After an unexpectedly long and hectic night, I had to run my car until almost empty. I parked the car at a friend's house at night with the "car fill up" symbol where the MPG "miles left in the tank" should be in the speedometer. The next morning I used my friend's 1 gallon gas can to get me to the nearest gas station. My friend told me there was gasoline in the can, and it smelled like gasoline to me so we emptied it into my tank. I made sure to confirm with him that it was 91 octane gasoline. I started the car like normal, and drove a mile down the road as calmly as possible. I get to a stop sign and my car begins to shake, the engine sounds extremely rough, power steering goes out, the RPMs flutter below 1K, and the CEL light flashes on. I thought this was just because I ran out of gas, but that doesn't make sense since I just put an extra gallon in...unless there was something wrong with that gallon. I had my friend drive me to the gas station and we brought back 3 more gallons of gas for my car. I start it up, tank is almost at a quarter, but still the same symptoms.

I've been warned of the dangers of running empty plenty of times, and this was the first time I had ever gotten this close in 6 years. I've been reading about how the fuel filter, fuel injectors and fuel pump can become damaged from the gunk at the bottom of a fuel tank. Is this a possibility? The flatbed truck driver suggested that it looked like a fuel pump failure.

I have a friend with a OBD reader, so maybe we can use that to scan some codes. My mechanic won't be available until tomorrow so this is probably my best way of finding the codes and doing some extra research.

I'm very much disappointed in myself for allowing this to happen, I usually never get below a quarter tank. Any advice or experience with this sort of thing?

All help is greatly appreciated.

 

The gas can is the culprit. Fuel filter may be clogged. Injectors contaminated

 

Perhaps it was really old fuel or dirty/contaminated. Either way, it sounds like you've gunked up the fuel filter or injectors, or both. I'd say run some techron through the system a few times, but I'm not sure if that'll do the trick now. I'd have it looked at.

 

Thanks guys, I can't believe I let this happen. I should have known better.

So it most likely is the the fuel filter or fuel injectors...I'll read the codes today and I'll have my mechanic look at it tomorrow. Maybe try the fuel cleaner with my mechanic. I hope this isn't too expensive a repair.

 

My friend used his OBD scanner to read the codes and I've linked a screenshot of the codes. I'll have my mechanic look at the car tomorrow morning and I'll keep everyone updated in case someone else has the same issue. Thanks for the help.

Codes: P0300, P0306, P0303, P0305

Link: https://dl.pushbulletusercontent.com...NZyo/18527.png

 

Are you positive it was gasoline? If certain it's probably old and seperated. Fill it with good fuel and you'll either have to clean or replace the plugs. When the fuel doesn't ignite it fouls them. If you were coming due for plugs just replace them. Think its 7 years or 90k interval.

Side note. Fuel pumps are cooled by the gasoline they pump. Would you dare run your engine without coolant? Not only is there sediment in the tank but it can over heat the pump. Train yourself that 1/4 is empty. That keeps dirt high or low enough it won't get sucked in and you'll always have fuel to cool the pump.

 

Mechanic fixed it, car runs like a dream again. He pulled out a gallon of water, most likely from that one gallon of "gas" my friend gave me. Cleaned out injectors and disposed of remaining contaminated gasoline in the tank. No mention of spark plugs, injectors, filter or pump going bad. My car is perfect again and my wallet is $500 lighter.

Training myself is an understatement, I used to get nervous when my tank got below a quarter. Running below a quarter tank is most definitely NOT the norm for me. My friends used to make fun of me when I worry about being low on gas and they see that I'm at a quarter.

I'll take this as a lesson learned, although I already should have known better. Never trust a gas can, never trust a friend when it comes to your car.

Thank you all for the help and advice. You were all correct about the issue without even looking at the car.

 

Rod, Thanks for the follow up. A good lesson for everyone.