Overfilled fuel in BAJA? A Tale of Woe...

[bayrider]

We have been having a run of bad luck trying to get down to La Ventana. Two weeks ago we headed down from Tecate and it started raining all day, by the time we got to San Quintin it was getting dark and time to call it a day, took the turnoff at the sign pointing the way to Los Olivos RV park and it was a swamp of mud, got pretty much stuck, detached the toad and in a last ditch effort before the wheels would fully dig a hole I managed to do a flying, sliding reverse out of there up onto the highway and pavement.



Miraculously it worked but the engine was idling rough, pulsing and very hard starting when we resumed. I figured this was a blown MAF sensor as there was moisture in it (stupid air system will suck water at high engine speeds!) I cleared with the MAF cleaner but it didn't correct the problem and the auto parts stores said they could not get the part. Also our older cell phone could not be made to work in MX. So after a few days of mucking around with it in he campground back we went to San Diego to sort these issues out.



Which we did, new MAF, PCV hoses, an EGR valve and throttle adjustment and everything was running swell. And a new cell phone. Yesterday we drove back down and all was well. About 15 miles before we got to the RV park I spied a massive PEMEX station perfect for RVs and stopped to fill the tanks for the following days journey. The girl doing the filling was holding the nozzle for a long time near the end of the fill but I didn't think much of it. So we exited the station with a hard left onto the road and when I look down in the first minute the check engine light is on, furthermore the engine power seemed very limited all of a sudden. It persisted for a while then seemed to get back to normal running but I have not been able to clear the code even though I disconnected the battery for hours, it is still lit when I start the engine.


Does anyone know what the consequences of overfilling would be? Will it clear up after some miles or could canisters be full of fuel or something causing poor running? It's my best guess as to what happened but I can't read the code. It's possible something else malfunctioned, but at the exact moment I lurched out of the gas station? This is like the nightmare of San Quintin. We were stunned to get all the way down to where we turned around last week and immediately be confronted with another engine problem.



In the morning a dog we previously got to know here seemed to be near death with an infected and swollen leg from a bite, he been laying in a hole for three days so I had to take him to a vet for an injection of antibiotics instead of starting the very long drive south to Guerrero Negro. On the way to the vet we encountered an electric line fallen down across the road, enough clearance to duck the Subaru under by going into the ditch but no way the RV would go through anyway! There is no other road out from San Quintin Bay here. By evening they lifted it back up but it will still be close for an RV, wouldn't want to be barrelling down that road at night but at least they put a few streamers hanging down from it. So I haven't gotten back on the road yet in the RV and am unsure if it will have problems going forward.



This is life in Baja, wish me luck!


1999 Fleetwood F53 V10 53k.

[buzz57]

First thought is it has nothing to do with overfill. Fuel quality, absolutely! Usually go back to the last thing you did. You mention the sensors, what about the air filter? Did you check it? Water injestion to the air filter is a know issue and was covered by a TSB , but the parts to fix are no longer available. What code is being thrown? Not enough information to diagnose but start with these. Personally, water into air filter stranded me on the interstate! That's when I found out about the TSB, did my own fix (snorkel kit to relocate the intake).
Good luck!

[tderonne]

I agree. I don't think the problem is an overfilled tank.

The tank itself has about a 100 gallon capacity. At the normal 75 gallon fill level, that leaves about 25 gallons of vapor space. You'd have to overfill it by MANY gallons before you'd have an issue. And then, if it was was way over filled, there's two rollover valves that the vapor system pulls vapor from. Neither should pass liquid fuel, and one of them should be uncovered during a slosh type event. Making it very unlikely to get liquid fuel into the vapor system.

Need to see what code it's setting, and work from there.

If you still suspect a MAF issue, it will run with it unplugged. That's actually a good check to rule out airmeter issues. If it runs better unplugged, there's probably an problem with the airmeter.

[Zigzag03]

How's the dog?

[Sweetbriar]

Without knowing the code associated with the check engine light we're all just guessing and I'll include mine. Since you didn't fill the tank ("The girl doing the filling") are you sure the gas cap is there and tight? The cap probably won't cause the initial power stumble and will light the CEL pretty quickly.

[tderonne]

Originally Posted by Sweetbriar

Since you didn't fill the tank ("The girl doing the filling") are you sure the gas cap is there and tight?

No evap monitor on a '99, so that isn't it.

[Craig1960]

I would check all the connections you may have unplugged while fixing the first problem as well, one of them may not have been on all the way and came loose.

[Mudfrog]

Originally Posted by tderonne

I agree. I don't think the problem is an overfilled tank.

The tank itself has about a 100 gallon capacity. At the normal 75 gallon fill level, that leaves about 25 gallons of vapor space. You'd have to overfill it by MANY gallons before you'd have an issue. And then, if it was was way over filled, there's two rollover valves that the vapor system pulls vapor from. Neither should pass liquid fuel, and one of them should be uncovered during a slosh type event. Making it very unlikely to get liquid fuel into the vapor system.

Need to see what code it's setting, and work from there.

If you still suspect a MAF issue, it will run with it unplugged. That's actually a good check to rule out airmeter issues. If it runs better unplugged, there's probably an problem with the airmeter.

We are talking about a gasoline engine, correct?

I know it's not really recommended but I'm one of those guys that rounds up to the next dollar when I can. I've had fuel all the way up the fill hose many times. I've never heard that this could ever cause a problem with the fuel system.

I agree, sounds like the OP got some bad gas...

[bayrider]

Thanks all. I don't have a code reader but my friend in La Ventana does and is a pro mechanic. Hopefully we'll make it there, I still have to get under the wire across the road, apparently it's not going to get fixed although raised it a bit higher than yesterday. I will have to run over into the ditch a bit to get under it.



My tank was half full when I filled up. The CEL light came on within 1 minute of leaving the station and the engine seemed a bit flat when I gunned it up to 4000 RPM. I guess I could have gotten some water in there that quick? It seemed to be running OK after a bit, we'll find out today pulling up the hills into El Rosario.

[bayrider]

Originally Posted by bayrider

Thanks all. I don't have a code reader but my friend in La Ventana does and is a pro mechanic. Hopefully we'll make it there, I still have to get under the wire across the road, apparently it's not going to get fixed although raised it a bit higher than yesterday. I will have to run over into the ditch a bit to get under it.



My tank was half full when I filled up. The CEL light came on within 1 minute of leaving the station and the engine seemed a bit flat when I gunned it up to 4000 RPM. I guess I could have gotten some water in there that quick? It seemed to be running OK after a bit, we'll find out today pulling up the hills into El Rosario.

FYI - We got the dog shot with antibiotics two days in a row, he was soon back to his old self, hanging with us eating premium gringo dog food and non brackish water so I decided we could move on. The wire was still hanging down across the road but not as low, we got the RV under it by running halfway in the ditch. The RV was running normal alternating with poorly when trying to add power. I stopped at a mechanic and had him read and reset the codes which were P1150 and P1151, right bank, left bank, O2 sensor whatever, these codes are common to many problems and really don't mean anything specific. The mechanic agreed it was most likely just bad gas so we left and limped back to San Quintin where there is an Autozone hoping to find some Seafoam additive but no such luck. They had a few treatments that looked appropriate (everything in Spanish) but only 1 or 2 bottles of each while I had a full tank of 75 gallons or better. Went to a Mercado and purchased 4 bottles of Bahrdal top oil octane booster and 3 bottles of Bahrdal injector cleaner, dumped them in and proceeded out of town, within a few miles things were running as good as new so happily proceeded to Catavina and camped at a simple but very nice and clean RV park, really just about 4 acres of park like open space with a small outdoor restaurant, it's Rancho Santa Inez. The next day we proceeded to Guerrero Negro, by that time we were down below 1/2 tank so I filled it up again and left for San Ignacio which is a great little Date Palm Oasis town. We drove about 90 miles after that fillup and everything was running totally fine until the moment I pulled into our destination the Rice and Beans Oasis RV park. As soon as I stopped the idle went a bit rough, I drove a couple blocks and the poor running on/off power symptoms were back. Went to the Pemex and bought the same seven bottles again and dumped them all in the tank here in the RV park, we'll see if it works again in the morning. It seemed to fix the problem until 90 miles after I added more gas to the treated tank, maybe it diluted the treatment too much?



I am really getting discouraged with this trip, it has been one thing after another. The tale of woe continues...

[LEMO]

It appears in your bio that your coach is a 1999. If so the symptoms you describe could indicate a dirty MAF sensor. Your next stop is Santa Rosalia, which has several parts stores and tallers. I suggest you pull and inspect the air filter and purchase a spray can of MAF cleaner. If you are not familiar with the process, and you have Internet, search Utube for help. Of course your next adventure will be driving a poorly running coach down, La Cuesta Del Inferno! Hope this helps.

[stevemoores]

Originally Posted by bayrider

I am really getting discouraged with this trip, it has been one thing after another. The tale of woe continues...

You know, I was reading your post just out of interest, but I'm sat in an office is Western Canada, it's -32 Celsius today (probably similar in F since F and C are the same at -40).

I would say that your description of a bad day sure beats my 'good' day, any day.

Stay strong, you're living my dream

Steve

[bayrider]

Thanks f7or your comments people!



I have a spare MAF and air filter, CRC cleaner etc, been through that rigamarole in the rain a few times.



And yes, this tale is as mucoh for entertainment purposes as it is to solicit any actual information.



We left the Rice and Beans Oasis and the RV was running off at first but quickly straightened out, I stopped at the Pemex and got a round of additives to put up in reserve for the road and then we drove down to the old village square to view the fantastico old Mission Church. The plaza was full of overlanders in outrageous Earth Roamer trucks. They will go anywhere but you certainly don't need them to get to that square in town, an old beater like ours will do fine. I told myself that they must go 4 wheeling down the worst of the back roads but I don't know, what do you do when you get there? What we do is mountain bike and kite board and we get to some way out places in this old RV and it's pretty darn comfortable as well, not to mention extremely economical compared to an Earth Roamer. But it's cool to hang out and inhabit the same foreign space with those exotic vehicles.


So we drove the day with no issues at all, since the EGR was replaced the RV is actually running better than ever with a lower shift point, a bit more torque and very smooth. Until we stopped for the Army checkpoint before Santa Rosalia, they came in to inspect briefly so I shut the engine down and sat there 5 minutes or so. When we restarted and went on our way the engine started choking again but soon straightened out again.



We proceeded onto Playa Santispac which is a perfect tropical beach with 2 outdoor party restaurant/bars and a bunch of sailboats mooring in the bay in front of us, now this is where the Baja starts to get really good. Vendors come by and sell you fresh seafood, vegetables, tamales and empanadas. Met some friends from Mulege and hung out four nights with no cell service so it was very chill, [moderator edit] There are no bad days once you reach Mulege and then the Bahia Concepcion. Even the roads get really good which is always shocking.



This morning we left Santispac and proceeded to Ciudad Constitucion where we put up at 4:00 pm for the evening. We stopped at another checkpoint today with the same brief rough running after restarting, it's pretty obvious every time we stop some water sinks to the bottom of the tank. This time I went forward confident that things would soon be aright. I ran the tank down to less than 1/4 and added just 100 liters to continue. I'll get a new fuel filter on my way through La Paz tomorrow and be in La Ventana by 2:00 pm where we will park this rig for the next several months on the Playa Central for the kite board season.

[bayrider]

We've been in La Ventana since Wednesday, got the ideal spot in the main campground here, the same one we had last year up against some beautiful palms that afford us a lot of privacy, about 100 yards from the playa. At $250 per month you can't beat it. We dug a 2.5 foot hole and dropped the sewer hose in it for the gray water runoff, unlimited hot showers are always a luxury for us boondockers.



The weather has been really great, mostly sunny, always warm with cool dry nights, several windy days and tomorrow promises to be a perfect day for kiting. There are many decent restaurants and priced so well it's easy to eat out most nights. There is a lot of nightlife here (until Baja midnight which is around 9pm!). Most people wintering here are Canadians and surprisingly old yet very, very fit. It's looks like the Summer of Love but everyone's 50 years older, many still sporting rock star hair and playing guitar. They are almost all windsurfers and/or kitesurfers and hydrofoilers. When the wind is up the bay is filled with hundreds of kites along about 5 miles of shoreline.



You can't find a place to camp with fewer rules than here and the general spirit is friendly and cooperative. No official spaces, just pick your space as you see fit. Most people have smaller rigs and older trailers to which they add a large Costco portable garage tent which makes a great spacious shelter with plenty of shade to pass the days in.


Dogs run free, hang out at the bars and lie around the dinner table with everyone else. One big reason I love Mexico is that you can always take your dog to dinner with you! And why not?