whats that law? what can go wrong will go wrong?

[Cinderella]

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRR

 

Here we are getting ready for this much needed trip back home to ohio for Christmas tomorrow. So happy gas prices are down and the trip wont $$$ kill us.

WE went out yetserday bout 15 or so miles from home, went to the mall, grabbed some lunch....needed gas......we fill up for the trip......tank was very close to empty...took 24 gallons...( venture van) Its always been reliable, no issues.

we drive about 10 miles heading back towards home and decide to stop and get a quick oil change, since dale hasnt had time to do it himself.

We pull inot the oil change place and just then the van starts sputtering, and running kind of rough.What the H*** !

We get the oil change and go to leave...van still sputtering....and theres a clicking, knocking noise. sputtering worse at low speeds or stops almost like its gonna stall out.

not so bad at high speed.......make it home fine...

Dale put a can of seafoam in tank......

we dont know whats wrong.....has a guy he knows gonna look at this morning.

Im about fit to be tied !

 

hoping it isnt anything serious and soemthing we can fix easily and quickly......wondering if we got some bad gas? doesnt think its the spark plugs but a possibility.

Did a quick online search for a car rental to drive to ohio just in case........ouch , blows my mind how much that costs!

I cant imagine how mad i will be if i dont get to go home.......and its too late to ship presents, etc.

 

ok, i needed to whine a little.........im done now........

 

anyone have any ideas what it could be?

[FROG MAN]

I lost number 8 plug in the pickup last week. Engine light came on and rough idle almost stall at low speed. highway speed was ok. Each cylinder has it's own coil pack on mine. Had to go to ford garage for computer hookup. New plug and labor was $125.00. Yours may be something different but a computer diagnostic is about $50 just to find the error code.Good Luck.

[Squidley]

Cindy,

After all that you have said I would 1st check the fuel, it does sound like the symptoms of bad gas. Have Dale replace the fuel filter and put some dry gas into the tank (2 or 3 bottles atleast) I would also have him save some some of the gas from the tank to see if in fact there is water in it. If so I would go right to where I bought the gas and show them what they sold. Talking with the man right now to see that you folks get to Ohio.

[Cinderella]

i forgot to mention the check/ service engine light came on also.......

 

thanks Brad.....ive talked to him also......!

 

Dales taking the van to this guy at 9 so hopefully we get this all figured out.....

[gibvel]

Never let your tank get below half in the winter. You're just inviting moisture into the tank. Gas will go through the injector, water won't.

[BOO]

Make sure the gas cap is tight, I don't know about the sputtering but it will cause the check engine light to come on. Don't ask me how I know...

I wouldn't waste my time going back to the gas station, they are just going to deny it anyway and it will just get your blood pressure going.

A friend of mine just rented a Chevy Impala for something under $200.00 a week with no mileage charge. I can try and find out where he rented it if you want.

Good Luck,

Jerry

[Snarley Bill]

cindy, if the check engine light came on you should get an error code, and a diognostic tester should pinpoint the problem. could be any of hundreds of things. you may have an electronic glitch. bill

[SteveW]

It could be the O2 sensor. When mine went out on my Trooper it did the same thing.

Good luck ( hope its a quick fix ) Hope you have a great Christmas and safe trip.

[RoadKill]

Doesn't one of the National Auto parts chains offer free diagnostic readings? Seems I hear that once.

[dfitzbiz]

Be sure the gas cap is on tight. That can cause your symptoms. Good Luck and Merry Christmas.

[Cinderella]

i think the auto zone near here will run the diagnostic test but he didnt want to drive the 10 miles over there with it acting up last night....

 

hopefully we dont have probs starting it this morning if it is water cause we have 15 below wind chills today...

 

thanks jerry but i found a place to get a car for around $300 for today or tomorrow thru jan 1st....unlimited miles..mid size...so its at the top of my list if we have to go this route.Got a lot of stuff to fit in there along with a yancy 7 yr old...lol..along with trying to keep santas surprises hidden....!!!

 

we do have the truck but not being an extended cab the trip would be a nightmare and everything would have to go in the bed.:rotf:not sure we trust it going that far either....

 

they do say that Christmas wishes come true if you "BELIEVE"

 

will dbl check the gas cap guys !!

[muffinman]

I would be willing to bet that you bought water along with gas yesterday.Have the mechanic pull a fuel sample and check it for water I just hope that you dont have the same problems Minis car had when she got water last summer.

Jeff

[kbran]

Hope you get it fixed. Thinking about you and Dale. Merry Christmas.

[DragonRider]

I had somewhat the same symptons........didnt want to start right off idled ruff, got worse, when at highway speeds it was ok, then one day wouldnt start at all...........turned out to be the Mass Air Flow Sensor............check engine light was on also..............very expensive fix on the ford van..........hope its not the same on yours......good luck.

[93 venture]

I would pull off the fuel filter and check it for water,also while you have the filter off, get a large mason jar and turn the key on and get a sample of the fuel from it,this way you can see what it looks like, I think your van's fuel pump puts out around 55 psi so it will pump out alot of fuel fast.It is possible you got a tank full of diesel fuel,I have seen this happen before.

[Yammer Dan]

I had somewhat the same symptons........didnt want to start right off idled ruff, got worse, when at highway speeds it was ok, then one day wouldnt start at all...........turned out to be the Mass Air Flow Sensor............check engine light was on also..............very expensive fix on the ford van..........hope its not the same on yours......good luck.

 

Unplug the Mass Air Flow Sensor and see what happens. It might smooth out and run. Not supposed to be great for them to run unplugged but they run. Redneck helped me on mine, told me to pull it and clean. You pull the sensor and just spray it good with carb cleaner. You can use a light brush as you do this but very carefully. Just spraying it will do it most of the time. I dpn't think I remembered to come back here and say thanks Redneck. My Buick runs like New now!! I'm betting on Mass Air Flow Sensor!!

[Cinderella]

well it started.......heard the knocking noise again and then it stopped......he took off to go see the guy....i called to see how its running and he said it started acting just like yesterday again...sputtering and all.....so i will let ya all know what happens when i hear something....

dale read thru all ur suggestions before he left, tho he did not see yours dan.

If he calls me back i will relay that info to him.

[ibents]

Cindy, when you filled up, was there a tanker refilling the station? I always try to avoid a station when they are getting a new load of fuel as it stirs up everything...water and dirt.... in the bottom of the holding tank's, which can get sucked up into the nozzle. Just a thought.

 

And I know "Murphy's" law very well!!! Hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas

 

Ian

[usnmustang]

Just my 2 cents... MAF can do this, so can the bad gas (save a sample as previously recommended), but there are many other things, clogged catalytic converter (if you got diesel by accident this can happen quick), clogged fuel filter (already brought up).

 

Just for the heck of it, if you are under the hood, unplug your battery for 7-10 min. That will reset the on board computer (I am guessing you don't have a code reader to reset it). There is a chance that one of your sensors went south and the computer is trying to compensate. Then hook it back up and try and start. If there is still an issue, the code and check engine light will return.

 

If you have bad gas, you need an additive to clear the water, if you have diesel, well... that could have caused damage to the CAT converter and it would have to be replaced. You may want to at least try contacting the station where you got the gas, if they gave you bad gas, your probably not the only one and they may already be getting calls.

 

 

Hang in there, and good luck. Hope the friend can help more.

[flb_78]

Knocking is never a good sound in an engine.

[Cinderella]

dale sent me a text message from the guys house just now ,saying that the computer is saying its a misfire on plug 3

 

all i know right now...........i hope its that simple......

[Yammer Dan]

Good Luck Cindy!!

[Venturous Randy]

On the way to Vogal a couple of years ago pulling a 450 pound camper, I was getting low on gas and pulled into a mom n pop convenience store and gassed up. Even had to go inside to pay for it. We pulled back out on the highway and the bike got to running worse and worse. It was all I could do to pull away from a stoplight while slipping the clutch and revving the engine. We made it to the campground and I unloaded and took off back to Blairsville to an auto place and got a can of Seafoam and put it in the 1/3 tank of gas that was left. I rode it hard for a few minutes and then filled it back up. By the time I got back to the campground, the bike was running great. From that point on I have avoided the small gas stations and so far have not had another problem.

I hope you get it fixed and have a great trip.

RandyA

[BradT]

I doubt this is your problem and hoping this is not. BUt worth a check, but a Venture van has the 3.4 litre same which is the same as the 3.1 and they are horrible on Intake gaskets. When they antifreeze leaks into the cylinders they will spit and sputter intermittently, not normally continuously. The can also leak into the oil and this is worse, but you normally will notice white sludge, under the oil filler cap.

 

Not sure the mileage on your van, but normally these act up any where from 30,000 to 50,000 miles. If you get lucky it will get 60,000 miles, before it needs to be fixed. Guaranteed it will need to be done someday, there is no getting around it.

 

If it is leaking the coolant container will start to get low.

 

Good luck

 

 

Brad

[BuddyRich]

Sounds like a clogged fuel injector. Had a couple of Chevy's (mid 90's model's) that hated chevron gas. Fuel injectors were always gettin plugged.