Freaky acceleration experience

[Barbara]

Last night when I was driving my 2008 Yaris home late from work on a desolate road, all of a sudden I had absolutely NO exceleration power. The car runs so quiet that at first when I steered it over to the side of the road I thought it had died completely but, that wasn't the case. It was still running just no exceleration. I turned the key off and it re-started with no problem and then ran properly the rest of the way home (about another 8 miles). I went out and double checked the oil and coolant today and they are at required levels and clean. The car continues to start today and i pushed on the excelerator and it sounds fine. No noises or smells going on. However, the second I lost exceleration briefly last night the Check Engine light came on and is staying on.

I purchased gas at a Chevron station that I used a few times a couple of days ago and have noticed since then a feeling of poorer exceleration - it's not consistent - very irratic.

I'm wondering if I could have gotten some bad gasoline??

Any responses would be appreciated.

Thanks

[RedRide]

It may be just a glitch in the ECU that may never happen again.
This is not unheard of.

......or it could just be bad gas as you suspect.

[LtNoogie]

That happened to me at Sunday's autocross race. When I put an OBD II scanner on, it read that the CEL code was for a Cylinder #2 misfire. It's hard to tell what happened to your car with out an OBD II scanner. Essentially, the car went into limp mode, temporarily.

Try racing in limp mode!

[ddongbap]

Excited car?

[AdeJong 03]

Excited car?

the yaris really excels at being reliable. this shouldnt happen usually

[eTiMaGo]

you guys' humor is excellent...

I've had a similar experience before, bad gas too as far as I could tell, like the engine just stopped responding. Like LtNoogie said, only way to be sure what's going on is some kind of diagnostic code scanner :)

[jambo101]

I had a similar problem where i had no throttle response and CEL came on,first time i just restarted the engine and it didnt happen again for a few weeks,after 2 months it was happening almost everyday and i got quite good at turning the engine off then back on whilst driving,finally took it to the dealer and he replaced a part of the wiring harness in the front of the engine and i've had no problem ever since.

[Barbara]

Thanks for all the responses.

I drove the car to work today 16 miles each way. It starts fine and the Check Engine light actually didn't come on this morning when I first started it. I made a couple of stops on the way home and both times it started back up good for me. It runs like a top - quiet, smooth and good acceleration now.

I guess I'll just see how it goes. It really freaked me out the other night when I lost the acceleration power - I'm 62, was alone, and it was dark and late with very little traffic. Scarey for a woman. I do have a cell phone but, was still scarey for me.

I would still like to hear from any others that have had this happen. Especially, if someone actually knows what could have caused it.
Seems like if it had been bad gas, it would have happened again, or be running roof and sputtering etc. I've gotten a hold of bad gas twice in my lifetime in two different cars and this really isn't acting the same.

Thanks

[AlexNet0]

Thomas, wasnt there a TSB for the engine harness?

[jambo101]

all of a sudden I had absolutely NO acceleration power. I thought it had died completely but, that wasn't the case. It was still running just no acceleration. I turned the key off and it re-started with no problem and then ran properly the rest of the way home


I'm wondering if I could have gotten some bad gasoline??
Thanks

It wasnt bad gas as that would have caused sputtering and the engine might have died or had erratic acceleration,i'll repeat, it sounds exactly what happened to me,The engine light coming on means there is a stored trouble code in the cars Onboard Diagnostic System (OBD2) if you bring the car back to the dealer they will be able to read that code and affect repairs.

[IllusionX]

i remember a YW member posted a video of his lapping day at the track.. when he suddenly had no more throttle response and a CEL came on. He pulled over and restarted, everything worked just fine.

i'm surprise to hear it is happening to more than just 1 member.

[Yaris Hilton]

You need the stored trouble code(s) read. We can speculate a lot, but that would really narrow down the possibilities.

[blacksandiegovitz]

Wow, weired I found this tread cause this happen to me last thursday night . I was driving on the freeway and the car just cut out , I pulled over and it started right up , then happended it like 2 minutes later . Hasn't happend to me before and hasn't happened since...:iono:

[Yaris Hilton]

Did you look around for UFOs?

[Barbara]

So far, so good. Just a reminder that my check engine light went off and is staying off.

I drove the car back and forth to work yesterday appx. 50 miles total - lots of stop and go driving - no problem. And, to church today - appx. 50 miles total - again lots of stop and go driving. Purrs like a kitten, runs smooth, kicks into passing gear smooth and great acceleration.

I will definetly take it to the dealer if it happens again.

Appreciate all the responses.

[kuyachris84]

I think bad gas could do this... mine sputters when i put low quality gas from el cheapo gasoline stations... so now I just try to stick with brand name gas even if it cost a little more.

[Yaris Hilton]

You can get watery or dirty gas at any station, "good brand" or otherwise. Stuff accumulates in the bottom of the station's tanks and gets stirred up in the gas when they fill it from the truck, so it's best not to pump gas for a while after the truck's come.

[advocate]

You can get watery or dirty gas at any station, "good brand" or otherwise. Stuff accumulates in the bottom of the station's tanks and gets stirred up in the gas when they fill it from the truck, so it's best not to pump gas for a while after the truck's come.

Didn't know this but it sounds perfectly logical. Afterall i'm sure gasoline has a much lower density than water or grime or god knows what's in those tanks after a couple years.

[Yaris Hilton]

Some things you don't want to know...

[roxy1]

i thought this was going to be a putdown. something like:

freaky acceleration experience...........i got some.

[Barbara]

I think bad gas could do this... mine sputters when i put low quality gas from el cheapo gasoline stations... so now I just try to stick with brand name gas even if it cost a little more.

Car didn't sputter, or die. It just lost acceleration for a short bit but continued to run. I had to pull over. I killed the engine then started it back up and it's ran fine since.

[ddongbap]

Thanks for all the responses.

I drove the car to work today 16 miles each way. It starts fine and the Check Engine light actually didn't come on this morning when I first started it. I made a couple of stops on the way home and both times it started back up good for me. It runs like a top - quiet, smooth and good acceleration now.

I guess I'll just see how it goes. It really freaked me out the other night when I lost the acceleration power - I'm 62, was alone, and it was dark and late with very little traffic. Scarey for a woman. I do have a cell phone but, was still scarey for me.

I would still like to hear from any others that have had this happen. Especially, if someone actually knows what could have caused it.
Seems like if it had been bad gas, it would have happened again, or be running roof and sputtering etc. I've gotten a hold of bad gas twice in my lifetime in two different cars and this really isn't acting the same.

Thanks

Now I feel bad for making a pseudo insult.