i just recently bought a 2001 RVR 1834cc,my question is,in Jamaica we only have 87 and 90 octane fuel, i use the higher available fuel,what problem may i have,because it seems with a GDI engine my octane level should be higher. What should i do to prevent a problem. I have this car about 3 months,its 40,000km and i am enjoying it,thanks.

Hi there,

I am a new member who imported a used ex-Japan Galant GDI(2000cc) from singapore to Nairobi , KENYA.Our fuel rating is between 85 and 91 Octane. What are the problems I am may encounter and can I solve these by using an ocatne booster?.

Where I can I get forums dealing with this type of car?

I think that both of you are going to have some problems with your GDI unless you get better fuel. I'm not sure about the additives like oct boost but you need something for the higher compression GDI motor or else you will carbon-up you pistons and clog the injectors.

Apart from the fuel octane rating many countries run an increase in contamintes like sulfur in the lower grade mixes. Do some research in your area to find out what is allowed by the oil companies as some may be better than others.

Jim
NZ

I am wondering the same thing... I live in the Bahamas. I just bought a Mitsu Diamante Espada GDI and it died already. I have a hard time believing it is anything serious because it was running wonderfully, but got consistently worse as it seemed like the filters were clogging.

The car was less than a month old. I suspect the fuel filters but i cant find any up front.

Anyone know where they are and how many there are?
Does anyone have a manual, maybe not even the same model, but I can check for parrallels.

Forgot to mention...car is a 1997 and has 54,000kms

Doubt if the filters are clogged with contaminates as the they are dissolved in the petrol and would pass through any filter unless they really bad. The contaminates I mentioned come out during the combustion process and deposit on the piston tops, valve seats and injector nozzels. My guess is that the nozzels are clogged and you are not getting the correct fuel injection spray probably resulting in low poor fuel delivery.

Try an injector cleaner as this will help somewhat and give you an indication if this is the problem if it makes a significatnt difference. You really want to try this before it gets too bad though!

Jim

Thanks benckj. I tried that but it does not appear to be the injectors. This problem originally started happening when I step hard on the gas. Then eventually the car just started loosing power at steady speed.
As simple as changing the filters is a problem because I had to order the service parts direct from Japan. The USA is only 50 miles from here but they do not manufacture or sell GDI models.
Several mechanics recommend flushing the fuel system because of the rust colored gasoline coming out of the existing fuel filter.
Anyway the parts should be here in 4 to 5 days. We will take out the tank for cleaning and inspection an flush the fule system.
I am praying on this one. I'll post the results after.

We are talking about two differnt problems. In general high compression or GDI motors need to run high octane fuel otherwise performance and engine damage will result. Your problem sounds like it is purley contamination from rust in the tank. That can be a real problem as even when you get it cleaned and flushed it will gradually come back. After you get it up and running make sure you keep the tank as full as possible as this will reduce the moisture and the exposure of metal to the atmosphere. I think that the high sulfur content in the fuel may have contributed to the corrosion. Premium will help this as well.

Good luck and report back on your progress.

Jim

Benckj, you were on the money. I had a mechanic take out the fuel tank for cleaning. I could not believe the contaminants. It was mostly some brown stuff that looked like saw dust.
I said on the money because it took about a month of starting the car and letting it run for 30mins to 1hr every couple days to seemingly finally clear the fuel system.

I changed all filters, and the in tank fuel pump and car would now start and run, but not accelerate. Any demand for power would bog the engine and cut out. I was still confused as to whether the problem was the fuel system or the MAF like a mechanic suggested. I decided to use a custom fuel mixture to try and flush the fuel system (1 gal toluene which is the best octane booster you can buy and wont damage fule system, mystery oil which is a fuel system lubricant, 8 gal of 92 octanegas which is the best we get here in the Bahamas and 8 oz injector cleaner). Once every couple days I would start the car and let it run for 30 mins to 1 hr (sometimes I even took it on the streets, but could not rev past 2000rpm. Finally one day the problem seemed to have went away. The car revs and drives fine now (2 days so far).
I am a bit nervous about it re-occurring though. I cant help but to wonder if there is something wrong with the MAF though. My A/C is now not working (cooling). There is a blinking A P light on the display, not sure what that means.
Now I need to start troubleshooting the A/C. I think I will replace the MAF to see what happens.
I will update.

Sounds like you are getting on top of the problems. Its always hard to fix these things when you do not have top mechanics who know the models. Glad I could have helped with the fuel problem.

I don't quite understand what you are talking about with the MAF. Could you explain?

Jim

MAF=Mass Air Flow (Sensor)...I got it some website

Thanks again. I dont think I would have been on the road without it.

Sorry for so much posts... but just hought I would say car is still driving wonderfully!

Great to hear the success stories and how much help this forum can provide.

I got confused with your MAF term as we refer to as AFS (air flow sensor). Not sure if its a model or country thing.

Just as a bit of a side note I went to the drag racing last weekend and guess what was entered-a 96 RVR turbo! Didn't look very fast but it posted some respectable 1/4 mile times. My mother-in-law has the same car and was even the same colour.

Jim
NZ

It sound like ur throttle body is giving u a problem. See this http://www.bba-reman.com/content.aspx?cont...air_mass_meters

Good site to check common problems and test procedures. My GDI has been ideling fast sometimes and belive it may be the throttle acuator from reading on this site. Thanks for the info.

Jim

I used to use Wynn's Octane booster until the supplies ran out. With no alternative, I ran the car on low octane unleaded fuel and eventually had to service a sooty throttle body when the car failed to take up revs.



Can someone tell me if I may use Toluene as an Octane booster and whether there is a danger in doing so? Will it mess up the Oxygen sensor and so on?

How many litres of Toluene do I add in a 60Litre tank of low octane(about (90 Octane unleaded fuel?

I believe that you can but really don't know about the O2 sensor or mix volumes. It might be best if you ask the question in another section that deals with enigne mods and race gas.

Another possibility is to use injector cleaner often (every other tank). I think that this would keep the injectors and throttle body clean. Ethanol would also do the same but you may have problems with your timing and injector sizing but if you can get it's worth a try.

Jim