Car sputtering right after refueling at gas station - was fine before refueling

[psteng19]

1996 Nissan Sentra, 1.6L, 5 speed, almost 140k miles.

It was running perfect, never had a problem with this car. I wouldn't even consider this a problem, but I just want to find out why and perhaps do some preventive maintenance.

Yesterday, I went to fill up, regular octane 87.
I was almost out of gas, as the pump showed 11.xx gallons and I have a 13 gallon tank. I was pretty much at Empty, low fuel light didn't come on though.

Anyway, filled up, started the car, and it was vibrating, and the engine sounded like it was choking, about to stall.
I didn't touch anything for about 10 seconds, just seeing if it would stall or straighten itself out but it did neither.
So I revved it up to about 4-5k RPM's for about 5 seconds and that seems to smoothened things out.
It started just fine this morning, not rough or anything. Drove well as usual.

I'm leaning towards something fuel related.
So was it bad gas (perhaps too much deposits at the bottom of the tank - fuel filter changed maybe 5k miles ago)? Fuel pump? Fuel delivery?

 

[Zanix]

I hear that you're not supposed to fill up if the tankards are there filling up the underground tanks because it stirs up the sand and what not, and that sediment ends up in your car. Maybe that happened?

 

[CaptnKirk]

Water condensation droplets in the tank - they sink to the bottom & get picked up by the pump.
Intermittent fuel/water until the water is purged or 'burned through'.

 

[Kelvrick]

You didn't put in deisel, did you?!!

EDIT: Didn't bother reading the whole thing. Considering its fine now, probably just what previous posters said. How often do you go that low on your tank?

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Kelvrick
You didn't put in deisel, did you?!!

that's what I was thinking.

 

[Zanix]

Originally posted by: Kelvrick
You didn't put in deisel, did you?!!

EDIT: Didn't bother reading the whole thing. Considering its fine now, probably just what previous posters said. How often do you go that low on your tank?

lmao

 

[Jpark]

sounds like it had water in it

 

[psteng19]

Originally posted by: Kelvrick
You didn't put in deisel, did you?!!

EDIT: Didn't bother reading the whole thing. Considering its fine now, probably just what previous posters said. How often do you go that low on your tank?

LOL, first of all, no. I'm in NJ where they don't trust you to fill your own tank. I said regular, fill-up so I trust that the attendant wasn't a moron and put in diesel.

I go that low pretty often, just about every time I fill-up. Never had a problem before, but you never know when the first problem will come up.
Just wanted to add, I changed the fuel filter not too long ago, maybe 3 months 5k miles ago.

 

[psteng19]

So if it's water in the tank that got into the engine, was there any risk of damage done?
Did revving it for a few seconds remove the water?

 

[psteng19]

.

 

[m2kewl]

where is the 'user error' option?

 

[TechnoKid]

I thought that diesel nozzles are bigger than gas ones, so you can't put diesel into a gas, but you can put gas into a diesel which is very bad.

 

[Colt45]

put some methyl in it

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: psteng19
LOL, first of all, no. I'm in NJ where they don't trust you to fill your own tank. I said regular, fill-up so I trust that the attendant wasn't a moron and put in diesel.

The attendants ARE morons, I had one guy flood my tank and spill what must have been a good half gallon of gas all the way down the side of my car. Why? Because he was topping off the tank...and he KEPT ON DOING IT even when the pump was automatically cutting off the second he'd squeeze it. What an idiot.

 

[Klandestine]

A little bit of water wont be too bad in a gas tank, it will work through. But my guess is it was sediment kicked up when you filled up and clogged up a fuel injector. Since pushing more fuel through seemed to clear the problem it stands to reason.

 

[CaptnKirk]

A gas car won't run on diesel - they have to be purged & reassembles to get the diesel oil out.

Water on the other hand just interupts the flow of fuel intermitently and causes rough running
until the water is cycled through and you are back to uncontaminater fuel.
Water can lead to corrosion of aluminum parts in the injector system though.

Debris is another matter. Particles that plug the nozzles (or a float bowl and jets in a carburetor)
can make the fuel flow stop in a single injector or the entire mechanism - depenc=ding on type
of stsyem & location of the blockage. I had a gas vapor recovery canister of activated charcoal
get a cracked diaphragm in the vacum side line which sucked the little teensy tiny itty bitty fragments
of charcoal up into the float bowl of the carburator of a '88 Dodge truck right after I had filled the
tank at a station. At first I blamed it on contaminated gas, but isolated it to a part failure.

 

[woowoo]

Furball?

 

[Stumps]

yep water in the tank, plus rust as well from the bottom of the tank, your fuel tank should be removed and cleaned every year, water and crap in the tank is the biggest killer of fuel pumps and injectors

 

[rh71]

any truth to the fact that fuel tanks should not be left that "empty" (especially in the winter) since fuel keeps the pump warm ?

 

[richardycc]

maybe the attendant accidentally let some snow get into the gas tank?

 

[Budmantom]

water

 

[psteng19]

Started up fine this morning again.
Looks like I'll have to add some water remover, which is good timing since it's winter anyway.

 

[SearchMaster]

Originally posted by: rh71
any truth to the fact that fuel tanks should not be left that "empty" (especially in the winter) since fuel keeps the pump warm ?

I thought it was the other way around - the fuel acts as a coolant for the fuel pump on newer cars, which is why you should fill up at a quarter tank or so...

 

[43st]

It may be water but I think it may be the beginnings of a bad fuel pump. Sometimes the pressure of the tank can offset the symptoms (I had this once).

Loosen the gas cap and retighten it, try starting the car again. If it has a problem then it's most likely a bad fuel pump. If it starts right up then it was probably water in the gas, although I doubt NJ has been that cold yet to create that condition. BTW... do this test at home or better yet in your mechanic's lot.

 

[CVSiN]

Originally posted by: psteng19
1996 Nissan Sentra, 1.6L, 5 speed, almost 140k miles.

It was running perfect, never had a problem with this car. I wouldn't even consider this a problem, but I just want to find out why and perhaps do some preventive maintenance.

Yesterday, I went to fill up, regular octane 87.
I was almost out of gas, as the pump showed 11.xx gallons and I have a 13 gallon tank. I was pretty much at Empty, low fuel light didn't come on though.

Anyway, filled up, started the car, and it was vibrating, and the engine sounded like it was choking, about to stall.
I didn't touch anything for about 10 seconds, just seeing if it would stall or straighten itself out but it did neither.
So I revved it up to about 4-5k RPM's for about 5 seconds and that seems to smoothened things out.
It started just fine this morning, not rough or anything. Drove well as usual.

I'm leaning towards something fuel related.
So was it bad gas (perhaps too much deposits at the bottom of the tank - fuel filter changed maybe 5k miles ago)? Fuel pump? Fuel delivery?

Water and or dirt from the nearly empty pumps at a crappy gas station...