Sudden Engine Misfire

[VTX1800Dave]

I needed to get gas the other day, and went to one of those off brand stations. I put in 93 octane, and everything seemed fine till yesterday. The car was OK going to work, I parked it and went about my business. When work was over, I got in and started the car up, and it started to run very rough, you could feel the engine rocking back and forth just sitting in neutral. Putting it in gear, the engine had no power, not the usual thing I experienced with the 2003 Turbo with the stage 1 upgrade. It just bucked and had no power at all. The car had a little over a quarter of a tank of gas left, so I went and got some name brand gas in it, but driving the car today, the problem did not go away. I put in some injector cleaner today, but it is too soon to tell if it is helping. I also changed the plugs, and the number one plug looked fouled and wet.
I would appreciate any help anyone can give me as I need the car and can not afford to have it laid up in the service dept.
Thanks....

[IRPT]

VTX1800Dave, welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear you are having problems with your GT. Since I don't have a GT it's probably best if one of the Turbo folks helps you with this. Just wanted to welcome you.

[COP TZER]

Is it cold were you live? If it is, you may just need to give it more time to warm up. Anyone that lives in cold areas can probably agree that upon starting after sitting for a while, when you give it some gas it sputters alot.
Other than that, it could be crappy gas...i had to fill mine with 89 or something low like that once and experienced a similar problem (i ran out of gas and had to put in enough to get to another gas station). So i just got out and turned down the boost all the way, and it ran better.

[VTX1800Dave]

Thanks for the information. The car was warmed up, and I have driven it off when cold, and never got what it is doing now. I have not driven far enough for to use a quarter of a tank of gas, but I have just added a bottle of injector cleaner. I will see if today things improve a bit as I also changed the plugs. I did find that number 1 plug, the first on the left, was wet and looked like it was not firing. It maybe a bad wire. Unfortunenately the dealer did not have a set of wires in stock, and Advance Auto Parts did not have a set either.
I will let everyone know what is causing the problem as soon as I find out what is wrong. The strange thing, as bad as it is running, it has not thrown a service engine soon code.

[macster]

quote:Originally posted by VTX1800Dave

Thanks for the information. The car was warmed up, and I have driven it off when cold, and never got what it is doing now. I have not driven far enough for to use a quarter of a tank of gas, but I have just added a bottle of injector cleaner. I will see if today things improve a bit as I also changed the plugs. I did find that number 1 plug, the first on the left, was wet and looked like it was not firing. It maybe a bad wire. Unfortunenately the dealer did not have a set of wires in stock, and Advance Auto Parts did not have a set either.
I will let everyone know what is causing the problem as soon as I find out what is wrong. The strange thing, as bad as it is running, it has not thrown a service engine soon code.

Re" the spark plug wires, you might check to see if he has a set of wiring for a 97 up DCX mini van with the 2.4L eng, the number one plug out of that set ought to fit, failing that check the old plug wire for cracks and slits, if you find some wrap the wire with some of that black electric tape which should hold you until you can get the right wiring harness.

macster

[sakigt]

The fact that you mentioned your new gas fill up says to me you think its a bad tank of gas...Has this continued to happen? If it wasnt a constant issue while driving Id burn that tank off and see what another brand does.

Just a suggestion...my car loves Shell

[starchild]

VTX1800Dave, You got a load of water in your tank after you fill her up, go to the local car store and buy 2 bottles of HEAT or somekind of gas dryer, this will allow the gas and water to mix and it will burn out. One of the reasons is because gas stations don't sell enough of the high test gas and the wet winter everyone seems to be getting itis doing it. And it really doesn't matter where you get our gas at, ALL gas companies get their gasoline from the same oil refinery, they just put in their own additive before filling their tanker trucks. And if you don't believe me, follow one back to the main refinery in your area, you will be amazed at what you see and who's companies are there.

[Cal Cruzer]

If it was bad gas there would probably be a problem across all the cylinders. The one bad one and the fact that it was so sudden makes me think it is the plug or wire. I would try swapping wires if possible with another cylinder to see if the current bad one starts firing again.

[Rolo]

Shell and Chevron (by the sheshore) here.

It DOES matter where you get gas. That is like saying that just because all PTs, Stratuses, Town & Countrys come from the same manufacturer, it does not matter--they are all the same.

And NEVER buy AAFES gas!

[VTX1800Dave]

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I am going to buy the two bottles of Heat and try that. What was strange was that I had burned almost the whole tank of gas from that station when the problem suddenly started. It was like, running fine... running rough with no power. I am also going to wrap the wires with electrical tape and see if that improves the situation. After that.. I guess it will be off to the dealer, and a lost day of pay for me....
Dave