Running Rough?

[t_sean91]

hey guys was just wanting to know if anyone had had this problem and could lead me in the right direction to fix it.

so i bought my 81 cutlass (3.8l) the other day on the way home i stopped and put some gas in it becuase it was running out.. made it home no problems at aall rode and drove great. later that night i hoped in it to take it around the block. it started right up i let it sit and warm up for a minute then proceded down th road made it about a quarter of a mile and it started chugging like it was running out of gas.. got a little better for a few seconds then died. after sitting at the top of my street for about 5 minutes i got the car to start but only if i had it WOT. so thats where i am at now. i can go out and hold it to the floor and let it crank for a few seconds and it will start.. but it dosnt wanna idle very good.. could a simple tune up fix this ? or is it this carbureator ? i took the fuel filter out thinking it had maybe got some stuff from the gas tank sucked up in it but other than being a little darker brown it looked fairly decent. im not sure i dont have a whole lot of money at the moment to just throw parts on it.. thank you

 

[B1tchin'-Buick]

Like you said a tune up never hurts after purchasing any used car. I am only a back-yard wanna' be mechanic but it does sound like a fuel issue. Change the fuel filter first like you said, cheap and easy. See what happens. hopefully the it's not pump issues/sock clogged up....

There are alot of other people on the forum that i'm sure could point you in the right direction but I would start with the Fuel Filter and tune up......

<Mike>

 

[rangertom]

sounds like you got watered down gas at the station, try some heet.

 

[pontiacgp]

It sounds like the needle in the carb is stuck and it's flooding. Take the fuel line off the carb and run the engine till the carb runs out of fuel and then put the fuel line back on and see if that cured it. I've done that with a carb that was sitting around for a while and it took a few times but it did cure it.

 

[79malibubbctt]

You might try putting in a can of heat gas treatment. It will take any water out of the system. Also might run a can of octane nooster too. Never buy cheaper gas from a ghetto gas station. They do add water. Learned the hard way too.

 

[DRIVEN]

I'll agree with pontiacgp judging by the description.

...and gas stations don't "water down" their fuel. That's not to say that water doesn't get into the tanks occasionally.

 

[chstonebraker]

Also. Agree with pontiacgp. I would say its a carb issue

 

[79malibubbctt]

They do around where i live. Their gas is always almost 10 cents cheaper. And it always runs like crap after. Put in some heat abd ut will clear it up. So dont say that they dont.

 

[DRIVEN]

Really? You think the station owner gets a 10,000 gallon fuel delivery and then just decides to "enhances" it with a few hundred gallons of water? Because he loves all the customer complaints and lost business? OK .

Educate yourself. Start here: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/al ... age-engine

 

[jrm81bu]

Really? You think the station owner gets a 10,000 gallon fuel delivery and then just decides to "enhances" it with a few hundred gallons of water? Because he loves all the customer complaints and lost business? OK .

Educate yourself. Start here: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/al ... age-engine

While I agree they probably aren't watering down there own fuel. I will state I believe half that article is a bunch of BS as well. I'm no expert, but just for starters: The alcohol in the fuel will absorb and hold any water that gets in, up to it's saturation point. That statement alone means that the higher the ethanol content the larger amount of water the fuel can actually absorb, therefore the less chance of phase separation.

While we are on the subject on one of the E85 forums it was brought up to NOT use the yellow bottle of heat. I don't remember why offhand but it recommended to use the red bottle.