Bad fuel???

[JCleary]

I drove down to the High Desert Diesel Roundup this weekend and had a blast. Scheid Diesel's machines and crew are amazing...



Anyway, I have my '03 HO, performed a full service the prior weekend (oil, oil filter-Stratopore, fuel filter-Stratopore, trans, diffs, X-fer case, air filter) and drove around for a week. Truck runs great! Fill up at home, truck still runs great. I use Stanadyne in every tank.



I fill up on the grapevine at the CFN in Lebec, CA. I keep driving to Irvine (had to stop there first). On cold start in the morning, my truck sounded extra loud and idled a bit rough (box hasn't been turned on since before the service). With more driving the next day, the off-idle throttle response is very inconsistent. I thought I was just driving like an idiot since I was tired, not being able to take off right and shifting all wrong.



Drove to Palmdale, stayed for 1. 5 days. Same performance. Filled up on the way home, same place (don't say it, I know, I should have gone somewhere else).



Today I'm driving around, with terrible off-idle response. To the point of almost dying. Jerky on take-off, like the ECM is trying to respond to a dying engine. Rough idle as well. Truck smokes when revving engine in neutral which it never did before.



I drained some fuel out of the fuel filter looking for water, but only saw some small black things floating in the fuel. I'm thinking it's dirt from the drain tube. Fuel looks clear, no water. No CEL's or codes.



My question:



Could the quality of the fuel be causing my truck to run strange? Or is it a fuel injector problem or even something else?



It ran great on Chevron, but not good since filling up on CFN (no-name) fuel.



Any suggestions?

 

[RankRam]

Change your fuel fliter asap!



This will give you a chance to see what is floating around in your fuel tank.



Good luck, I hope all goes well.

 

[rbattelle]

I agree... change the fuel filter! If the fuel's good, I'd suspect the lift pump next. If lift pump is good, I'd suspect the rail pressure relief valve.



-Ryan

 

[2Gen3Gen]

Next time try Flying J on 99 in Bakersfield. Ive yet to ever get a bad load yet.

Good luck with the filter change. That should tell some sort of story.

 

[jwduke]

Flying J usually has very good fuel. No problems here, ever... .

 

[JCleary]

Thanks for the advice...



I got some fuel line and drained 17 or so gallons from the tank. It was yellow, but not cloudy or dirty. It did have kind of a rancid smell, not the normal diesel smell. I guess I'll dump it in a forklift or something at work. It doesn't matter how they run anyway



I went down to Chevron (I thought I'd run out, as I was under the "E") hiccuping and nearly stalling the whole way. I fueled up with a bottle of Stanadyne and 31 gallons of #2.



I stumbled my way back to the shop and put in a new Stratopore filter. I was completely surprised at how dark the 1 week and 1000 mile filter was! It was a dark grey.



I took the truck out for a test drive. It took about 10 miles for the motor to start running right. I drove it like I stole it, hit about 4 on-ramps running up to 80 mph.



Now it sounds happy and runs well.



The fact that it ran badly after the filter switch leads me to believe there was something weird going on with the fuel.



Glad that's over. Now, on to dreaming about my new turbo and clutch...

 

[2Gen3Gen]

Glad to hear everything is fine now. I had a similar problem with my 98 12v. I feel for you!



Happy trails! Oo.