watered down gas?

[Burtonboarder950]

Never buy gas from Delta. On the third, i filled up from Delta because their prices were extreamly cheap. It was 3.65 or something similar, and the usual right now in jersey is .71. Anyway, next day on the fourth, I notice it is hard to start my car. The rpms go crazy before idleing right after turning on the car. Then, on the 5th, I notice it is very hard to start accelerating and going up hills. The car also switches gears at 4 and even 5 rather than the usual 3.5. After buying a ****load of water removers and filling up the rest of my tank with permium gas, I havent noticed much improvment after 60 miles of the removers and a quarter tank of premium. All input and suggestions are welcome .DONT GET GAS FROM DELTA!!!!!!!

[Scandinavian Flick]

are you getting any check engine lights?

when you say you added a ton on water remover.... how much did you add?

what kind of car is this happening on?

how much of the "bad gas" was in the car when you filled up with premium?

you've drove 60 miles so far, whats another sixty, if it is "bad" gas and i assume you arent going to drain the tank, might as well as get out there and burn through it

[telcoman]

Never buy gas from Delta. On the third, i filled up from Delta because their prices were extreamly cheap. It was 3.65 or something similar, and the usual right now in jersey is .71. Anyway, next day on the fourth, I notice it is hard to start my car. The rpms go crazy before idleing right after turning on the car. Then, on the 5th, I notice it is very hard to start accelerating and going up hills. The car also switches gears at 4 and even 5 rather than the usual 3.5. After buying a ****load of water removers and filling up the rest of my tank with permium gas, I havent noticed much improvment after 60 miles of the removers and a quarter tank of premium. All input and suggestions are welcome .DONT GET GAS FROM DELTA!!!!!!!

Burtonboarder950

I can only speak from experience with my G35 and my previous 92 Lexus ES300. I use regular 87 octane from many independant dealers including WaWa, Raceway, Pittstop, Hess etc. If you've added drygas to remove suspected water and filled up with premium then perhaps something else is wrong? Go back to the Delta station and speak to the manager. Ask when was the last time the tanks were tested and has he received other complaints. Also ask how old the tanks are? In NJ all old metal tanks have to be replaced with double bottom ones to prevent leaks into the groundwater.No independant gasoline dealer will remain in business very long if they have water in their tanks. The NJ gasoline that comes from the Bayway refinery is essentially all the same in a given octane. Whether it ends up at a Delta station, Pittstop, Raceway or WaWa its the same. Look at the delivery trucks in most gasoline stations. Most have no name on them.Many here get a feelgood from spending an additional $.30 a gallon thinking its going to benefit their vehicle in some fashion but except for perhaps a loss of a few HP in a 300hp engine I am of the firm belief that its not worth spending the extra money and if I've lost a few HP so what!My G runs fine on regular obtained from many independant stations.When traveling, I try to fill up at busy truck stops Petro etc.

Telcoman

[BrandAidDesignG35]

Tell me, burtonboarder... how much gas was in your tank when you filled at Delta?

I know you shouldn't need fuel additives in Nissan/Infinitis... The injectors don't like that too much.

It's possible that something else is to blame here.... What are the symptoms during a cold struggling start, sounds etc.

Let us know of any improvements / differences as you continue to drive.. good luck When did you last check your air filter? It is possible that your air filter is plugged, and needs replacing...

[marlin29311]

If you had all this water in your gas tank you would be getting a nice light show on your instrument cluster. Water in the tank not only causes things to misfire, it also causes your exhaust system to malfunction and makes your engine run differently.

Your transmission shifts are not related to your gas problem.

Throwing stuff into your gas tank is a bad idea all around - even the manual suggests against it.

Shouldn't you be putting premium in your Z anyway?

Run your car almost to empty and put a real brand of gas in (BP or Shell would be best - they are cleaning fuels) - saving a dollar or 2 per fillup on cheap gas isn't worth all of the damage it causes in the end.

[spockrock]

If you had all this water in your gas tank you would be getting a nice light show on your instrument cluster. Water in the tank not only causes things to misfire, it also causes your exhaust system to malfunction and makes your engine run differently.

Your transmission shifts are not related to your gas problem.

Throwing stuff into your gas tank is a bad idea all around - even the manual suggests against it.

Shouldn't you be putting premium in your Z anyway?

Run your car almost to empty and put a real brand of gas in (BP or Shell would be best - they are cleaning fuels) - saving a dollar or 2 per fillup on cheap gas isn't worth all of the damage it causes in the end.

at least in the 03 Z manual it says you HAVE to fill in premium if you can't and are low on gas fill half the tank with regular and then drive to the next gas station and fill the rest with premium.

[telcoman]

Tell me, burtonboarder... how much gas was in your tank when you filled at Delta?

I know you shouldn't need fuel additives in Nissan/Infinitis... The injectors don't like that too much.

It's possible that something else is to blame here.... What are the symptoms during a cold struggling start, sounds etc.

Let us know of any improvements / differences as you continue to drive.. good luck When did you last check your air filter? It is possible that your air filter is plugged, and needs replacing...

Or if the air filter was not changed regularly the crud gets to the MAF sensor

here is a photo of my air filter after 8k miles. I inspect and change mine every 8-10k miles. Takes less than 10 minutes.



Telcoman

[PHENOMenalVinyl]

no offense but dont u have a 350z ??????

[adidas2go]

It says the same thing in our manuals. Burton, my question to your is, why in the world would you cheap out on gas, when you just bought a performance car? Do you really not know about engine mechanics or are you just looking for the best deal. The 350z has a higher compression ratio than the altima coupe, which leave no room for error when choosing octanes of fuel. If you value your drivetrains life, never put lower than 91 in it. Understand?

Unplug your mass airflow sensor, start your car, let it run for 5 seconds, then plug it back in. This will reset the car's air to fuel ratio so it can relearn itself to the better quality fuel.

[Rmuth25]

I work at the gas station so I can shed some light on this. I didn't read any previous posts so I don't know if any of this has been said so sorry if I repeat stuff that's already been said.

That being said, the only way that gas could be watered down is coming from the source. As in where the gas is bought. There is no way that the tanks that hold the gas cold have a considerable amount of water in them, and thats for a few reasons. I doubt that a supplier could get away with adding water to their product, as the government regulates stiffly what stuff is in the gas.

First, inspections of the gas station by the state I guess(someone at least, I don't know who they are affiliated with) are very strick and a gas station would not be able to get away with having a lot of water in the tank.

Second, which is the more practical reason, is gas is lighter then water, so in the tanks the water will sink. At least in our tanks, and I would assume all the others, the intake pipes to bring the gas to the pumps are raised 6 inches from the bottom. The system shuts down if there if like 1 inch of water is detected. I have been working at the gas station for like 2 years, and daily reports print out saying how much water is in the tank, and its always said 0.00. The readings go out to 4 decimal places, but on the report it doesn't show that. I'm sure there is at least some water in the tank.

However, all of this being said, from personal experience, there is something about Hess gas that just sucks. Maybe I am completely wrong in everything I just typed and their gas is watered down, or they don't add all the necessary detergents. When I had my old Corsica the difference between how my car would run on Hess gas and anyone else was night and day.

[Scandinavian Flick]

Your transmission shifts are not related to your gas problem.

Shouldn't you be putting premium in your Z anyway?

.

if the engine is putting out to little of power it will raise the shift points,

also, burton doesnt have the z yet, or at least this thread doesnt apply to it, in the 350z forum he posted that his 350z was a 6 speed, not an automatic

[marlin29311]

lol, then what the hell is this post about?!?!?!?!? Putting premium in a car that doesn't recommend premium does nothing (if this refers to a car that doesn't need premium)...

[Scandinavian Flick]

burton- what car is this on/for?

[Burtonboarder950]

this didnt happen on a Z, i just need to spread the word. Im having a ridiculous amount of problems simply because I filled up at the wrong station. I dont want any of you going through what I am going through now. Im not going to sue or file any complaints against Delta, all out of my reach. However, i feel im doing my part if i simply spread the word to my friends and my friends on nico. Those guys cheated me, i don't want you to get cheated too.

Modified by Burtonboarder950 at 11:27 AM 8/7/2008
Modified by Burtonboarder950 at 11:28 AM 8/7/2008

[Burtonboarder950]

My symptoms are very basic. When I first start my car, I idle from .5 up to 1.5 and then it finally settles down just below one where it should be. However, when it first jumps to 1.5 then down to .5 then back up to 1.5...that shouldn't be happening. Secondly, when going from a stop, the car is extremely slow. Regardless how much gas I give it, I accelerate VERY slow. This is dangerous incase I need to change lanes and have to speed up to do it. Lastly, when going up a hill, I lose all acceleration again. I pretty much stay at the same speed and cant accelerate. Even small hills that I know I used to accelerate on before. The engine sounds louder, stutters a little, and there is a strange sounds coming from above the left tire.

I checked the air filter right away, and it looked very clean.

Changed the oil.

I used castrol engine cleaner and another substance that was literally called Water Remover. I bought both from auto zone for about 4 bucks each. I don't think they could make things worth. I then filled up with premium instead of regular. Its been 60 miles since I used the substances and filled up with premium.

Thanks for all the help guys

[Sentientbydesign]

I don't think this is a gas problem. I think it's a sensor problem.

Your idle should be around 650-750. A 1k idle is kind of high.

I'm assuming you would have mentioned CEL/SES light if you had one. It might be a good idea to pull any stored codes just in case.

[Burtonboarder950]

I don't think this is a gas problem. I think it's a sensor problem.

Your idle should be around 650-750. A 1k idle is kind of high.

I'm assuming you would have mentioned CEL/SES light if you had one. It might be a good idea to pull any stored codes just in case.

there has been a cel on for years, something about carbon dioxide but not enough to be harmful. It was just ignored because no one in the family wanted to spend money on an unnoticeable problem. Therefore, for the past couple years, every problem after the cel came on went unnoticed =/.

[notaverage]

the point of your posts confuse me sometimes burton

[marlin29311]

Not to sound like i am going against you, but it is possible that it wasn't the gas that did whatever happened to your car - nowadays things are pretty highly regulated and I'm sure this would happen to a lot more people and something would be done about it. Its possible there is something else wrong with whatever car this was. Then again, that's also the chance you run when you buy a low-market gasoline - while the fuel is refined at the same refineries as some other large corporations, in the end the blending can be changed, and the quality of the fuel can turn out to be not as good. Like I sort of mentioned before, you get what you pay for.

I would check the car out for other problems - I don't think this one bad batch of gas is doing this.

[gucio69]

Is it possible that you filled up with E85 by mistake? The symptoms you're experiencing kind of sound like it.

[Sentientbydesign]

That sounds really off to me.

I would get that fixed asap. I'd also check for other problems. The thing about the CEL is that it only tells you that a problem exists. It doesn't tell you which one or if there are others. You could have 5 codes in there and not ever know because you decided not to fix the initial problem.

[Colton92]

pics of ur Z? Never fill up when the Tanker is depositing gas at the station

[marlin29311]

pics of ur Z? Never fill up when the Tanker is depositing gas at the station

That actually doesn't make a difference at all.

[08altima35]

burton. you make little to no sense and reading your posts actually hurts.

[hopetriumphs]

sounds to me like you used the green hose and not the black one.

[Marisha]

in Jersey you don't pump your own gas you can only pump your own diesel, and attendants look at you funny when you ask for diesel, so they would have to be pretty distracted to make a nozzle mistake

[Colton92]

why dont they let u pump ur own?

[Burtonboarder950]

burton. you make little to no sense and reading your posts actually hurts.

learn to read

[Marisha]

I don't live there, but my answer would be "it's Jersey" (note: absolutely no offense meant to anyone from there)

[Burtonboarder950]

I don't live there, but my answer would be "it's Jersey" (note: absolutely no offense meant to anyone from there)

haha yea we are weirdos In vermont last winter I sat in my rental car at a gas station waiting for an attendant. After 15 minutes of waiting, I realized it was pump your own.