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SUVs Chevrolet Equinox Chevrolet Equinox Maintenance and Repair
1523 messages, Last post on Nov 17, 2009 at 5:23 PM
You are in the Chevrolet Equinox Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
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Replying to: grosloup (Jul 12, 2008 7:15 pm) 
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Replying to: staycee03 (Aug 21, 2008 11:10 am)
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Replying to: grosloup (Aug 21, 2008 2:58 pm) |
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I had this happen a few times with the use of cheap gas. Low-grade gas can add clogging deposits to fuel injectors. This is a common issue with alot of cars out-there having fuel injectors and computer controlled starters. This is more of a maintenance issue, than an Equinox problem issue. Also, replace your Air Filter every 15,000 miles. Dirty Air Filter can cause starting problems. Since the Equinox is as hi-tech as any other foreign car, it's "main brain" is the computer. There are alot of sensors from which it receives engine data, safety data, and vehicle data. So with that information, the computer has to then make proper engine control adjustments to start. With the correct & proper mixture it will start right away, unless there are clogged fuel injectors, which will cause poor starting, or "starter run-on". Cheap low grade gasoline will slowly clog your fuel injectors even with 10,000 miles on a new vehicle. This is true with all newer vehicles, foreign and domestic, due to stricter emission standards. Cheap or bad gas can cause deposits and "totally" clog fuel injectors. (Very Expensive Repair!) The solution to your starting problems are to use quality gasoline with detergent additives and high quality Fuel Injector cleaner like "Chevron Techron Injector cleaner" at every oil change. I used one bottle of Chevron Techron Injector, my starting issue was Gone! Now I use it as regular maintenance with oil change. If your problem is bad, try two treatments. Check out this link for high quality Gasoline Retailers: -Top Tier Gas- www.toptiergas.com I use only regular "Top Tier Gas" in my newer vehicles. At my location,little difference in price. jd
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Replying to: jim_dandy (Aug 22, 2008 1:31 pm) |
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Replying to: jim_dandy (Aug 22, 2008 1:31 pm) Now on the other hand each gas company uses different additives, which can make a difference in cleaning properties if anything. Using High Test is a waste if your car doesn't call for it. At the station I worked at over the years, I leased new cars and bought old cars and none of my cars ever had any problems. The main key was that we changed the filters in the gas pumps once a month, and pumped out residual water build up in the tanks once a month. One thing I highly recommend is is to never, never, get gas at a station if you see a tank wagon unloading fuel, that can be the beginning of some of your problems to come. Most important change your fuel filter every 20,000 miles no questions asked and use the Chevron Techron that J Dandy recommended it's the best. |
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Replying to: jim_dandy (Aug 22, 2008 1:31 pm)
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Sorry, didn't mean to offend anyone by using the term "Cheap Gas". Unfortunately, even the more expensive gas may not have the appropriate additives. Gasoline quality is an issue few people think about. The formation of harmful deposits can be controlled by adding detergent-dispersants to gasoline, the most common of which is polybutene succinimide. Used with a petroleum carrier oil, detergent-dispersants help keep the intake manifold and ports clean. These chemicals are more effective than the carburetor detergents that were once used in gasoline, but they must be used at concentrations that are three to five times higher than the older carburetor detergents. At the "High" end of the fuel quality spectrum are "Top Tier" gasolines. These fuels are recognized by the vehicle manufacturers as having the most effective additives and in the highest concentrations. Gasoline retailers must meet the high Top Tier standards with all their grades of gasoline (not just premium) to be designed as a Top Tier supplier. In addition, all the gasoline outlets carrying the brand of approved gasoline must also meet the same standards. Gasoline retailers who are currently on the Top Tier list include Chevron, Chevron-Canada (B.C. only), Texaco (Chevron supplied only), Conoco, Entec Stations, Kwik Trip/Kwik Star, MFA Oil Company, Phillips, QuikTrip, Shell, The Somerset Refinery and 76. Unfortunately, fuel quality isn't something that is easily policed. Many states have programs in place to monitor fuel quality on either an ongoing basis or "incident specific" basis. Most are run by the state's "Department of Weights and Measures". Even so, the focus of most of these programs is to make sure consumers aren't being cheated at the pump and get the full gallon they pay for. Some programs also check fuels to make sure they do not contain too much alcohol. The specific density of gasoline can be field tested to determine its volatility and alcohol content. But testing octane and the amount and type of additives in the fuel requires expensive laboratory testing. So this type of quality testing is rarely done. Most gasoline refiners don't want to sell the public bad gas because they obviously want repeat customers. Even so, they also know that deposit formation is a gradual thing that occurs over time. So if they cut back on the additive package to save a few cents per gallon, nobody is the wiser -- and least not right away. The problem occurs when people buy the lowest priced LAC gas they can find every time they fill their tank. The low level of additives (or low quality additives) in the fuel will not be adequate to keep their engine clean, and sooner or later they'll start to experience driveability problems. Worse yet, if a bad batch of fuel leaves a refinery and ends up in people's vehicles, it can cause even more serious problems. There have been instances where too much residual sulfur in a bad batch of gasoline has caused a rash of fuel pump failures. Here are some resources: Gasoline quality Techron TOP TIER Detergent Gasoline jd
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Replying to: jim_dandy (Aug 26, 2008 2:52 pm) My Equinox has about 24,000 miles and had been very reliable. |
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Replying to: grosloup (Aug 25, 2008 9:51 am) What you will find out one day as alot of people did during the gas shortages in the 70's was that there cars ran the same just as cars do today and if they didn't you wouldn't see un branded gas stations, do you think Sams, Costco, WaWa's make there own gas, they buy from the big guys you buy gas from however you pay a higher stuborn rate.
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