Still problematic SHO

[Aqua Roach]

Hey guys, I'm writing because I'm still having problems with my SHO running.

Recap:

I swapped a 3.2 into a Gen 4 Taurus. Been driving it for almost a year with no problems, not quite like this one.

Recently with the cold it seemed like it wouldn't hold an idle at all. You can start it up, it runs for a second, then dies.

If you give it gas, the revs drop before coming back up a little, then dies.

I have to start the car repeatedly until it finally holds. Strangely enough, when it holds, it has no more problems at all.

Typically the whole time she runs rough it lets out white smoke that smells like gas from the tailpipes, not rotten egg smell.


The only repeated codes it throws is for the EGR circut, the DPFE voltage being out of whack. I took that thing off and it was corroded, its metal, I cleaned it out only as far as I could so I think it's still clogged internally. Either way, I was told that that "shouldn't" effect idle.

Anyway, with that being said, I thought I figured it out to be bad gas. This only started after I put Shell gas in, and to my surprise I put a tank of QT gas in, and Ta Da! She ran like a champ, no problems for a whole week! Be it cold, or rain, she started and ran perfect!

Then I put $10 of Shell in it like an idiot, and now the problems worse than before.

I checked the gas, and there is no water in the tank at all. Can it just be literally BAD gas? It seems to coincidental, but I'm almost tempted to dump the tank and fill with something new.

I checked the fuel pressure and it's holding at 35ish PSI, holds it for five minutes after its off.

Another code that has come up was fuel pump main circuit failure, but, I can clearly hear the pump singing when I turn the key. And that doesn't explain why it runs flawlessly sometimes. Could it be a dying fuel pump? Since it's holding pressure even when it's dying, I don't know if that's the case...
I know it's not the wiring because I traced it back to the pump already.

I've checked all the spark plugs, some were actually black, but I think that's from it missing and running the way it is, I cleaned them all up and regapped them but it's still the same thing.

I've got a video I uploaded to show what it's doing.
http://vid158.photobucket.com/albums/t116/aqua_roach/Car/VID_20150104_164417465_zpsvcfzjpkg.mp4

Sorry it's sideways, I have no idea why because on my pc it was right lol.

I appreciate all the help! Thanks in advanced.

 

[SHOdded]

Same Shell gas station both times? They COULD have a bad fuel storage facility, and you are their beta tester ...

 

[Racer X]

Check your ign coil for a fault or faiure. Unburnt fuel from the tailpipe tells me that the spark is weak or non-existent.

 

[Aqua Roach]

I did check the coil, it checked out okay.

The unburnt fuel may have been a problem when my plugs were fouled, I haven't test run it much since I cleaned them up.

Still has the dying problem again.

I cant recall if it was the same shell station, but I want to say it is [There's only two I go to, bout ten minutes apart anyway.]

It just seems TOO coincidental to me, you know?

 

[sperold]

If it is bad gas (usually water), then a can/bottle of gas line anti-freeze will cure it.
I had the same symptoms as you are reporting, and the anti-freeze cured it.

 

[rubydist]

current gas with 10% ethanol in it will almost never have water in it, because the ethanol absorbs it, just like Heet absorbs the water. unless they have truly horrible storage issues, that should not be it.

however, its only a couple of bucks to get a bottle of gas line antifreeze and put it in there to see if it goes away. if it goes away again with that, then you know its time to patronize a different gas station.

you will get a fuel pump code when the engine dies, so I would disregard that.

 

[itwonder]

If you do suspect bad gas, drive it until it has less than five gallons remaining, and then siphon out as much of the rest as possible. Refill with fresh gas. I would remove and clean out the IAC, and then do the idle reset procedure.