather or not running high octane gas makes a difference in the way a vehicle runs, but over the years i have had vehicles that noticeably run better on higher octane. That being said, whenever I go on I long trip I usually run higher octane gas in whatever I'm driving. Well, I stopped on the way home and filled up our 03 avalanche with some 93 octane from a little gas station off the interstate in the middle of nowhere. Well, made it almost home and out of the blue the truck decided to not run! Fortunately was only about 60 miles from home, so my dad came and towed me home. Fun... Not! Well after dumping in 2 bottles of dry gas/injector cleaner, and topping off with different gas, my truck seems to be running OK. Noticed today tho the fuel pump is making noise, so gonna replace it next week. So although not necessarily third gen specific, just wondering who else has had a similar experience and what you've done afterwards? And wondering if in the future no matter which vehicle I'm driving if I should be more careful about where I buy high octane gas from since 95% of people only run regular so most gas stations don't move a lot of premium...

Re: BAD GAS?
 

To be honest, sounds like the fuel pump was having an issue and the gas was unrelated.

In regards to octane, use what the manual suggests. There is no benefit to running a higher octane fuel if the car is tuned for 87.

Re: BAD GAS?
 

After reading your post, I think you got a tank full of bad gas. A little gas station in the middle of the sticks, who knows what they got in their storage tank. I remember having problems with my 76 Camaro when I bought gas from a particular gas station in my town. I would suggest drain tank and put in good gas from a station that you are familier with and replace the fuel pump. May not be a bad idea to replace your fuel filter also.

Re: BAD GAS?
 

So today the fuel pump gave up:( Like I said, after noticing it was making noise the other day, planned on replacing it. Was using the truck for short trips to try and use as much gas up as possible. Guess I'll be dropping the tank with 20 gallons of gas in, ugh. Pretty sure bad gas is to blame. Since it already killed the fuel pump should I be worried about the injectors? And as far as running higher octane in a stock vehicle...I have seen noticeable differences in some vehicles over the years. Most notably was my 95 pickup back in the day. TBI 350, only modification was a cat-back exhaust. That truck would get almost 2mpg better mileage on a road trip when I ran 93 instead of 87...

Re: BAD GAS?
 

Do yourself a favor and transfer that fuel into another vehicle before you try to R&R the fuel tank. Twenty gallons of fuel weighs ~120 lbs.

Re: BAD GAS?
 

In Australia, our rural areas (middle of absolute nowhere) use a waxy agent to stop the fuel from freezing - not that we get snow in 99.9% of the country, but we do get freezing dry temps in winter.

Usually youll get a fuel pump die in the arse after you fill up, stir all that crap off the bottom and it gets either sucked through the pump or it clogs the crap out of that filter sock, causing the pump to overheat and burnout.

its annoying because we pay like $1.54 Strayan Dollars per Litre of premium fuel... and you lose pretty much all of it because the tank needs to be drained.

Re: BAD GAS?
 

IDK what kind of truck you have, but sometimes it's easier to jack the bed up. just leave the last 2 bolts loose at the back of the bed. no need to drop the tank.
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Re: BAD GAS?
 

It's an Avalanche, so gotta drop the tank. Did a pump in my suburban a few weeks ago, so pretty good at it, lol!