Fascinating fuel problem with '93 240

Gas station 1 and gas station 2 are of the same brand and only 4 miles
apart. Except gas station 1 was built more than 30 years ago, while
gas station 2 is relatively new. Also, I always use premium fuel.

If I fill up at gas station 1, the car will die almost EVERY second
time I come to a stop or dramatically slowdown to a speed of 1-3 mph.
On highway everything is fine, except on rare occasions you feel you
are losing power for maybe one thousand of a second. Also, the car
will end up idling at 1,100 RPM instead of the traditional 750 RPM.
Eventually I will get the Check Engine Light and the code 1-2-1 for
the air mass meter will be indicated.

I removed 90% of the bad fuel from the tank. And then filled up at
gas station 2. The situation improved dramatically, but the car would
still die, just a lot less often.

After driving and finishing up most of the tank, I then filled up at
gas station 2, again with less than 10% of the "bad" fuel left in the
tank. The situation kept improving, but it would still die, just a
lot less often.

I then decided to drive until I run out of fuel, then filled up again
at gas station 2 and everything is fine. (I carried with me spare
fuel from station 2).

Earlier, when I removed the fuel from my 240, I transferred it to my
'97 960 and it had no impact whatsoever on the car.

This happened in 2002 and, unfortunately, in December 2003 after I
forgot NOT to fill up at gas station 1.

I would like to have your opinion/guess about such situation.

Thanks.

 

You obviously had a bad tank of gas. It sounds like gas station #1 is the
source, but it may be because they simply do not sell very much premium and
have stale gas in the tank and moisture from condensation. Save yourself
some work next time and get some Redline Water Remover and Antifreeze. It
does not contain alchohol and will effectively mix with and remove water
from the tank.

It sounds like you learned a lesson the hard way.

John

 

What puzzles me is the fact that the bad fuel had no impact on the '97
960???

 

Depends on how he transferred the fuel. If syphoned only the good fuel on top
would be transferred. If pumped using main fuel pump all the crap would go with
it.

Cheers, Peter.

: What puzzles me is the fact that the bad fuel had no impact on the '97
: 960???
:
:
: On Fri, 30 Jan 2004 18:56:43 GMT, "Fred Flintstone" <>
: wrote:
:
: >You obviously had a bad tank of gas. It sounds like gas station #1 is the
: >source, but it may be because they simply do not sell very much premium and
: >have stale gas in the tank and moisture from condensation. Save yourself
: >some work next time and get some Redline Water Remover and Antifreeze. It
: >does not contain alchohol and will effectively mix with and remove water
: >from the tank.
: >
: >It sounds like you learned a lesson the hard way.
: >
: >John
: >
:

 

I just remembered (memory is not what it used to be...) that in 2002,
I did fill up both the 240 and the 960 at the same "bad" gas station.
It was done one after the other, within few minutes from the first
fill up (I live 2 miles from the bad gas station). Both cars filled
up with premium fuel. The 960 unaffected, while the 240 had problems.

So the theory of water in the tank doesn't hold unless someone can
explain to me why the 960 is doing so well with the same gas that is
causing so much problem with the 240.

Btw, I just drove this weekend past the "bad" gas station and was
amazed to see that it will be completely removed in order to build a
new one. I guess I wasn't alone with gas problems...

 

Maybe the 960 has better engine management and was able to back off the
timing to compensate for the bad petrol.

 

or better fuel filtering?


message |
| | > I just remembered (memory is not what it used to be...) that in
2002,
| > I did fill up both the 240 and the 960 at the same "bad" gas
station.
| > It was done one after the other, within few minutes from the
first
| > fill up (I live 2 miles from the bad gas station). Both cars
filled
| > up with premium fuel. The 960 unaffected, while the 240 had
problems.
| >
| > So the theory of water in the tank doesn't hold unless someone
can
| > explain to me why the 960 is doing so well with the same gas
that is
| > causing so much problem with the 240.
| >
| > Btw, I just drove this weekend past the "bad" gas station and
was
| > amazed to see that it will be completely removed in order to
build a
| > new one. I guess I wasn't alone with gas problems...
| >
| >
| Maybe the 960 has better engine management and was able to back
off the
| timing to compensate for the bad petrol.
|
|