Water in Gas - What parts could be bad now?

[davevickery]

I am trying to get my van ready to go to Moab and last week it quit running (87 stock engine) apparently from a load of bad gas. Tank was emptied, dry gas added and it's running now. The plugs and fuel filter were replaced. I ran the tank low with the dry gas added, then put in 5 gallons and ran that down with more dry gas. Then put in 10 gallons and drove it another 40 miles. It is still bogging until it reaches about 3K rpm, then the power feels about right, maybe a little lower than normal. It bogs terribly when first started cold (can't pull away under its own power for a few minutes). And it bogs pretty bad after just sitting for 10-20 minutes (but I can drive off with a lot of gas peddle), then in a minute or two it is better but still not right. It has started running a little better over the last 150 miles but no where near normal.

Anyone know what other parts might have been affected from running it on bad gas until it died (I noticed power issues for 1/2 hr and after pulling over it only went another couple miles before quitting for good. Once I got it home I repeatedly troed to restart it.

I am wondering if O2 sensor could have been killed, or Cat? Or other suggestions? If anyone has suggestions, it would be much appreciated.
Thanks, Dave

[joseph928]

You may still have a little moisture in your system, throw in a can of heat and see if that makes your fuel system better!
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[Wildthings]

Did you take a good look at the gas you drained. Lots of water sitting on the bottom or just murky?

If it is a fuel quality problem try dumping in a bottle of FI cleaner and see if that will do anything.

Crappy fuel could affect your injectors along with the fuel pressure regulator and fuel pump. It could also clog the screen in the tank.

There is a screen in the inlet of the pump that could also be clogged, this seems to seldom happen though.

[davevickery]

Thanks, could it still have residual water after 150 miles and running the tank almost empty twice?

I have added the Sea Foam product that the FLAPs guy recommended for drying it out, and it also says it cleans fuel injectors and pretty much everything else. That was last tank though, maybe I'll try another bottle. It's an expensive product so I assume pretty good. Previously I put in a couple $3 bottles of the alcohol based gas dryer and antifreeze type stuff.

Fuel pump or regulator seems unlikely if it revs up to red line just fine meaning it is getting enough gas. But I thought of that, just didn't think it could be either if it idles o.k. and revs up fine above 3K, and just bogs in between?

Keep the ideas coming. The count down to Syncro Soltice is on. Thansk

[windnsea]

Any leaky seals in the vapor recovery system which could have let water in if you washed the van thoroughly??

[Wildthings]

If you are certain it is a fuel problem, then get a pressure gauge and read the pressure at the test port on the fuel rail. Either too high or too low is a problem.

[davevickery]

It was at least mostly a fuel problem, but I guess it could be something else too. I did replace the FP regulator with another good used one after it quit. I could swap back if it could be that but running well at high RPM doesn't sound like fuel delivery does it. I bought a new Cat and O2 sensor yesterday, they are kind of maintenance items anyway, so I don't mind swapping them out. Cat didn't seem to be getting unusually hot though. And o2 sensor doesn't explain it running worse the first minute or so, does it, seems more like after a minute it would run poorly once the 02 sensor heated up. It ran fine before suddently crapping out.

I hope I can figure this out pretty quick or my two Moab trips are in jeopardy darn it. Thanks, Dave

[IdahoDoug]

It's a long shot, but the cold issues and then again when it's been stopped 20 minutes having an issue bring something up I once heard happen on a boat engine.

The boat was not moved much and had been filled with water contaminated gas. Water/steam in the cylinder does a fabulous job of cleaning things off and it cleaned the valve stems of the oil coating so they began sticking slightly. It happened most on cold startup when the different metals shrunk at diff rates. As a result it was hard to start and had poor cold power until the metals established their operating tolerances.

So, tossing that out there and wondering if your valves are briefly sticking open slightly and reducing compression enough to affect power. Either because of the cleaned out cylinder crud migrating onto the valve stems, or light corrosion on the valve stems, etc. Pulling the valve covers and having a look at the valve stems through the springs with a very bright light (and reading glasses in my case) revealed a ring of very sticky black crud on the valve stems that would normally be merely the usual engine oil lube from the correct fuel creeping out as designed.

The rings can also lose their protective film and start letting more blowby past when cold until normal fuel

This all generally resolves itself once the water is removed and the engine's had a good long run with good gas though.

Switching gears, I'm wondering if something electrical was deteriorating and the stress of long attempts to restart, the odd and dissonant vibrations of the engine running poorly and you moving engine components about resulted in a minor electrical gremlin surfacing. Unrelated, like a weak Hall wire, etc.
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[davevickery]

I pulled the air flow meter and it was really dirty. I had a good spare that had previously been in the van, so I swapped it out. It cured the uneven acceleration problem. Before the power would come on at about 2K and then again at 3k. Felt a little like a turbo kicking in, now it is smooth throughout the power band.

But maybe this is a clue to what is still wrong. Even when fully warm and runnning good when warm, if I turn the key off and back on, it will immediately go back to not accelerating for 30 seconds or so, then it is fine again, like the o2 sensor is compensating for something. And I don't believe there is any residual water in the gas by now.

I did replace the cat and put in a new Bosch OE o2 sensor, I also put the original fuel pressure regulator back. No change from those things. I have a spare ECU too that previously worked fine in the van and I swapped it in just because I had it. Again no change.

I know I am throwing parts at it, but I have a lot of good spares that were previously tested in the van.

If there are any more suggestions they would be appreciated. I know there are some geniuses on the list who may have suggestions. I do appreciate the replies. And I always post when it gets resolved so it helps the next guy. Thanks, Dave