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Originally Posted by r_p_ryan
There's at least 4 ounces of fuel in the distributor and tubing to the injectors. This is after the fuel return line. To make the math easy lets say the car gets 20 mpg. So 128 ounces gets 20 miles, or 6.4 ounces per mile. So if he was 2/3 mile away from the fuel station when the problem started I'd believe it.
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I should add that the car was RUNNING at idle while I filled it up. This would undoubtedly account for the rapid reaction.
All theorizing aside, I wanted to bump this thread because the problem appears to have returned. This time it just started occurring after I got into the car to drive home from work. And I did not fill the car up that day (several days ago). The tank was about 1/2 full. And just when I thought the problem was gone.
Same symptoms - at idle in D, occasional massive jerk that feels as if it would kill the car if it continued - but it doesn't. It's the weirdest thing. It's not like an ignition misfire, more like someone flashed the ignition key to the "off" position for a fraction of a second and then turned it back to "run." And yet the car never dies. When the car is first started and this is occurring, putting it into gear will kill it. It only stays alive once the car is hot. But only sometimes. Other times, it doesn't occur at all, even at a cold start. I just put it in gear cold this morning and backed out of the garage and driveway with no problems. It only started the jerk / shudder about 20 minutes into my drive. I should also mention that at speed (i.e. 5 mph and up) the problem is not noticeable, if it is occurring at all.
Can anyone please provide suggestions on what to look for?
The cap/rotor/wires/plugs and air filter were replaced last September, roughly 15K miles ago. I used all OEM parts. So I don't suspect them. What could cause this to just start happening one day? Was the occurrence at fillup just a coincidence?
I had a Ford station wagon with a clogged fuel filter once, and it behaved differently - loss of power at mid to higher speeds, going up hills, etc. but at idle the problem was not apparent (probably because clogged filters limit maximum volume throughput?). Anyway, I don't suspect the fuel filter.
Should I try running a couple cans of Heet through there when the tank is almost empty?
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.