Has anyone else experienced vehicle issues following a fill up at the Warfield Gas station? I was very empty and filled up my tank on Tueday Feb 8. When I tried starting my vehicle the next day, the engine was uncharacteristically loud and then started sputtering. I quickly turned off the ignition and noticed the Engine light had come on. A quick google search suggested this happens when there is too much water in the fuel. I was just wondering if anyone had this experience, otherwise I'm going to have to tow it to Castlegar for some diagnositc testing....
Well that sucks. There's two good mechanics in rossland. No need to go to castlegar.
a very empty gas tank can eventually cause problems - the air that fills the void does have some humidiity in it. Being on the verge of running out of gas can also cause problems, any rust, dirt etc sloshing around in the tank goes up the gas line just as your running out. Usually car won't run at all when that happens - usually means clogged fuel filter and/or or damaged fuel pump.
Before taking it in to shop suggest throwing a litre of methyl hydrate aka gas line anti freeze into the tank and driving around for a while to see if problem goes away. Stuff binds to any water it comes into contact with so engine can burn it off.
Thanks Ramondo, you just reminded me of that question on my driver's ed test...
I may try the gas line anti freeze. The car operated normally after the gas station, on the drive down to Trail and back up to Rossland. It wasn't until the next day that we had those engine problems. Hopefully that will resolve any issues!!
Although the jockeys do frequently forget to read the "diesel fuel only" on my fuel cap, I've never had fuel quality issues from Warfield (gas or diesel). If you want, I can scan your codes today. If there is water in the fuel, its possible you only saw problems in the AM after the water settled to the bottom of the tank overnight... Ramondo's suggestion is what I'd do as well, hopefully your problems are short-lived!
it's not a bad idea to get a cheap bluetooth code reader for those times the check engine light comes on. Plugs into the standard socket found on all vehicles since mid 1990's, usually under the dash on drivers side. If scanner is 'BLE' (Bluetooth Low Energy) its ok to leave it permanently installed without being concerned that the battery will get drained , assuming the vehicle has an OK battery.
A good cheap code reader probably picks up 95+% of the codes a shop scanner does, looking up what the code means online can help with deciding whether to take vehicle into a garage or ignore it for a while. If check engine light is on semi-permanently its a good idea to check periodically with the code reader to see if any new codes have shown up.
TorquePro free app is most popular. Cheapest code readers are to be avoided, I've had good success with "Veepeak BLE+" unit, looks like a good knock off of the highly rated "Bluedriver" code reader
Thank you for all of the excellent information! I took your advice and the car is purring like a kitten and the engine light is off--success!! Thanks again for helping to get my vehicle back on the road, and also for reminding me of one of the basics of vehicle maintenance!