lbirllain

so i go to target today to pick up some tire cleaner. i'm in the automotive section and i'm looking at the fuel cleaners. I was reading the back of the STP full fuel system cleaner and it and it said u only needed to use it 2 times a year so i decided to pick it up cuz i figured my fuel system was pretty dirty. i go down to chevron and fill up my tank and then added the cleaner along with it. i turn on my car and to my surprise, my check engine light was on!! so i'm thinking wtf. it wasn't on b4 i added that cleaner, so i'm guessing that was the cause of the light to go on. i'm thinking the cleaner is too potent and it somehow triggered the check engine light to go oN? i dunno. anyone have any ideas to might what have gone wrong? is my engine doomed? i hope not... help!

preludeserge

First thing you need to do is get the code. If CEL came on how you described, it is not because of the cleaner. As far as I know, this is how it works on OBD2 (don't quote me on this) it takes 2+ trips (start the car, drive, let ecu register the code, shutt it off; the second time around if the same sensor gets the same reading, CEL comes on) for CEL to come on.

PrettyLude

it could be a coincidence that your light came on after your put the fuel injector cleaner in, get the code first before you panic

esca

^^ what he said

Greyout

why the hell is there jet fuel in fuel cleaner

Jet fuel is closer to diesel then anything else - is the detonation supposed to burn off the carbon or what

britishlude

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Greyout &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">why the hell is there jet fuel in fuel cleaner

Jet fuel is closer to diesel then anything else - is the detonation supposed to burn off the carbon or what </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes I was thinking similar, jet fuel is basically Kerosene (light diesel) isn't it ? Hope the additive you did put in is cat friendly or that could be why your engine light is on !

stareatsun

Change your o2 sensor. probably got clogged with that additive. Change it and I bet you are good to go.

lbirllain

thanks for the input guys. luckily the next day, i turned my car on and there was no light the engine light was probably throwing a tantrum or somethin, but its all good now

chandler

id get it checked anyways, sounds like you might have a problem hiding away, better to find out now than to wait till it breaks

Monkey Fing a Coconut

when u put new gas in the tank it takes a good few miles of driving(or several minutes of idling) before the new gas is being used, there is still the old gas sitting in the lines between the engine and tank, so if u added the stuff, turned the car on and immediately got a cel its not from the additive

lbirllain

hmm... well if i CEL it, will the computer pick up anything even if the check engien light isn't on?

gerhard

A fuel system additive can cause the engine to knock or ping.

The ECU will then reduce the spark advance to compensate of the poor quality of the gas.

(Knock and ping is bad for your rings and the engine on the whole...)

It's likely that the gas additive is causing a misfire or something... Try adding some octance booster and see if the problem doesn't go away.

(You do always use super in your Prelude, right?)

EDIT: PS:

I have an OBD-II scanner and I've noticed that when I add BG 44K Fuel System / Top Half Cleaner to the gas the ECU retards the timing to 11.15-12.5 BTDC. So I KNOW that additives can cause issues.


Modified by gerhard at 7:11 PM 3/2/2005

britishlude

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lbirllain &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hmm... well if i CEL it, will the computer pick up anything even if the check engien light isn't on?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes the code will still be stored in the ECU memory it stores a limited number of codes, and can still be pulled in the normal way even though the light is now off, it will let you know what the cause was at least. Then you can clear the stored code(s) once read by resetting ECU by removing clock / radio fuse or disconnect negative lead off battery for 15 mins, make sure you know your radio code (if needed) if you do this.

lbirllain

oh alright cool. i'll go check up on it then. oh and another question. sometimes i'd be driving, and all of a sudden my engine would bog hard-core. i'd step on the gas and it wouldn't go anywhere. would anybody know the cause/causes of this? this was b4 i added the fuel additive.

oh and btw. i do fill up on super all the time

britishlude

Well that could have been the cause of your CEL in the beginning, but it could be a number of things ? pulling that code will give a pointer in the right direction i.e. o2 sensor on it's way out. Try get that code and post back what number it's throwing and we can help further.

gerhard

Yeah, if the car was doing this before... then adding the fuel additive might have just pushed it over the edge.

Read the code and report back to us.

If the O2 sensor is fried, then the car migh be in limp mode or some such...

95accordh22a

one of the most common check engine lights is the emissions leak one which usually means you left your gas cap loose, since you were getting gas maybe it was that

because odds are that cleaner wasnt too potent