Stupid car.

[elfs]

This afternoon, after my gas tank had fallen below 50%, the warning light came on: "Service Engine Soon." Omaha, being practical, advised me not to freak out but to do what I always did, and feed the thing a bottle full of line cleaner (Techron) and some high-octane gas. Sure enough, with the tank at 20%, I took it in and did as she suggested, also checking the oil and topping it off, and within an hour the light went out.

My car is way too sensitive to cheap gas. Apparently, that's not uncommon with older Ford Escorts (mine's a '97), but I really, really can't afford to have the thing have trouble. Not now.

Comments

[solarbird]

My Car Talk pattern-matcher says "oxygen sensor needs replacing."

[sirfox.livejournal.com]

Seconded. Those things seem to be the first thing to fail in a lot of cars. Because they're made to sense oxygen, they can corrode, iirc.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

I've had it replaced twice. It's not the problem. The problem is cheap gas tends to deposit on the valves, and they "stick" momentarily. At some point, when there's enough crap on them, the computer starts to record thousands of transient misfires every second or so, and the light comes on.

The Ford guy told me I could either have a very expensive headcleaning done, or just use high-quality gas (he personally recommended Chevron) with a bottle of Techron every other tank. The latter is the incantation that works.

I think in this case, it was just a tank of bad gas that made the car sensitive, and going back to the magic formula worked fine.

[lisakit.livejournal.com]

There are engine gunk cleaners that you can add to your fuel too. Have you ever tried one? Don't know if any of them would be cheaper than the Techron (a branded product) or work as well, but it could be worth going into Schuck's or something and looking at what's available.