chiefdave

Hi - just had a problem with my 05 GT where I lost power while driving and had no response when depressing the gas pedal. The problem occurred 1 hour into driving and when I stopped, it idled roughly and eventually stalled. Had to have it towed to the dealer. The diagnosis was that there was too much ethanol in the gas. They added gas and it runs fine now. My questions are:

- has this happened to anyone else here?
- is there something unique about car that would cause this as I've never had an issue before?
- I hadn't used the car for 2 weeks prior - could sitting have contributed to the problem?
- I use 87 octane - would premium make a difference?
- I bought gas at Lukoil - any issues?

Anyway, sorry for all of the questions - thanks in advance for your comments. BTW, love the car.

theedge67

Never heard of that problem, too much ethanol. Could be water in the gas or something from it sitting for 2 weeks. 87 is what is recommended for this car, using premium will not make it run better or make more power.

NJJOE

never had that problem. I took mine out for a ride last weekend after sitting for two weeks and had no problems. Could just have been some bad gas. We have a Lukeoil station here and never had problems. Let us know if you have the problem again.

caligrn

not sure what lukeoil is, i am assuming its like arco ... i always use 87 with no problems ... hmmm

chiefdave

Thanks for the responses. I guess I'll chalk this up to a one-time freak occurance. My concern is that I got stranded, albeit only 1/4 mile from home. Also, with our first real snow coming this week, I may not have a chance to drive the car much to keep an eye on it.

metroplex

Sounds like you may have the fuel pump cavitation problem. There's a TSB for this.

mot250

[quote=theedge67;841799]Could be water in the gas or something from it sitting for 2 weeks. quote]

I agree. If the car sat for two weeks and only had a little bit of gas in the tank, water in the tank (either from a bad tank of fuel or just from normal condensation) could cause this problem. The fresh gas the dealer added probably took care of the majority of the water but throw in a bottle of brand name of "dry gas" (mostly alcohol) at your next fill-up to allow any water remaining in the tank to burn off.

TBone69

Lukoil is taking over most of the Mobil Stations around NJ, they boought out the Mobil part of Exxon Mobil.

From what my Mobil station owner told me he said Lukoil was garbage but he could just have been bitter.

From the proble you describe it sounds like the fuel pump issue though it should have started back up if it was. Calk it up to bad fuel and stay away from that gas station

Tedz Pony

There was a whole other thread a while back about the "Top Tier" gasoline standard. www.toptier.com So, you can buy into that if you want, or ignore it, but personally, I only go to Shell or Chevron, which are both on the list as Top Tier certified gas manufacturers, and I have never once had a problem with either of our cars. Could be luck, so I'm just sharing some info.

metroplex

There aren't any Chevron stations here in the North, but there are Shell stations but on a limited scale. Speedway, Marathon, Clark, Sunoco, and BP comprise the majority of the stations in the area.

karrnutt

IF YOU CHECK IT OUT IT PROBABLY ISN'T THE GAS. it SOUNDS LIKE YOU NEED TO HAVE YOUR FUEL PUMP REPLACED. tHERE IS A TSB ABOUT STALLING ,STUMBLING,ETC AFTER DRIVING ABOUT AN HOUR OR SO AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS AND THEN SLOWING OR STOPPING. CHECK IT OUT!

chiefdave

Thanks Karrnutt. Can you provide a link to the TSB? The only related ones I saw were regarding fuel filling and gauge problems. Thanks.

theedge67

http://bradbarnett.net/mustangs/gala...hesonaccel.pdf

stylin99

Sounds like you might have gotten E85 Ethanol fuel by mistake. Contains 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline for use in Flex Fuel vehicles (FFVs). The gas pump should have been marked accordingly but it does happen that people grab the wrong stuff.

It would have caused the car to go way lean, and spit and sputter and die, like you indicated.

TinPony2

Check the TSB on the fuel pump....hesitation after long cruise...

chiefdave

Thanks for the feedback. The TSB pretty accurately describes what happened. I've driven < 100 miles in the last couple of weeks without incident (and still on the same 1/2 tank of gas the dealership bought me).

I would like to bring the car back and demand that they replace the fuel pump as a preventative measure. I anticipate resistance as I'm sure they'll blame the fuel and/or state that it is not yet a recurring problem. Any advice on warranty repairs would be appreciated.

06GT4RAD

That's exactly what i was thinking when reading his post, however the car should have started after it stalled out and sat for a minute.

Richard