General Information

TOOLS REQUIRED
^ SA9213NE Saturn Service Fuel Test Kit

Certain driveability complaints such as hesitation, lack of power, stall, no start, etc. may be caused by an excessive amount of alcohol-in-fuel. The complaints may be due to fuel system corrosion and subsequent fuel filter plugging, deterioration of rubber components such as internal fuel pump module O-rings and/or air-fuel mixture leaning effects.

Various types and concentrations of alcohols are used in commercial gasoline. Some alcohols are more damaging to fuel system components than others. If an excessive amount of alcohol in the fuel is suspected as the cause of a driveability condition, the following procedure may be used to detect the presence of alcohol in the fuel. In this procedure, water is used to extract the alcohol from the fuel. However, the specific type of alcohol is not determined.

The fuel sample should be drawn from the bottom part of tank so that any water, if already present, can be detected. The sample should be bright and clear. If sample appears cloudy or contaminated with water as indicated by a water layer on the bottom part of sample, this procedure should not be used. The entire test should be repeated at least twice. The fuel system should then be cleaned. (Refer to "Fuel System Cleaning" procedure.)