DENNIS O’SULLIVAN
Gas stabilizer is not just for cars
QUESTION
I have a new Nissan Rogue 2016 with 7,500 kms. Right from the start, the car has always emitted a flutter or hum or micro-vibration (I don’t have the technical vocabulary) as the RPMs go through the 1200 range – nothing happens before then or after its above 1200 range. I’ve been back to the dealer twice and the service manager has kindly driven me around and acknowledged what I ‘feel’ or ‘hear’ each time but he said that this is normal with the CVT. He also said that the cause was the gasoline-saving mechanism built into the car. I have to accept what he says but I just feel that any transmission that emits a ‘flutter ‘is going to eventually shake itself to pieces. Have you heard of any such problems with the CVT’s in other cars or other Rogues or is this normal? I appreciate your comments. Thanks.
John from Hamilton
ANSWER
Over the years, there have been many car manufacturers producing cars that have a drivability problem, noise problem, or wind noise problem - all of which the car manufacturer claims to be normal, which then ties the hands of the dealer. The problem with your vehicle may very well be normal but very irritating to you so here is what I would do:
First of all, make a point of having the problem stipulated on the service work order on each visit to the dealership as long as the problem exits. Some things that are normal today in your vehicle may not be normal later on when they have a fix for the problem and you want a record that you were concerned from the beginning.
Next, I would ask the service manager to go for a test ride in the exact same vehicle as yours and see if he can duplicate the vibration that you are experiencing in your vehicle.
Some people have the start-stop technology in their vehicles and have never experienced the feeling of the car shutting down at every stop and therefore want that feature removed. This is when the car shuts down at every stop and then, as soon as you touch the gas pedal, it starts up again. This feature can be annoying to someone who is not used to that feeling every time the car comes to a stop.
Lastly, you could go to a reputable transmission shop and have them test-drive the vehicle to see if it is the engine or the transmission that is causing the vibration that you feel. What you do not want the dealer to do is to start dismantling your vehicle in an effort to go hunting for a problem that they may not find or in the end, find it to be normal as the service manager suggested.
QUESTION
This is not a car question as such but maybe you can help me. Last spring, I filled up my boat with gas for the season. I was then in a motor vehicle accident and injured my shoulder and could not run the boat last season. In the fall, I used a gas treatment (stabilizer) as normally required for the winter layup. The gas is now a year old and I fear it is stale. Is there an additive that I can use to renew the year old gas? It has been suggested that I remove some of the gas (about 120 litres) and use it in my truck so as not to waste it and then replace it with hi-test gasoline to bring up the octane for the rest of the gas that is still in the tank. There are about 600 litres of fuel in the tank.
Joe M
ANSWER
The ideal situation would be for you to drain the tank and put in new gas but that would be costly since you have over 600 liters now in the tank. The gamble with old gas in a boat versus old gas in a vehicle is that the vehicle will only leave you stranded at the side of the road, not in the middle of the lake. A carburation system will be more affected by old gas than an engine with a fuel injection system. The fact that you used a stabilizer in the fuel system will definitely help in keeping the gas stabilized. The biggest problem that you have is with the ethanol in the regular gasoline, if that is what you filled the boat with, because as much as 10 percent of all regular gasoline sold contains Ethanol. Ethanol likes to absorb moisture, which causes it to separate from gasoline over time. In your case, one-year-old gas that has had a treatment added, will most likely not affect the engine if a proper additive is used again. I like the idea of draining as much gas as you can and then filling up the tank with high-test gas. Old contaminated gas has a much stronger odor and is darker than fresh gas so you might want to drain a bit into a glass to see if the color is any different than the new gas. A can of gas line antifreeze at this time will most likely take care of any water in the tank since filling the tank, before you stored the boat, has prevented any great amount of moisture from accumulating. If your decision is to treat and use the old gas then common sense, such as keeping close to the shore for the first hour or two of using the boat, in the daytime would be advisable.
PS Readers, Please be advised that all emails cannot be answered. Send your questions (be sure to include your address) by email to: dennis.osullivan@cogeco.ca or mail: Box 10019, Winona, ON L8E 5R1