Have a 3 month old Hyundai Genesis and check engine light comes on. Car had been running a little rougher and my MPG did go down about 20% i'd estimate. I go to dealer who says that I may have put Ethanol Flex-Fuel (E85) in the tank... which I don't remember doing, but i do know I filled the car up once in a hurry at a place which does sell E85.. anyways the dealer is saying that they need to drain the whole tank and then clean the fuel injection system and fuel lines... they estimate 400 to drain the tank and 240 for the fuel injection... my question is while I know they rates are high because they are a dealer, is all of this even necessary and how much should this run? Thanks in advance for any help
I'm no mechanic but if it is running okay on E85, why don't u just drive it out and refill with regular grade u need and see if the light goes away? The reason why ur mpg is going down because they mix in ethanol which burns cleaner but not as efficient as fossil fuel. It's running rougher because the ethanol is probably not as explosive as the regular stuff. Just drive like a granny until you think u've got all the ethanol crap out. I'm no mechanic so I could be TOTALLY wrong.
Don't consider this a final answer, but ... http://www.prbuzz.com/don-t-put-e85...le.-it-will-ruin-it.-myth-busted-4672-22.html http://www.e85fuel.com/e85101/faqs/misfueling.php I've read people just adding more regular gas to dilute it as the gas tank was used up and eventually burning off the E85. Again, different cars will behave differently, but I'd get second opinions. You could also see if a Firestone or maybe Autozone can read the error code on the check engine light and see if it may shed a clue.
if it is three months old how come it isn't covered? They did no diagnostics on it? You said "may" have run the E85. I would ask for the specific codes and tell them to replace whatever is messed up for free.
Dont Hyundais have 10 year warranties or something? Try putting in a fuel cleaner, then only use premium from now on.
considering you went to the dealer, its safe to assume your paying way too much for that service. Call around to different mechanics for their estimates.
You could continue to run without service, best cast scenario, it cleans itself out and you would just have to get the DTC cleared. Worst case, and depending on how much E85 is left in your tank, you could ruin your catalytic converter (possibly o2 sensors too), which is big money on alot of vehicles. You could probably go to an independent mechanic and save a little bit on the labor rate. Unfortunately, removing a fuel tank, cleaning/flush it and the lines/fuel injectors is mostly labor and it going to take more than just 1 or 2 hours. $640.00 sounds like 6 hours @ around $107/per, which is not unreasonable at all in my experience. If you have a low comprehensive deductible, file a claim with your insurance company. It would be covered. None of this would be covered under a factory warranty since it is not a factory issue (unless the service dept is dumb, which is not likely since this is becoming more common).
