I have no ideas what is going on, I had couple friends over to take a look to see if theres any basic problems, but we have no idea, so i hope you guys may be able to help me.

Heres what happened: I was washing my car and upon finishing i decided to use the back-up i gallon container of gas that i leave around at home (about couple months the gas has been in the container. I decided to put it in the gas tank. Now after that i started the engine, it started, bogged, and died. After that i was never able to start it again. The starter cranks, but thats it. Now i thought that there might be a possiblity that the gas in the container lost octane or something, so i got 2 gallons of racing gas and put it in. When i tried it right after that, the car almost started but never got around to it. So i'm stuck without a car, and i have no idea what is going on. I didn't get it towed to mitsubishi yet because i have a reflash, and i'll get it back to stock settings before bringing it in. But if anyone know any possibility why this happened, please post, thanks guys.

 

go to a trak auto or something and find a product to remove water from your gas system. Possible that water leaked into the system and is now screwing stuff up.

 

Rather than tow it to Mitsu, tow it to the gas station. FILL it with fresh gas to help dilute the current crap you have in there. Better yet, pull a fuel line and drain what's in there out...then fill it up.

 

I would hope the fuel system is not compromised and did not get water into it, but ya never know either. My first idea would be an electrical component has gotten water into it and is shorting out completely or partially. Have you had any odd behavior from the car driving in the rain prior to this incident?

I would take the car to an open area and let the thing dry out for an hour or two. Double check any connector/connection/wire harness you feel comfortable doing yourself.

Good luck, this type of thing is very frustrating I know. I knocked a connector loose the other day after removing the battery. Every thing would turn on, but the car would not turn over.

 

Bad gas. Drain it and replace with new. Should start.

 

Also, don't worry about the flash. It's essentially undetectable and there's no reason to suspect an ECU flash. Most service techs are clueless. Get new gas as a first step.

 

It is most certainly bad gas.

And since you actually got the car running once before it died, that bad gas is what is sitting in the fuel lines. So even after you put some better gas in, you are only diluting what is in your tank....not what is in your lines.

I would drain the fuel from the lines if I were you. Undo a fuel line and insert it into a bucket, turn the car to acc (do not attempt to start it!) and let the fuel fly. Beware that the fuel in the lines is under pressure. The idea here is to get the bad gas out of the fuel lines. Then reattach the fuel line. Then fill the tank with good gas. When you turn the car back on, it will repressurize the lines. It will take a second to start because there likely is still some bad gas near the injectors and in the cylinders.

Why would you put old gas from a can in your garage into your car anyway? Sounds like something a crazy old man would do to save a few bucks...

 

^^^Word^^^ However, the lines return to the tank, so, in effect, whatever is in there is already fully mixed with the rest of the fuel.

The crazy old man analogy is perfect...what the hell were you thinking?

 

But it is still sitting in his cylinders....flooded with the bad stuff

I guess the return line could have cycled through till the point when the lines had good gas in there. It depends on how long the guy kept at trying to get the thing started, right?

If you only added a gallon or 2 to the bad gallon, you are not diluting the fuel nearly enough. Fill that tank up! Then try again!

 

If you just add gas or dry gas(or alcohol(rubbing alcohol) will work to absorb water in fuel) you clean out the fuel rail but turning the key on(don't try to crank yet) for 5 seconds(when you turn the key on fuel pump should run for 2 seconds to prime the system but not fire the injectors). Turn the key off for a minute(computer resets for fuel prime in 30 seconds I'm giving longer times to make sure it works) and repeat about 10 times to put better fuel in rail. To clean out the cylinders I'd remove the plugs and check for moisture. If moisture is present I'd put alittle alcohol or WD40(Water Displacement) in the cylinders put the plugs back in and start it up.

 

Here's an old trick and will work most of the time.:

hold the gas pedal to the floor while cranking it . crank it 10-15 sec till it starts.
If you feel it's going to start then keep doing it till it does.

this works most of the time on a flooded engine. if you got bad gas, try it anyways.

Question: what were you thinking putting 2 month old gas in your baby?????

 

yea, i talked to some service tech at my work, and they all say its the gas. They told me that gas after 30 days will go bad.

to tell u guys the truth i had no idea, i have an extra tank of gas for emergencies, and i thought that the gas would still be good. I was actually trying to use that old gas to replace the back-up container with new ones.

Yea bad thinking on my part, I just need to find out how to get the bad gas out from the fuel lines.

thanks for the help guys

 

With out loosening the lines(unless there is a service port with a shrader valve you can depress to release the fuel(I'm not sure since I haven't paid much attention to my fuel rail on my car)) I told ya how. It'll recirculate it back to the tank anf bring the fresh mix up to the rail.

 

i'm just curious, why would gas turn bad after 30days? does the chemical composition change...

 

gas doesn't "spoil" like food, but water from condensation, dirt, and all other bad things can get into those little containers.

Not to mention someone might have used your little one gallon tank to mix some oil for something like a weedwacker? stranger things have happened I know =)