Check Engine Light--Bad Gas?
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,832
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From: Coastal Carolina
Check Engine Light--Bad Gas?
Yesterday I stopped in a small town at a REALLY sketchy, non-branded gas station. I put in probably 2/3 of a tank (I had 1/3 remaining when I stopped before heading up into the hills)
I rode up through the mountains then, about 125 miles later, when I was about 15 miles from home, the check engine light started coming on. By starting, I mean it would come on, stay on for a couple miles then go off. Then several miles further it would come on again. It did that for about 6-7 miles. At that point it went off and stayed off the rest of the way home.
I checked the owner's manual and all it says about the check engine light is "take it to the dealer." I looked at old threads here and it appears that there are a million things that can cause a check engine light to come on. One is bad gas according to some people. I think it is entirely possible that the gas I got was not good.
So tonight when I got home from work, I took the bike (which still had a couple gallons in the tank) to a high quality gas station and topped it off (about 3.5 gallons added) with good 93 octane gas. The check engine light never came on on the way to the gas station nor on the way back home. Although it could be my imagination spurred by wishful thinking, I THINK the bike sounded better (exhaust sound was "throatier") on the way home. It MAY have been pinging some before I put the good gas in.
ANYWAY, with all that, I'd like your opinions:
1. Can bad gas make the check engine light come on?
2. Should I just wait and see if the light comes back on?
3. What are the risks of #2 above? Could I seriously damage the engine?
I rode up through the mountains then, about 125 miles later, when I was about 15 miles from home, the check engine light started coming on. By starting, I mean it would come on, stay on for a couple miles then go off. Then several miles further it would come on again. It did that for about 6-7 miles. At that point it went off and stayed off the rest of the way home.
I checked the owner's manual and all it says about the check engine light is "take it to the dealer." I looked at old threads here and it appears that there are a million things that can cause a check engine light to come on. One is bad gas according to some people. I think it is entirely possible that the gas I got was not good.
So tonight when I got home from work, I took the bike (which still had a couple gallons in the tank) to a high quality gas station and topped it off (about 3.5 gallons added) with good 93 octane gas. The check engine light never came on on the way to the gas station nor on the way back home. Although it could be my imagination spurred by wishful thinking, I THINK the bike sounded better (exhaust sound was "throatier") on the way home. It MAY have been pinging some before I put the good gas in.
ANYWAY, with all that, I'd like your opinions:
1. Can bad gas make the check engine light come on?
2. Should I just wait and see if the light comes back on?
3. What are the risks of #2 above? Could I seriously damage the engine?
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 9,165
Likes: 1,910
From: Doghouse... mostly
Too many people try to blame "bad gas" on all too many situations all too many times. While it is possible that bad gas can cause issues in an internal combustion motor, that's very rarely the case of what has actually happened.
Last edited by OldEnuf2NoBtr; Jun 12, 2017 at 10:24 PM.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 11,226
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From: St.Louis Mo.
sea foam is your friend here ! i've gotten bad gas before and so have many of my friends. St.Louis has shitty fuel and we even have a refinery close by (20 miles). lawn mower manufacturers won't even warrenty any related fuel problems on their mowers here because of the shitty gas here. biggest problem here is water in the fuel. runs like crap and will trip the cel. seen many of autos that had to have their gas tank cleaned because of it. many times the stations paid for it. my dad one time had to drop the tank on his ford van and it had three gallons of water it. friend on my fathers owned the station right down the street from their house and that van was fueled up their and only their, Texaco paid the bill. same thing happen at a conoco station to my buddys dads suburban. that effected many cars and they paid. i've bought gas and the damn thing wouldn't even run, drain and refill with different fuel and it would be fine. the problem around here is the one refinery supplies all the local stations.
Last edited by hardheaded; Jun 12, 2017 at 10:42 PM.
Thread Starter
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,832
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From: Coastal Carolina
Thanks all! My service manual wasn't helpful. It just said if the check engine light comes on during operation, see the Electrical Diagnostic Manual. I didn't have one, but have now obtained it. I will follow the procedures there to determine if there is an active or historical code.
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2011
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From: Coastal Carolina
No codes
This morning I twice ran the Check Engine Lamp (CEL) diagnostic test prescribed in the Electrical Diagnostic Manual. The test is to turn the Run switch on then turn on the ignition switch and observe the CEL. In both instances, the CEL went on for 4 seconds and then went off and stayed off. Here's what the Electrical Diagnostic Manual says about that:
1. After the check engine lamp turns off following the first four second illumination period, one of three events may occur.
a. The lamp remains off. This indicates there are no current fault conditions or stored DTCs currently detected by the ECM.
Because this told me that there are no current or stored Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs), I did not do the procedures that are employed to retrieve DTCs. Am I missing anything? Is there a reason to check further?
a. The lamp remains off. This indicates there are no current fault conditions or stored DTCs currently detected by the ECM.
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 28,559
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From: Vermont
Do the full procedure to pull the stored historic codes. Run switch on, while turning ignition on hold down speedo reset button. You will see the speedo and tach needles do a full swipe then return and your speedo readout will show "diag" to indicate it is in the diagnostic mode. Then push again to obtain "psstb" and the "p" will flash. Hold for 5 seconds to reveal any code, write down code and do again to see if there is another code in the same section. If there is none it will say "none." You can push and hold to clear them until it says none and then move to the next section. Repeat until done.
Road Master
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 851
Likes: 368
From: LaGrange, KY
Totally agree.