RECENTLY MY CAR BEGAN TO WANT TO STALL SO MY MECHANIC TOOK A LOOK AND NOTHING IS WRONG. HE SAYS THE ENTHANOL IN GAS MAKES CARS DO THIS AND TO PUT ADDITIVE IN THE GAS EVERY 3 FILL UPS. BUT IT IS STILL HAPPENING. HE ALSO SAID I NEED TO DRIVE MY CAR MORE OFTEN, I AM RETIRED.
Was there a question here?
E-10 shouldn’t cause problems with cars. Anything above that will. You aren’t filling up with E-85 in a non-flex-fuel car are you?
Can you buy gas that has no ethanol: Non-oxygenated or “non-oxy” gas? Try this and see if it helps. Gas with ethanol has a relatively short shelf-life. You shouldn’t let it sit in your tank for more than a few weeks.
Your car probably requires premium, or high-octane gas. Are you using the correct octane?
What year slk? Number of miles? Any check engine light on?
My cars run the same whether I fill them with e10 (10% ethanon) or straight gasoline. Neither of them stalls when running on 10% ethanol.
The ethanol should not affect the performance of your car unless you’re running a mixture of more than 10%.
Additives will not cure mechanical or electrical problems. If your car is stalling there’s a reason, and it’s not the ethanol. Find another mechanic.
Thank you all. The car is a 2003 with 60,000 miles. I am the only owner. U have always used premium gas. The stalling is intermittent with no rhyme or reason. Most of the time it runs well. But sometimes when I come to a stop it wants to stall. Who has non-oxy gas?
You need a new mechanic. As already mentioned, your engine should run fine on 10% ethanol, which is the standard. Millions do every day.
There is, however, something causing your stalling, and there are diagnostic protocos to find out what. The first is to check your computer for stored fault codes. Additives are not the solution.
Stop by the local Autozone and have the codes read for free. Post back and we’ll start from there. Right now there’s not enouugh information to begin.
Is a Check Engine light on?
I could tell you who has non-oxy gas in Minnesota. Ask around gas stations where you live or search websites that might tell you this. Where do you live?
Some stations avoid oxygenating their premium gas, so it wouldn’t surprise me if you’ve already been avoiding ethanol.
This problem can be caused by all sorts of things - bad fuel injectors, bad pressure relief in the gas tank, bad fuel, clogged fuel filter, dying spark plug, etc etc.
If this were my car, I’d dump 1/3 a can of seafoam in the mostly empty gas tank at the gas station, then fill it with 10 gallons. I’d then park 10 miles away from whereever I got the oil changed, and dump 1/3 of the can into the crankcase (where you fill the oil). Then I’d drive straight to the shop and have the oil changed. You don’t want sea foam in there for more than 10 miles because it thins the oil.
Then I’d dump the other 1/3 can into the intake manifold. You’ll need to use a vacuum line to suck it out of the can. Don’t freak out when the engine starts smoking like crazy. It’s supposed to. You’ll have to suck it in slowly, because if you go too fast the engine will stall. You may need someone to help you by lightly pressing the throttle to keep the engine running as you do this.
Once you’ve run the seafomed tank and done the other seafoaming, see if the stall condition continues.