Dirty fuel, throttle body? Someone help me please..

[CMF_micragirl]

Yesterday I filled the car up with fuel and now I have stalling problems, intermittent bursts of power and coasting ie no power in the acceleration, even when going down a hill. I feel sure its fuel as the car has had no problems whatsoever before yesterday. The guy at the garage poured a bottle of metho into the tank to disperse any water that may have gone through it. I also noticed the rotten egg gas smell coming from the car as I was trying to limp it home. I dont trust mechanics that much, has anyone had this problem before? Will a new fuel filter fix it? Would appreciate some help, cheers guys

Caroline (micragirl)
PS sorry if this problem has already been discussed but I dont have much success when searching through the forums.

 

[CMF_White Knight]

Hmmm sounds like a load of dirty fuel. ( ie ****e or water)
I would at least change the fuel filter and if it was me I would drain the fuel tank.
Putting a bottle of metho into your tank not the best thing to do.
Be better if some fuel/injector cleaner was used.Plenty around made by Nulon,Wynns etc and most garages carry it as well as auto shops.
Sounds suss as it only happened after you filled up so points towards fuel.
Let us know how you get on.
Good luck.

 

[CMF_NotAnotherSSS]

Where did you fill up? What petrol you put in it?

Rotten egg can also mean your cat converter pretty much stuffed.

Check your ignition system as well.

 

[CMF_micragirl]

Just as I expected, had the car checked by a mechanic today, fuel filter full of water, so had new one put in plus a bottle of injector cleaner. Unfortunately the tank can't be drained as the fuel pump which is situated in the rear prevents any syphoning. Only option is to remove the tank from the car and empty it right out. So, we'll see how this new filter goes, mechanic also suggested another bottle of metho but will take White Knight's advice and not go there. Looks like I better do a long trip somewhere, for the first time in my life I wish this car wasn't so economical, I have around 500klms of fuel to burn. Anyone thirsty? FYI Tom I filled up at the Caltex Elanora and put $30 of normal unleaded in it....be better if I had only put $10 though in hindsight

 

[CMF_kneival]

I agree with the CAT convertor, normally a smell from there. Perhaps it was overfuelling or something?

Its probably the common throttle body problem however!

 

[CMF_makes]

Hi micragirl, I hope everything will be OK with your micra now. Thanks for the tip-off about the caltex at Elanora, definately will not be stopping there !. I guess they will have probably received a lot of complaints from irate customers after this incident.

This also happened to my dad once years ago, apparently this sort of thing generally happens when the petrol tanks at the servo are almost empty and/or being refilled. He reckons if you see a petrol tanker refilling the servo move on to the next one.

 

[CMF_White Knight]

Add a bottle of Nulon total fuel treatment and when the gauge gets down a bit add more petrol. Even if it only takes say $10 worth do so as the quicker you dilute what is in there the better.
Pain in the butt to say the least.

 

[CMF_NotAnotherSSS]

Yup and run some high grade fuel through it - like Caltex Vortex, BP Ultimate, Shell Optimax, etc.

My personal preference is with BP Ultimate - in my opinion it is the cleanest of the 95/98RON fuels.

 

[CMF_micragirl]

The ending to this story is: Micra is now at Nissan having the fuel tank removed and completely cleaned out and the fuel lines have to be flushed out as well. Price? $500-00...Getting my car back on the road running smoothly? Priceless

I contacted Caltex Australia, hopefully with the damning mechanical report on the car being sent to them, they will be reimbursing me for the cost of damage/repairs. Ha ha, we'll see.

I'll keep you posted

Caroline

 

[CMF_White Knight]

Well when you get the bill take it to the fuel station. If they will not do anything about it ask them for the company that supplies the fuel as some times its via a distributor.
Do not take no for an answer.
Take a male friend with you as being a female they may think they can bluff their way around it as there are still a lot of idiots out there who treat female drivers as some sort of sub human when it comes to cars.
Good luck.

 

[CMF_kneival]

Ouch thats nasty.

Have you kept a sample of the fuel just incase?

How come you couldnt syphon the tank with a hose down the filler cap?

 

[CMF_micragirl]

Thanks guys for the support, the dealership (Nissan) is keeping a sample of the fuel for his report to back up the water issues. He said I have a good chance of getting compensation as he personally has had this issue with Caltex/Ampol petrol on many occasions. I could have done the job at home but had no idea how to disconnect the fuel lines and also where to dump 40 litres of petrol. The reason I couldn't syphon it is that I was told by the mechanic that the fuel pump is directly under the filler cap, therefore blocking any syphoning. I guess thats a good thing to deter petrol thieves, the crappy part is that they will have destroyed the filler flap in the process of trying to steal your fuel
I'm just hoping that the water hasnt damaged the engine or any components, I've tried really hard to keep my car "mickey mouse" and am always proud to go any where in it, I usually get comments on how good it is for its age.

 

[CMF_kneival]

Ye if thats the case then its a pretty good anti-theft thing.

Hope you get your compo from them and get the car all sorted!