After getting back from my trip from Phoenix I noticed kate wasnt running as smoothly as she should.

When I finally got her out of the bodyshop, Dealer put in some gas and she started running rough, at one point she stalled and threw a P1332 code, cleared codes 25 miles later P0172 and P0175 reduced performance for just a few miles then it cleared.
Drivability: it had tip-in hesitation problems.
I came home change airfilters, the intake inlet was a bit loose, Re tightened, poured in some HEET water remover filled with Exxon 93.

NOW:

No codes, the little hottie has her old speed back and smooth idle.


I am posting this because it may help somebody.

I cant narrow any one issue with fix.

I can say I think I may have had some bad fuel from one of the POS gas stations I filled at. I figure the water and fuel were pretty well mixed during the drive and after sitting for 2 weeks it got worse.

I read another post with a guy who had similar problems and used some HEET to correct the problem.


I hope this helps the next guy.

 

Thanks Cerberus66,

A question about bad fuel for anyone who can answer.

Is bad fuel common in the US and other parts? If so, does it also affect other makes of cars or are XK8/XKRs particularly sensitive to it.

I have only heard of bad fuel being suspected for faults on this forum before and wonder if it is something I need to concerned about in NZ.

Regards
Cadmium

 

More often bad fuel is simply water in fuel. Whilst on my drive I did have to stop at some fuel stations that didnt appear to have many users.

 

Several states, including Texas where I live, change their fuel mixtures twice a year from winter to summer blends. It is fairly common to have fuel issues during these times, especially when using lower grades of fuel that contains fewer cleaning additives than more expensive brands like Shell, Exxon, Chevron. Apparently, a lot
of water and plug fouling precipitates can create havoc during these transitory periods.

I ran into this a few months back. I took my car to the Ft.Worth Jag dealer. The Service writer recommended that I run a bottle of bg44K with the next fill up. He said that he actually had fourteen cars in the shop pulling the same codes the day I pulled in. He cleared my codes, but, by the time I got home they had returned.

About four days later the restricted performance light went out, the car started running better and stronger, all for under $20.00. I figure this dealer could have gone
through an expensive analysis of trying to find the culprit somewhere else, but, he did the right thing by suggesting the additive as the first step.

I now stick with Shell, the most expensive gas out there and throw in a can of BG44K
every six months or so. Back to running like a beast. Good luck.

 

Ed, thats good advice. I use Techron most of the time.

I worked as a shop hand in HS at a indy volvo shop, when drivability problems existed they would drain tank to 1/4 and throw in some Techron and I got to drive the cars for 10 miles and VIOLA the car would start running smooth.