YACT: Local gas station screwed up my fiancee's car, whats wrong with it?

[Red]

Story: Two nights ago my fiancee filled her 2002 Civic up with 87 octane from the flying J gas station in her city. Two things were weird about filling the gas up (1) the gas was coming out really slow (took about 5-10 minutes to fill up 12 gallons) and (2) the gas did not click off when her tank was full. Her tank normally holds 11.5 gallons when she is completely empty but it overflowed this time because the clicker didn't automatically stop the gas.

So, the next morning we went outside to start her car and it wouldn't start. 10 minutes later it started but then died about 3 minutes down the road. Her car would idle rough and as soon as she would hit the gas (even a tiny bit) the car would shut off. I was thinking that it was because the car got too much gas the night before (12 gallons versus 11.5 it normally takes). The entire day she had problems starting her car and last night, after trying to start it for another 10 minutes, he engine emission light came on. She got the car started and drove home. This morning her car would not start at all.

The morning news had a story about how the flying J had to have dozens of cars towed from their lot because of "bad gas" in the cars. My fiancee is obviously a victim of this... so she called the flying J and they said they are going to cover the tow and any repairs that need to be done.

What do you think has been broken on her car?

 

[Heisenberg]

If it was just bad gas replacing the gas and running a fuel system cleaner through the car will probably take care of it. Hopefully it wasn't dirty enough to clog the injectors or the fuel filter. Are you sure it was just bad gas and they didn't mix up the gas and diesel or something?

 

[Red]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
If it was just bad gas replacing the gas and running a fuel system cleaner through the car will probably take care of it. Hopefully it wasn't dirty enough to clog the injectors or the fuel filter. Are you sure it was just bad gas and they didn't mix up the gas and diesel or something?

The most detail we've received is that there was a really high alcohol content... possibly more alcohol than gas in the mixture. Maybe that is why it was coming out so slow from the pump?

 

[Spencer278]

I would guess there pump/tank was full of crap thus cloging the fuel system. It would explain the slow pumping to.

 

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by: Redhotjrm

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
If it was just bad gas replacing the gas and running a fuel system cleaner through the car will probably take care of it. Hopefully it wasn't dirty enough to clog the injectors or the fuel filter. Are you sure it was just bad gas and they didn't mix up the gas and diesel or something?

The most detail we've received is that there was a really high alcohol content... possibly more alcohol than gas in the mixture. Maybe that is why it was coming out so slow from the pump?

Hmm...it must've been really high octane to cause that must trouble. I've run 110 octane racing gas in a moped before (don't ask) and it didn't cause a problem. I wonder how that happened. The slow ignition may have just confused the hell out of the computer. I'm not exactly sure what effect really high alcohol content would have on a motor. It's probably not all that good for the cat though. I know they had problems on 3rd gen f-body's with high octane gas causing the injectors to leak because the alcohol doesn't lubricate as well as gas.

 

[Ness]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
It's probably not all that good for the cat though.

hah, your slip up provided me with a good chuckle. OH NOES! our cat has too much bad gas! hehehe

 

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by: ness1469

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
It's probably not all that good for the cat though.

hah, your slip up provided me with a good chuckle. OH NOES! our cat has too much bad gas! hehehe

cat = catalytic converter

 

[Quixfire]

Originally posted by: Redhotjrm

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
If it was just bad gas replacing the gas and running a fuel system cleaner through the car will probably take care of it. Hopefully it wasn't dirty enough to clog the injectors or the fuel filter. Are you sure it was just bad gas and they didn't mix up the gas and diesel or something?

The most detail we've received is that there was a really high alcohol content... possibly more alcohol than gas in the mixture. Maybe that is why it was coming out so slow from the pump?

If a fuel blended with either ethanol or methanol exceeds a ratio of 10 to 1, or 10% ethanol/methanol, the fuel will separate and the alcohol will settle to the bottom of the tank. Your girlfriend's vehicle is not going to run well sucking up pure methanol or ethanol. I would have your local garage drain the fuel, rinse the tank out and refill it with pure gasoline to fix the problem.

 

[RayH]

If it's a California car, overfilling the tank could have caused gas to flow into the emissions canister which could cause the hard starts and emissions light. The emissions canister would then need to be drained and dried out.

 

[RU482]

did she get a free hotdog with a 12 gallon purchase?

 

[CraigRT]

Flying J is CRAP!
i put their 91 octane in my car once, and it was knocking like hell.. I will NEVER use it again. you get what you pay for .. its cheap gas here (5 cents a litre less than normal gas usually) but it ain't worth the savings that's for sure.