S2000ST

Upstate NY winters require me to store my S for 4 months. I have unheated,but secure storare. When I put the car away last fall I put it up on jackstands and put a trickle charger on the battery. Unfortunately i did'nt fill the gas tank. Last weekend I took the car of the jackstands planning to relicence it this week but could not start the car. The starter turned over, but the would not fire. i then put dry gas in the tank, added high test gas to fill the tank. Today I got the car going, but it seems to idle rough. Also the check engine light came on. I suspect initial problem was vapor lock due to the fact that the gas tank was only partially full. Should i let the caridle for a while, or tow it to dealer (45 mile away)?

lvs2k

I don't believe a fuel injected car can vapor lock. the more likely culprit was probably condensation /water in gas tank.

SUis1

I agree with the water, if the dry gas doesn't help the idle also try fuel injector cleaner.
I live in Endicott NY are you going to S2K Days???

S2000ST

I suspect the warer also, thats why I wondered if it would be best to let it idle with the new gas for awhile. the ownerers manual cautions about engine damage so I thought I check here before I screw something up. I've hhad a great time driving this car, but do little mechanical maintaince myself.
SUis1: Wish I was, but family obligations that weekend I live in Norwich

warpspeed

Suis1, I'm originally from Waverly, NY. My sister works at IBM and lives in Johnson City. Did you grow up in the area?
I'm going to Asheville, we'll have to hook up.

[Edited by warpspeed on 03-27-2001 at 03:39 PM]

Roceye

Hey,

First thing, most fuel injected cars won't ever vapor lock.
Second thing, dry gas doesn't work for anything but making someone else money, so don't even bother with it. Also some types of dry gas are corrosive to the fuel system...not good if you don't have much fuel in the tank and you add 3 bottles of the stuff.

Ok, if the car was only sitting for four months then the fuel will still be burnable in most cars. The S2000 won't like it much because it has a hard time idling smooth with good gas (big ports=low intake velocity, fuel wetting, ect at idle...comes with the territory) let alone "old gas".

The best thing to do would be to drain the fuel out. Kind of difficult on our cars. If it doesn't run too bad, then take it on the highway and use up as much of the bad stuff as you can before you refill it. The bad part of the old fuel tends to sit at the bottom of the tank, so adding alot of new fuel won't help much.

If you want to try "pour in tank" injector cleaner then use one that has "Techron" in it. Gm and Mopar fuel system cleaners have it as well as the original Chevron Techron injector cleaner.

Be aware that the "check engine" light will not go off even if you fix the original problem or disconnect the battery, you can have any shop (doesn't have to be a dealer) turn it off for you. It takes about 30 seconds to do it.

Of course it could be a completely differant problem, like a bad MAP sensor or something, so if you don't make any progress fixing yourself, then you'll have to take it to the dealer.



[Edited by Roceye on 03-27-2001 at 08:49 PM]

dlq04

I have not seen much written about the electrical system of the S2000, but modern day cars are so loaded with computer chips that some of old techniques don't work. Advice includes: don't disconnect the battery and don't use jumper cables. I would not expect a trickle charger by itself to do any harm since it has such low amps, but on the other hand I'd rather error on the side of caution with today's modern machines. Something to consider.