Bad fuel problem ... need forum wisdom to help

mituk

mituk

New member
So, we are 8day on the road traveling through Grand Staircase-Escalante.

jeep+trailer.jpg

Yesterday I had to re-fill fuel down in the middle of the Hole-in-the-Rock road, we were on reserve already.
I have AEV spare fuel caddy which was full, filled up before the trip.
I transferred almost all spare fuel to main gas tank .... and immediately after starting the engine th jeep started to getting weak, I was getting misfires on cylinders and it did not have power at all.

My diagnosis - something went bad with fuel in spare fuel caddy.

Luckily we get reception and were able to get to Escalante, Utah (towed), and waiting for mechanic now to start working on the issue on Monday.

Here is my plan, and I need this forum knowledge to validate:

1. Check fuel pressure (from gas tank to engine relay (to be sure gas tank is not clogged).
2. Drain the gas tank, fill up with 1-2 gal of new gas and see if that will fix the issue.
Any recommendation how to drain gas tank without removing it?
3. If fresh gas will not help - wrrrr - it means fuel system is clogged and need to go through all pipes all the way to injectors and clean it.

So here is our status, let me know what else or different you would do.

Miro
 
Hey Miro, sorry to hear you're having problems out on the trail. Do your checks for sure but before playing with the gas, you might want to try throwing in some octane boost. It's cheap and easy and it might make all the difference.

Also, before to clear any codes you might have before giving a go again.
 
I agree with Eddie, start with the octane booster.
The other possibility if the gas was fresh in the reserve was there there may have been some debris in the tank that got sucked into the fuel filter restricting flow.
 
Also, is it safe to assume you're still running a RIPP super charger? If so, are you sure the problem isn't related to it?

I still say give octane boost a try first.
 
I will try with the octane boost ... assuming I can find it in Escalante ;).
Fuel was less than two weeks old in the fuel caddy.
And we are with our stock jeep, not ripp'ed.

Going for octane boost search right now ... I'll keep you all posted.
 
mituk said:
I will try with the octane boost ... assuming I can find it in Escalante ;).
Fuel was less than two weeks old in the fuel caddy.
And we are with our stock jeep, not ripp'ed.

Going for octane boost search right now ... I'll keep you all posted.
Click to expand...
Most gas stations should have some on the shelf. Good luck!
 
BaddestCross said:
Happened to me once and I put in 2 bottles of heavy duty Lucas fuel injector cleaner and drove it until the misfire stopped. Then I filled up with some 93 octane and another bottle of Lucas. Problem never came back.
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Same here. Had something like that happen in that Anvil JKU I had. Ran a few bottles of Lucas through it, and stopped buying cheap gasoline. I run stuff from stations like Exxon, Chevron, or Shell now.

www.consumerreports.org

Top Tier Gasoline Worth the Extra Price, Study Shows - Consumer Reports

Top Tier gasoline is worth the extra cost to consumers, according to a study by AAA. Consumer Reports lists car brands that recommend Top Tier gasoline and gas stations where you can buy Top Tier gas.
www.consumerreports.org www.consumerreports.org
 
ok, here is the status:
- I put bottle of octane boost into 1/3 full tank and run it for a while;
- after jeep was able to drive (yes it was that bad) I pulled to nearest gas station and filled with ~3gal of 91 octane gas;
- finally it was getting stable and I drove ~50 miles until misfire stopped.

We are ready to move forward.

From now on bottle of octane boost will be on trip checklist.

Thank you everyone for helping fix it.
 
Considering you said that the problem started when you transferred from your auxiliary tank to your gas tank (and assuming that you filled the Jeep tank same time you filled the auxiliary tank and the Jeep didn’t have an issue with that gas at that time) I think you need to figure out if there was something else in your aux tank.
 
interesting that you had this after using your AEV caddy. I had the same issue years ago, AEV caddy was empty, filled it for Moab EJS but didn't use it so I poured it in the tank when I got home - total time in the AEV caddy, about 3 weeks.
I didn't think of using octane boost, ended up pumping out the fuel by removing the supply line under the engine bay, added fuel line hose down to gas cans. This process sucked and took a couple of hours since it would only pump fuel for a few seconds before cutting off.
Used some sea foam to get any possible water out of the system and filled with premium, it's been fine since (going on at least 5 years now).
I pulled the caddy off the Jeep and haven't used it since.
 
I’ve had my AEV fuel Res on since I got the Jeep back from AEV in 2015 and have kept fuel in it ever since. I cycle it ever 2-3 months and have had 0 issues. But I think I will add octane booster to my fluid rack just in case.
 
wjtstudios said:
I’ve had my AEV fuel Res on since I got the Jeep back from AEV in 2015 and have kept fuel in it ever since. I cycle it ever 2-3 months and have had 0 issues. But I think I will add octane booster to my fluid rack just in case.
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When I had Anvil, I only put fuel in the caddy just before a trip. After the trip was over. I siphoned the fuel into the main tank...never had a problem. I always ran the 5.7 on 89 oct...
 
This may seem like a stretch and is defiantly a Last Ditch Effort if this happens to anyone again... If you can't find any octane boost but there is an airport, ask them if there is any way you can buy a gallon or two of Av Gas. It is 100 Octane. They have started to get away from selling it to anyone outside the aviation community and it is not great to run straight but in a pinch it will help. I had an old A&P fix a huge screw up soon the field when they put diesel in the tug that took gas..... he thinned it out and it worked. I am sure some here will have opinions but like I said, If you can't get boost, it might just work
 
lifeguard17cp said:
This may seem like a stretch and is defiantly a Last Ditch Effort if this happens to anyone again... If you can't find any octane boost but there is an airport, ask them if there is any way you can buy a gallon or two of Av Gas. It is 100 Octane. They have started to get away from selling it to anyone outside the aviation community and it is not great to run straight but in a pinch it will help. I had an old A&P fix a huge screw up soon the field when they put diesel in the tug that took gas..... he thinned it out and it worked. I am sure some here will have opinions but like I said, If you can't get boost, it might just work
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Pretty sure Av Gas is leaded & will wreak havoc on O2 sensors and catalytic converters. Maybe a splash to a full tank wouldn't hurt but I would avoid it.
 
oh it absolutely is Low Lead. Like I said its a last ditch effort place to get some higher octane. if your in the middle of no where and have no choice .....
 
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