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Nissan Quest/Mercury Villager Starting & Stalling Problems

511 messages,  Last post on Jan 08, 2012 at 8:34 PM

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What is this discussion about? Nissan Quest, Mercury Villager, Van

Messages Page 43 of 52

#412 of 511 Have you encountered any problem using yellow bottle Heet water remover ? by nissanquest94

Jun 29, 2011 (11:52 am)

According to Heet's website, "HEET contains special additives and methanol. When HEET is added to the gas tank, it sinks to the bottom and mixes with any water. Since both HEET and water are heavier than gasoline, they go to the bottom of the gas tank. HEET absorbs water and keeps it from freezing, and blocking the flow of gasoline through the gas line and fuel pump. When the vehicle is started, the additives, methanol, water, and gasoline are consumed during combustion inside the engine." So, the power of "water removal" comes from "methanol" which is well known.
 
In Wiki Methanol, it says "One of the potential drawbacks of using high concentrations of methanol (and other alcohols, such as ethanol) in fuel is its corrosivity to some metals, particularly aluminum. Methanol, although a weak acid, attacks the oxide coating that normally protects the aluminum from corrosion:
6 CH3OH + Al2O3 → 2 Al(OCH3)3 + 3 H2O
The resulting methoxide salts are soluble in methanol, resulting in a clean aluminium surface, which is readily oxidized by dissolved oxygen. Also, the methanol can act as an oxidizer:
6 CH3OH + 2 Al → 2 Al(OCH3)3 + 3 H2
This reciprocal process effectively fuels corrosion until either the metal is eaten away or the concentration of CH3OH is negligible. Concerns with methanol's corrosivity have been addressed by using methanol-compatible materials, and fuel additives that serve as corrosion inhibitors."
 
In other words, you need to have "high concentration" of methanol to cause corrosion, and Heet seems to contain corrosion inhibitors. That's why we do not just pour "methanol" into the gas tank to remove the water in tank.
 
It also says "Low levels of methanol can be used in existing vehicles, with the use of proper cosolvents and corrosion inhibitors. The European Fuel Quality Directive allows up to 3% methanol with an equal amount of cosolvent to be blending in gasoline sold in Europe."
 
Heet website also says "One bottle of HEET treats up to 20 gallons (75.7 L) of gasoline. You should not use more than 2 bottles in a 20-gallon (75.7 L) gas tank, 3 bottles in a 30-gallon (113.6 L) gas tank. HEET and Iso-HEET are safe to use in every tankful, in all seasons, all year-round." In other words, each bottle is 12oz and one gallon is 128oz and 10 gallon is 1,280oz; with one bottle Heet in 1,280oz gas, it is under 1% of methanol concentration, much less than European Fuel Quality Directive allows.
 
Anyway, since I am using yellow Heet bottle 12oz to remove water from my Nissan Quest 94, I am wondering if any of you ever encountered any problem using it with your cars or vans?
 
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#410 of 411 Re: How many miles do you change oil and oil filter with you Nissan Quest? [nissanquest94] by steve_ HOST
Jun 29, 2011 (8:04 am)
 
Replying to: nissanquest94 (Jun 28, 2011 1:13 pm)
 
.....................
 
When I lived further up north, my wife would buy a bottle of yellow Heet now and then. After I yelled at her a couple of times, she quit putting it in the tank. Always heard that the yellow stuff was bad for hoses or something like that.
 
.....................

#413 of 511 Re: How many miles do you change oil and oil filter with you Nissan Quest? [nissanquest94] by steve_ HOST

Jun 29, 2011 (12:43 pm)

Replying to: nissanquest94 (Jun 29, 2011 11:08 am)
I check the oil about every time I fill up, and I don't remember ever adding oil. Probably stays topped up from the water condensation getting in the oil.
 
Never seen the oil light come on except at start up when all the idiot lights come on.
 
Filters are cheap so while I'm under there changing the oil, I just change it at the same time. Don't trust the quickie places all that much, and if I get lazy, I have a regular mechanic I'd rather trust for working on my van.
 
And, like HEET, I don't believe in adding any additives to the engine oil either. Haven't checked my manual, but I know that GM and other manufacturers specifically warn against doing that. Plus I don't care if the oil smells like roses since I'm not sniffing the dipstick.
 
About the only additive I trust is Techron, and while I'll buy Chevron gas now and then (it has Techron in it), I won't go out of my way to get a bottle.

#414 of 511 Re: How many miles do you change oil and oil filter with you Nissan Quest? [steve_] by rockmobile

Jun 30, 2011 (7:24 am)

Replying to: steve_ (Jun 29, 2011 12:43 pm)
Oil is cheap. Filters are cheap. I do my own oil and filter change every 7500 or 8000 miles, that way I let it drip the old stuff at my heart's content.
 
I never add anything to gasoline but I can't argue pro or against it. That 10% ethanol/gas mix has kept my throttle body clean so I have not had to clean it in a while.
 
Rockmobile
_Rusty 99 Quest

#415 of 511 Re: How many miles do you change oil and oil filter with you Nissan Quest? [rockmobile] by steve_ HOST

Jun 30, 2011 (8:09 am)

Replying to: rockmobile (Jun 30, 2011 7:24 am)
Now that you mention it, it has been a long time since I've had to clean my throttle body. Hard to believe that the ethanol laced stuff is good for anything but there you go. The ethanol free station here is usually twenty cents a gallon higher and isn't convenient anyway.
 
Probably doesn't matter much, but it is kind of satisfying to pull the oil plug and let it drip for an hour or two.
 
An oil and filter change usually runs around $14 for me.

#416 of 511 Re: How many miles do you change oil and oil filter with you Nissan Quest? [steve_] by rockmobile

Jun 30, 2011 (10:52 am)

Replying to: steve_ (Jun 30, 2011 8:09 am)
Wow, $14 is really a bargain. I can't make it for less than $20.

#417 of 511 Re: How many miles do you change oil and oil filter with you Nissan Quest? [steve_] by nissanquest94

Jun 30, 2011 (11:53 am)

Replying to: steve_ (Jun 29, 2011 12:43 pm)
When you check the oil every time you fill up, did you check BEFORE drain the oil? or AFTER fill up the new oil? How does it look like? and did you check the dirty oil that you drain out of the oil tank? I mean, did you notice the "volume" of the dirty oil actually shrink? and how much loss? for that 15,000 miles. Yours may not have loosed too much because you said you never got low oil light on, but it may be useful to know how much quart loosed.
 
Mine Nissan Quest 94 had engine oil leak since dozen years ago, and the dealer I checked wanted over $1,000 from me to repair. Basically, their reason is that it was a gasket needed to be replaced, but it cost huge of labor to reach that gasket and reassemble, and they wanted me to leave the van with them for a few days. I never have them did anything because in my mind, if the auto mechanics can NOT get the job done in an hour or two, they did NOT know how to do it correctly, may be they did not have experience on the problem, or they simply do it brute force. But, it is hard to reason that dealer has no experience nor need to do it in hard way; the only thing I can think is that they want to charge you more by asking you to leave the van there to make you feel they spend more time on doing your car, which they don't.
 
Anyway, thereafter, every few months my "low oil" light would come on, depending on how much I drive; it did not seem to leak oil when it is parked still, but it may leak during driving and pull into parking. And, I always had a quart of engine oil in my van, as soon as the light came on, I just add one quart, and the light went off right away. Then I kind of lose the hassle of changing oil because every 15,000 miles when I checked my engine oil, the dipstick always shown very clean. And, of course, I also lost the hassle to change engine oil filter.
 
Many years later, I noticed it took longer and longer for the "low oil light" to come on, and eventually it kind of not come on any more naturally. When I mentioned this to a local auto repair owner one day, he said, of course, as the engine oil got thicker and thicker, eventually, it would seal the leaking gasket by itself. So, then instead of adding a quart of engine oil whenever "low oil light" on, now I need the oil change again, and that's why last time I changed in 2008.
 
Since I have been so used to not bother with oil change, and I kind of forgot needed to, but it seemed fine, except, every so often, like 3,000 to 5,000 miles, I just top off 5w30 till recently I found this Engine Restorer while search for solution to fix the "water in tank problem", and add the whole can to top off the engine oil and got all the wonderful effects as mentioned in testimonials. I thought at the time the problem may have caused by not changing oil since 2008, but it turned out is not, but I am very happy to the positive effects gained.
 
Engine Restorer advises to add every time do oil change; however, I was in the situation either to see auto mechanics or solve the problem myself, so I did not do oil change, instead, I just added a can into my crankcase to top off the engine oil which looks dirty at the time.
 
Then, the magic happens immediately. The first try to drive, I felt the engine gets calmer, and through out the way, every day the engine quiet more. Until one day, my wife asked me why our Nissan Quest 94 engine was so quiet, what did I do? And, also another day when my son trying to start the engine when it was ALREADY started; he could not hear the engine sound. Now we have to rely on the RPM meter to tell if engine started or not. While driving on the road, if we open the winter, we, in fact, hear other cars' engine noise, but not ours. How amazing!
 
Before using it, every time I pull the van into driveway, my wife noticed the bad smell when engine stopped, but after using Engine Restorer, the bad smell gone. It was not the smell of engine oil, I think it was the bad smell of exhaust. Then, I notice when I started the engine in the morning, I got NOTHING smoke came out from the exhaust pipe but some water about an oz or two.
 
From then on, I tried to locate Engine Restorer wherever I went and took down the price. I have found so far the best prices of that same Engine Restorer of 3 sizes, 4 cylinder, 6 or 8, Walmart seemed to be the cheapest. And, that's great! because we travel a lot, about 150 nights in the hotel each year, so any time we had a need to use Engine Restorer to top off engine oil, we know where to find at best price.

#418 of 511 Re: How many miles do you change oil and oil filter with you Nissan Quest? [nissanquest94] by steve_ HOST

Jun 30, 2011 (12:12 pm)

Replying to: nissanquest94 (Jun 30, 2011 11:53 am)
You can't tell anything by oil just by looking at it. It's supposed to hold stuff in suspension so it's not unusual for it to turn dark right after you change it.
 
No, don't bother looking at the dipstick when I change my oil.
 
And again, I don't believe in putting additives in my van. Testimonials don't really mean squat to me - if you truly want to know the condition of your oil (and thus your engine), pay the ~$20 for an oil analysis.
 
With all the restorer links in your post, you sound like you're shilling for the company. Are you getting kickbacks from Heet too? Lot of good your restorer did if you have leaks.
 
Steve, visiting host

#419 of 511 Re: How many miles do you change oil and oil filter with you Nissan Quest? [steve_] by nissanquest94

Jun 30, 2011 (1:05 pm)

Replying to: steve_ (Jun 30, 2011 12:12 pm)
Most people can not tell anything by just looking at it, but I can because I look at it every day. Sometimes, I checked it before my wife needed to drive to work, and sometimes, I just check it for no reason.
 
But as you may not realize, when the car is cool down and engine running and after driving 100 miles, the engine oil all look differently. When it is cook down over night, the lighter part of engine oil move up to top like gas on top in gas tank and water down to bottom in gas tank. However, while engine is running, it all mess up together. In other words, the most accurate state of engine oil is when engine is running.
 
On the other hand, I never seen engine oil turn dark right after change it. According to my friend who hold Ph.D from Columbia University on Chemical Engineering, the molecule of new engine oil is of pretty good size for engine, however, after heat and a series of chemical reactions, some molecules will be combined to longer ones, yet others may be chopped into small ones, both would reduce the operating power of the engine. Therefore, the synthesized oil is better, in that the molecules were made artificially all in the good same size. It is, therefore, new engine oil should NOT turn dark right after change. If it does, you can be sure the auto mechanics pour into old engine oil from previous guest into yours, or another auto repair shop owner just let go one quart and top off one quart of new clean oil.
 
So far, I only used one bottle of yellow Heet 12oz $1.99 bought at Pep Boys, and another yellow bottle of Splash 10oz 99cents also from Pep Boys when they ran out of yellow Heet. I did not buy more yellow Heet as Splash is cheaper, however, for some reason, Pep Boys told me they did not have Splash any more. Advanced Auto Parts got yellow Heet but $2.39 and no Splash. Eventually, I found yellow Heet 12oz $1.37 at Walmart, but I also saw red Iso-Heet there at only $1.99 that Pep Boys wanted $2.99 and Advanced Auto Parts want more. So, I just tried Iso-Heet which claimed to remove water 5 times more.
 
Some people claimed to be able to use pure methanol instead of yellow Heet and it is less than $20 for 5 gallons, about $4 per gallon, or 40 cents per 12oz. I am new to this "Auto Pharmacy" field, but I intend to be one of the best, not only on prescribed auto pharmacy (or additives, the generic term you used) but also "most cost effective" as the 100 year economic situation, over 14 millions people lost job and yet no car is not an option in this country. If we can help just a few % of these people, we helped lots of them.
 
For example, they can get a really used unwanted car for just a few hundreds, and pour some correct "auto drugs" into the cars, and boom, it running great again!

#420 of 511 Re: How many miles do you change oil and oil filter with you Nissan Quest? [nissanquest94] by steve_ HOST

Jun 30, 2011 (1:46 pm)

Replying to: nissanquest94 (Jun 30, 2011 1:05 pm)
Yeah, the tribologists talk about how the molecular tails are all broken off by 3,000 miles. Big whoop.
 
Even the fleet owners won't mess with that stuff; they get their best bang for buck by doing an oil analysis and extending the intervals as much as they think they can get away with.
 
And you know what? For us poor slobs just driving around it's not going to matter one whit.
 
If you want to be an oil change hobbyist, fine, just remember that few hobbies are cheap. Big waste of time and money for the rest of us.
 
You might enjoy this discussion btw:
 
Engine Oil - A slippery subject Part 2

#421 of 511 Re: How many miles do you change oil and oil filter with you Nissan Quest? [rockmobile] by nissanquest94

Jun 30, 2011 (1:58 pm)

Replying to: rockmobile (Jun 30, 2011 10:52 am)
Pep Boys this week in our area has promotion $14.99 for a set of 5 quarts Castrol GTX engine oil and Purolator oil filter which is $18.99 after $4 manufacture rebate, and I also see this in their website, so I believe it is corporate wide, or by manufacture promotion.
 
I believe the price shall continue dropping because people start realize "3,000 miles or 3 months oil change" is a way outdated Auto Historic number. In the good old days, many many years ago, the engine oil tank is NOT 5 quarts like our wonderful Nissan Quest 94. It was only ONE quart. That is to day, if one quart of engine oil lubricates engine for 3,000 miles or 3 months, then we need 5 quarts of engine oils if we do not want to bother changing oil every 15,000 miles. And that's what manual says.
 
Unfortunately, people kept remember that "3,000 miles or 3 months" phrase but did not realized the oil tank has been increased to 4 or 5 quarts along many decades. On the other hand, people who do not know all this theory and history may still change oil frequently as long as the cost is kept low.
 
I passed Good Year the other day, the oil change now $9.99 as opposed to many who charged $29 these days. And PepBoys also gives you up to $10 on oil change service this week.

Messages Page 43 of 52

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