Car wouldn't start, now white smoke.

[Jc55]

Hey guys, I put 91 from Chevron in my 2014 BRZ with Borla UEL and oft 91 stage 2 tune and within an hour from going to stores, each successive start made it worse and after a while the car didn't want to start. Me thinking it was the gas siphoned about 8 of the 10.5 gallons i put in and put about another 5.5 gallons and It starts. There's lots of white smoke and water coming out of the exhaust, has anyone experienced this? My car has 18,000 miles and is still under warranty, I have an appointment at the dealer on Tuesday. No check engine light or pending codes.

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[Lantana frs]

Put the gas you siphoned in a glass jar and look for water bubbles on the bottom. If going back to the dealer you should probably reinstall stock header and flash.

[Silver Cervy]

Originally Posted by Jc55

Hey guys, I put 91 from Chevron in my 2014 BRZ with Borla UEL and oft 91 stage 2 tune and within an hour from going to stores, each successive start made it worse and after a while the car didn't want to start. Me thinking it was the gas siphoned about 8 of the 10.5 gallons i put in and put about another 5.5 gallons and It starts. There's lots of white smoke and water coming out of the exhaust, has anyone experienced this? My car has 18,000 miles and is still under warranty, I have an appointment at the dealer on Tuesday. No check engine light or pending codes.

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That sounds like exactly what happened to me when I filled up at a Shell station near my house on my way home, and then the next day the car wouldn't start at all. The fuel I got was highly diluted with water.

However, when my car wouldn't turn I was getting a CEL, so it could possibly be something else in your case. But I would definitely check the fuel for water.

[Lantana frs]

Second video looks like condensation burn off. Once cool, I would check coolant level for the hell of it.

[Jc55]

Thanks everyone for the replies. The smoke wasn't evaporating at first and there was A LOT of it. I can get a better video today. The longer I let it run the better it started idling and the less it was smoking. I reinstalled the stock tune and it seemed like it got worse but I haven't driven it in fear of damaging the engine. It doesn't smell sweet like coolant does when burnt it just smells like straight up exhaust. No coolant in the oil either.

I'll be home in a bit and get a better video.


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[Jc55]

Originally Posted by Silver Cervy

That sounds like exactly what happened to me when I filled up at a Shell station near my house on my way home, and then the next day the car wouldn't start at all. The fuel I got was highly diluted with water.

However, when my car wouldn't turn I was getting a CEL, so it could possibly be something else in your case. But I would definitely check the fuel for water.

Did you just run your car until it went back to normal? Can water do a lot of damage to my engine like this?


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[Jc55]

I'm not sure if this is any help to identify what's going on, I swapped my header for my trip back to the dealer and here's the o2 sensor and how the manifold looked. Really black


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[Silver Cervy]

Originally Posted by Jc55

Did you just run your car until it went back to normal? Can water do a lot of damage to my engine like this?


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As I said, the car wouldn't start at all, so I had to get it towed to the dealership. Only thing that needed to be replaced was the fuel pump and the fuel system needed a flush but everything was paid for by the fuel provider.

If your car is running then obviously fuel is getting through the system, so it could be a small amount of water or maybe something else in the fuel. Or it might not be the fuel at all. See what the dealership says and keep us updated.

Edit: Wanted to add that if it is water in the fuel and the car is running, that could be very very bad for the engine. I would refrain from starting the car again until it's looked at.

[stevesnj]

Also try this stuff. Works great! I use this in my truck because i don't keep the tank topped off.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Jc55

Hey guys, I put 91 from Chevron in my 2014 BRZ with Borla UEL and oft 91 stage 2 tune and within an hour from going to stores, each successive start made it worse and after a while the car didn't want to start. Me thinking it was the gas siphoned about 8 of the 10.5 gallons i put in and put about another 5.5 gallons and It starts. There's lots of white smoke and water coming out of the exhaust, has anyone experienced this? My car has 18,000 miles and is still under warranty, I have an appointment at the dealer on Tuesday. No check engine light or pending codes.

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Water in the gas. The fact it started after you swapped the gas and gradually improved is a pretty good indicator.
Doesn't sound like there was enough to damage anything and you have pretty much evaporated what was left after the fuel change out of the system
It ran poorly after going back to the stock tune since the ECU has to relearn.
There is no warranty coverage for water in the fuel so if you take it to the dealer they could charge you for the diagnostic and repairs (if any).
If no CEL I would just drive it and clear out the rest of the fuel.

[renfield90]

+1 to water in the fuel. On an older car I'd suspect head gasket, cracks in the block/head, etc.

This is why you should ALWAYS get a receipt at the pump, the station should be on the hook for any damage to your car. You are lucky your car even runs at all, but frankly I'd quit running it and have it towed to the dealer, inform them of the situation, and then get in touch with the gas station owner and raise hell.

Last year I had a friend who needed a new motor over this. Don't mess around.

[Adolf.Banta@outlook.com]

but water in the fuel can lead to glowing MIL.in this case i doubt a head gasket,are you sure no oil mixed with the coolant.

[jasonojordan]

As others have said, Water in the gas. Toss a bottle of heat in it along with fresh gas as often as you can to get the water out of it.

[Jc55]

Thanks everyone for the replies, I got my stock stuff put on and ready for my trip to the dealer tomorrow at 11:30. I just hope they can't see that I had the open flash tune and say something about it.

Anything I should leave out when I explain the problem to them?


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