Forum....my car previous to me buying it, sat idle for about a year. Recieved a bad O2 reading....prior to buying new sensors, I was suggested to pour in a bottle of Lucas Fuel System Cleaner to possibly correct the O2 error. Now since I poured in the Lucas....my car has difficulty
starting and once started...stalling right after. Can you help me????

 

How much gas was in the car at the time it sat there? Did it run after the sensors were installed? Drain the tank and fill with fresh fuel and no cleaner. .

 

old gas will ruin your car, I agree with RA40, you MUST completely drain the tank of this mess, refill with fresh premium fuel all the way full, and I would, before refilling, add

Techron

Techron

at twice the recommended application rate.

once you burn through the fresh tank, your issue will be solved unless you have permanently fouled the plugs, but they are easy enough to replace on this car

what is very difficult to replace is the starter, and you are going to be doing that nightmare of a job if you keep cranking the heck out of it trying to get it to start

therefore, put a 2 second shot of starting fluid into the intake inlet near the battery whenever you go to start it, and it will start within 5 seconds, in no case crank for over 7 seconds, and rest the starter for an hour between tries, you DO NOT want to do or pay for the starter replacement job on this car!

old fashioned siphoning is the easiest way to drain the tank

one more thing, the only time my 1996 ever had a hard starting issue, the solution was new ECU capacitors - I have not needed all those cans of starting fluid since, but I keep one in the trunk just in case I meet a damsel in distress!

 

Forum....my 95 LS400 is running like crap after being convinced by another mechanic to dump a bottle of Lucas Fuel System Cleaner into my car with only 1/8 tank of gas.....bad move. My car runs horribly....very hard to start...continues to stall after starting. I added another 3 gallons of gas to dilute the concentration, but the problem persists. He claimed that it would clear up my bad O2 readings. I just tuned up my car last week...new caps, rotors, plugs and wires. What do I do to straighten out this mess besides kick the mechanic in his butt for not telling me to fill up before adding it. He told me the less gas...the better...smh. Help me forum...thx

 

With my BMW I have to use a BMW fuel cleaner which really is just Chevron Techron cleaner that you put in when your tank is low right before you fill it up at the gas station.

Im pretty sure all gas cleaners are like that. I could be wrong but I don't think they are any different

 

i would say ur injectors are gunked up...take it out on the freeway and drive it hard

 

I would...if I could get it started enough to make it to the highway

 

ouch...check engine light on?

 

No CEL.....to my knowledge. I think previous owner took out the bulbs on it...smh

 

if u can start it just rev it up and hold it at a higher rpm and let it clear up some..

 

get some starting fluid (ether) - I bet it will start right up after a 1-2 second spray into the intake near the battery!

 

I don't think the Lucas is your problem. You may have water in your fuel, which means you should use an evaporator solution drain and refill your tank. Lucas fuel treatment burns really hot and is more flammable then regular fuel. But it should be run with a full tank of fuel to treat the upper engine and spark plugs. I have used the product every couple of months in many cars I have owned and can definitely feel the power and mpg difference when treating my cars. Of course, I have never added an additive to just 1/8 of a tank before. I would look at other areas though. Hard to believe the fault is on the fuel treatment.

 

it's a '95 so it's obdii, even if the idiot last owner took the bulb out of the CEL you can hook up an OBDII scanner and pull the codes from it.

 

DRAIN THE TANK!!! Refill with fresh gas and try again.

Don't shoot starting spray before the filter. It's caustic, can ruin the filter and damage the MAF and if you get a backfire through the IM, you can get a flame over the MAF and set the filter on fire. I've watched guys do this in inch past and is just about the dumbest thing you can do on an EFI car.
Best way to introduce a starting spray is through the PVC or vent hose directly into the IM.
Once you get it to start, keep the rpm up around 2500-3000rpm...


No realistically. You could have a multitude of other problems cause by or just by coincidence happened at the same time as your addition of fuel system treatment.

Once you've got it running and driveable, pull the spark plugs and the O2 sensors and have a look to see how fouled they are. If they look ok, find a shop that does either Snap-On motovac or Terra-clean fuel system services and get them to do a heavy treatment of your car. This flushes out varnish, gunk and moisture from the fuel lines, rails and injectors. It also removes hard and soft carbon deposits, varnish and oil contamination from the head, valves, IM (downstream of the injectors), combustion chamber and piston crowns right to the exhaust ports of the head. In heavy treatments it can even restore mildly rich/fouled O2 sensors and clean out the cats.

A heavy treatment is so effective it can make cars pass BC Aircare or Cali CARB emission test which are the most stringent on the continent.

As a general rule, never put off the shelf fuel treatments into your tank. Many of these are murder to fuel systems including the pump. Lots of the treatments loosen the crap(dirt/sand/grit) that has settled at the bottom of the tank which then passes throught the pump and plugs the filter which stesses out the pump, in many times to failure. There are a couple treatments that screw onto the schrader valve on the fuel rail, these are the only ones a DYI'er should use without worry of collateral damage.

Good luck.

 

I've never experienced a problem with Lucas fuel treatment and have bought it by the gallon from Summitt Racing. Have used it in all my cars and trucks.