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I pour'd a bottle of fuel injector cleaner in and my engine quit 3 minutes later

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clone

10+ Year Contributor
68
1
Oct 13, 2009
wind, ON_Canada
my engine has been giving me a check engine light, put it on the reader and it shows no# 3 cylinder mis fired, I think I have noticed it at really light throttle when I'm cruising at low speed.... it's not constant but happens occasionally.

so anyway my gas guage was reading less than 1/4 of a tank and I bought a bottle of fuel injector cleaner thinking I'd pour it in then fill up the car.

my possible mistake was pouring it in at the parking lot and then driving to the gas station...... so I pulled in and parked by the pump on the wrong side.. my other 2 cars have right hand side fills, my bad... so anyway some guy was in reverse waiting for me to fill up so and the rest of the pumps were taken so I figured I'd just go down the road and fill up there.

while driving I accelerated past a car and suddenly the engine quit.

"#$#@ I'm out of gas, damn fuel guage".. so anyway I'm coasting push in the clutch and try to start it the starter squeals in protest so I shift into neutral and turn the key... the engine turns over but nothing.

so now I'm stuck until a friendly pulls offers to help, we get a can of gas I pour it in and ..... nothing it won't start, engine turns over but that's it.

I'm hoping this is a minor fix....praying I fouled the plugs with the cleaner not sure.

any ideas?
 
just my .02 . . . but that fuel injector stuff is snake oil. . . i dont think its the best way to clean the injectors, i mean how do you clean something with the material that is making it dirty?? its like washing a dirty car with dirty water and adding some soap to the mix. . . i would say check the basics fuel and spark and go from there.
 
If your fuel system was really dirty, you could have loosened up some crap in the tank or lines, causing a blockage or (more likely) clogged injectors.

Check to see if you are getting fuel at the outlet of the filter (When's the last time the fuel filter was changed?). It also wouldn't hurt to pull the injectors and clean them.
 
+1 on the clogged fuel filter. should never put fuel injector cleaner in the tank when it's empty. Just get some 19mm wrenches and a new fuel filter, replace the filter right on the spot. shouldn't take you more than 1.5hrs to knock it out. Good luck dude
 
Check to see if you are getting fuel at the outlet of the filter (When's the last time the fuel filter was changed?)
the original fuel filter was pulled "cleaned" and re-installed when we found out the replacement didn't match.... then 2 days later the fuel filter was replaced this all happened about 100 km's ago.

BUT.... prior to driving this year the car had been sitting outside for 4 years in the heat / rain / snow when we pulled the filter off the first time blue "stuff" came out and when it was pulled the 2nd time less blue "stuff" came out and then the new filter went on....... the car is still on it's first tank of gas since that 4 year hiatus from driving and likely may have more "swill" in the tank especially after I put in the fuel injector cleaner.

I'm having the car taken to a "reputable shop" that's gotten several endorsements including 1 from the guy who helped me out on the side of the road.... originally it was going to see if they could find the source of the clunking while driving.

their is a clunk in the suspension now and stranger "looseness" in the drive train... nothing serious suspect it's bushings but I wanted a 2nd opinion anyway so I'll get it towed and tell them what to look for.

I've got 2 Eagle Talons the ESI that I'm getting towed and a TSI that I just finished compilation the parts for to get 350 pony (got 680cc injectors today for $140).

as soon as this ESI is finished I'm selling it... just a drag that it hit me again with another gremlin, should have done the fuel injector cleaner at the pump instead of being over eager and putting it in at Canadian Tire where I bought it.

thanks for the responses.
 
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didn't drain tank but was about to go on 2nd tank of gas.

the problem turned out to be electrical and I've got a new problem that'll likely kill the car.

cylinder #3 suddenly has 75 pounds compression and is misfiring at light throttle input occasionally... the other 3 cylinders all have 220 PSI and the car is drivable.

on a side note even with the sporadic misfire / low compression it starts first crack & while the car doesn't have much low end it pulls reasonably well on the highway accelerating solidly from 60 mph to 80 fast enough for passing in 5th gear..... I'm really surprised about the low compression discovery as the car just wasn't gutless enough to seem like it was only offering 75% of it's power..... I'm usually driving my Caliber SRT4 turbo and rarely use the Talon anymore so that it's gutless is no surprise.....still it seemed faster than my previous 1.8 liter caliber even with the current state.... hard to tell when jumping from the turbo to the talon the difference is so dramatic.

the check engine light / mis fire was a new problem though.... going to pick up the car tomorrow and decide what to do with it... found a transmission in "excellent condition with new clutch" for $100 and considering looking for another motor atm... not sure going to leave it in the garage for now.
 
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