When's the last bad tank of gas you had

[soccerballtux]

and when?

I just had my first, from a brand new RaceTrac station.

Engine stalled several times at idle but drives fine. Hrumph.

Mechanic opinion gas.
Mechanic does not appear to be idiot?

 

[Mark R]

Never had bad fuel personally. But about 8 years ago or so, a colleague did. Apparently, a major refinery had dumped a diesel additive package into a batch of gasoline.

Result: destroyed O2 sensor. It was pretty quickly traced to the fuel, because about 10k cars in 1 county suddenly broke down or developed severe running problems on a single day.

 

[NutBucket]

I think it was about 3 years ago. Wife got a bad tank. The car was definitely not happy. Idled poorly and refused to build boost (thank you smart ECUs!) I pumped some of the gas out of the tank into a clear bottle. You could see there was something definitely in it as there were two layers that formed. Smelled funny too. It may have been diesel but I'm not sure.

 

[MongGrel]

My father told me many years ago never fill up at a gas station that has a tank truck pumping gas as a delivery.

It stirs up the sediment in the storage tanks.

I have not had bad in years, maybe they've fixed that problem over the years but I still do not do it.

Just a side note.

 

[Greenman]

Never had bad gas. Never had a problem with gas that had been sitting in the tank for a year or more. Though I did know a fellow who filled the tank on a rented Uhaul diesel with gas, I guess you could say that was bad gas, cause it sure as heck was bad for that diesel.

 

[Gillbot]

Never

 

[Bartman39]

Bad gas... Nope...

Many years ago put 2 stroke mix in my truck which ran ok but smoked...

Recently put about 5 gallons of reg unleaded in my Diesel (Duramax) truck which rattled a bit but quit after I filled it with Diesel a time or two...? :whiste:

 

[ponyo]

My father told me many years ago never fill up at a gas station that has a tank truck pumping gas as a delivery.

It stirs up the sediment in the storage tanks.

I have not had bad in years, maybe they've fixed that problem over the years but I still do not do it.

Just a side note.

My father told me the same thing. He was a wise man.

 

[996GT2]

I haven't had gas so bad that the car stalled, but one time my MPG dropped by 3 or 4 after filling up at Kroger. No change in driving style. Never got Kroger gas again after that.

The best tank of gas I ever got was at a Shell station in the middle of nowhere. I highly suspect that it was ethanol-free, because I got some crazy MPG numbers from that tank.

 

[thedarkwolf]

16 years ago. Had my 67 galaxie at the time and just had to get up on the interstate and drive for 80 miles to clear the water out of it.

 

[Kaido]

My father told me many years ago never fill up at a gas station that has a tank truck pumping gas as a delivery.

It stirs up the sediment in the storage tanks.

I have not had bad in years, maybe they've fixed that problem over the years but I still do not do it.

Just a side note.

Yeah, it used to make my grandma's car knock whenever she filled it up with the tanker there. Mechanic ultimately traced it to sediment that was stirred up & then would build up in the car (not sure if it gooped up the filters too much or what). No issues after skipping tanker trucks onsite.

 

[LTC8K6]

All gas stations have screens and filters. There's little chance that any sediment is going to get into your gas tank. They also don't want sediment in their own pumps, valves, flow meters, etc.

Not to mention the junk in your own tank that you stir up every time you stop, turn, or accelerate hard.

 

[jlee]

Never.

If it was in one of my trucks, I probably wouldn't notice. If it was in the MR2, the engine would blow up.

 

[BUTCH1]

Once in 2004, the year of the "cane", everyone was topping off anywhere to keep their tanks full as once the 'cane rolls through, no power=no gas pumps operating. I stopped at a old, tiny station right on A1A (beachside) and shortly afterwards the car began sputtering badly, I bought a can of "Heet" (removes moisture from the tank) and it solved the issue.

 

[Meghan54]

I've gotten one. It was back in the mid 1970's at one of the Ft. Gordon, GA, PX gas stations. Same as Butch below, I had to pour in a bunch of HEET to fix it. Guess the tanks just got filled and stirred up the water.

I stopped at a old, tiny station right on A1A (beachside) and shortly afterwards the car began sputtering badly, I bought a can of "Heet" (removes moisture from the tank) and it solved the issue.

And this is what my dad told me: Never buy gas from a small, quiet station. Buy from a busy station. Much higher assurance of getting fresh gas.

And about the delivery thing, I was taught you don't buy when the tanker's delivering or immediately after because, not of sediment, but because it stirs up the water that's settled on the bottom of the tank. Of course, these days I'd imagine there's less water present due to all the ethanol that's been run through busy stations' tanks.

 

[halik]

and when?

I just had my first, from a brand new RaceTrac station.

Engine stalled several times at idle but drives fine. Hrumph.

Mechanic opinion gas.
Mechanic does not appear to be idiot?

Two years ago, popped a check engine light on the 911 (either cat efficiency or random misfire, can't remember). I generally stick to BP or shell, couldn't figure out which gas station I got it from.

 

[twinrider1]

Never. Happened to my brother once. I don't know what was in the gas, but it ate the paint off the truck.

 

[cbrsurfr]

Once many years ago at one of the cheaper stations, I think it was a Clark. Got home fine but wouldn't stay running for long after that. Put some heet in and let it sit for a day or two as I had another car I could drive. Stopped using cheap gas after that.

 

[cabri]

In August, I had a engine check light that came on.

Code indicated a bad cylinder #5.
Garage checked things out and found no issues with anything.

Cleared the light/code and I have no problems for past 4K miles.
Their theory was some bad fuel.

 

[Ferzerp]

The whole don't fill up while thing tank is being filled thing is at this point, myth.

It may have been founded in reality ages ago, but not anymore. Unless the station has issues with the filters, it really won't matter. I suppose if there is a lot of water in the tank, the filling could mix that up some where you end up with more water than you normally would. At this point, with ethanol in all the fuel, I would be surprised if there was much water build up in tanks anyway as the e10 fuel would absorb the amount that you would get an a non-ethanol tank and pass it through in solution always instead of just when stirred up and picked up by the pump.

 

[soccerballtux]

Bad gas... Nope...

Many years ago put 2 stroke mix in my truck which ran ok but smoked...

Recently put about 5 gallons of reg unleaded in my Diesel (Duramax) truck which rattled a bit but quit after I filled it with Diesel a time or two...? :whiste:

that's weird

 

[soccerballtux]

I haven't had gas so bad that the car stalled, but one time my MPG dropped by 3 or 4 after filling up at Kroger. No change in driving style. Never got Kroger gas again after that.

The best tank of gas I ever got was at a Shell station in the middle of nowhere. I highly suspect that it was ethanol-free, because I got some crazy MPG numbers from that tank.

I had that out west too. Between that and being in the hills I got 38MPG

 

[soccerballtux]

All gas stations have screens and filters. There's little chance that any sediment is going to get into your gas tank. They also don't want sediment in their own pumps, valves, flow meters, etc.

Not to mention the junk in your own tank that you stir up every time you stop, turn, or accelerate hard.

I drive that way all the time keeps it well mixed and burns it off

 

[soccerballtux]

Never.

If it was in one of my trucks, I probably wouldn't notice. If it was in the MR2, the engine would blow up.

how much boost?

 

[soccerballtux]

I've gotten one. It was back in the mid 1970's at one of the Ft. Gordon, GA, PX gas stations. Same as Butch below, I had to pour in a bunch of HEET to fix it. Guess the tanks just got filled and stirred up the water.





And this is what my dad told me: Never buy gas from a small, quiet station. Buy from a busy station. Much higher assurance of getting fresh gas.

And about the delivery thing, I was taught you don't buy when the tanker's delivering or immediately after because, not of sediment, but because it stirs up the water that's settled on the bottom of the tank. Of course, these days I'd imagine there's less water present due to all the ethanol that's been run through busy stations' tanks.

don't they have pumps on the inside to stir the tanks?

edit: because I can only think one thought at a time, and forget it by the time I read the second post I want to reply to. XDA has an extension that just condenses all the replies into one. I have nothing against it.