yup, water or diesel, ive seen them both at work, and not covered by warranty

 

siphoning will work.
as long as where you are siphoning to is lower than the bottom of the gas tank and the line beyond the fuel cap is longer than the line going into the tank. lifting the car or parking on a hill would help out greatly.

Siphon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

if you want to pump you could go this route: YouTube - How to Siphon Gas from a Newer Vehicle

 

It doesn't take much water to make your car run bad. Water is heavier than fuel, so it settles in the bottom of the tank. If there's enough to partially (or even fully) submerge the fuel pickup you'll get coughing and sputtering, if indeed the car even starts.

But letting the dealer diagnose this and take a sample for you would be a mistake. You'll be setting yourself up to get scammed because if they can find a reason other than something covered under warranty to blame the symptoms on they most certainly will.

They may find the problem to be a faulty sensor or a defective electronic control module, which would be covered by warranty. But if you ask them to take a sample of your fuel for you they will. Then they'll add water to it, call you and say "yup, it was bad fuel all right. Not covered under warranty. We flushed out your fuel system and added $20 worth of gas. Parts and labor come to $300. Plus tax and $20 enviro fee for disposing of the remainder of your old fuel."

Here's what you need to do:

1. Get a drain pan and then use a pair of pliers to disconnect the fuel line from the bottom of the tank. (There will likely be three lines to choose from: a supply line, a return line and a vent line. If the first one you disconnect doesn't yield fuel one of the others will). Take a sample of at least a couple of quarts, then re-connect the lines to the same tubes you removed them from. Do not mix them up.

2. Inspect the sample. Pour it into a clear plastic container and then let it sit for about 15 minutes to allow any water to settle on the bottom of the container. If water is present you'll see a clear line where the water ends and the fuel above it begins.

3. If the fuel is very light yellow and smells like kerosene you have inadvertently filled your tank with diesel. Oops.

4. If the fuel looks ok it's unlikely that the fuel is causing the problems you're experiencing. Call the dealer and tell him the symptoms your car is exhibiting. Do not offer any reasons or suspicions you may have as to the cause. That's their job. Don't even tell them you have taken a sample of the fuel. (not yet anyway).

5. If the dealer corrects the problem (regardless of what it is) under warranty, no problem. But if the dealer gives you the above-described bad fuel song and dance, simply reply "wow, I'm sure glad I took a fuel sample before bringing the car in. Now at least I can have it analyzed before suing the service station. Are you CERTAIN the fuel was bad? Could it have been anything else?"

If the dealer was trying to scam you he would now realize that once your sample turns out to be just fine he's going to look very bad. Might even get sued. But by leaving him an escape route ("are you sure it's bad fuel?") he can now backtrack and say something to the effect of " Well, my mechanic thinks so, but I'll have him confirm. May I call you back?" It's quite possible that when the service manager calls back he'll say something like "Hey, good news! We discovered a bad sensor, replaced it and now the car runs better than ever. No charge!"

Which saves you a lot of hassle, doesn't it?

 

It has been said that a diagnosis of 'bad gas' is the last refuge of a bad mechanic.
I wouldn't jump to any conclusions, and let the dealer do some looking. While it may be the dealer will try to screw you, basically they will get their money back from Honda, and they are more concerned with keeping the customer satisfied. At least they should be...
Are you throwing any codes?
Moon

 

Keeping a customer is one thing, but even if they do get reimbersed by the manufacturer for warranty claims, if they can make more money by selling parts and billing hours to the customers without having the customers ever knowing what hit them, well, many of these sleazoids will do just that.

This of course is not to paint all dealers/ parts managers with the same brush. But there are too many crooks in this field to be simply explained away as just "a few bad apples in the bunch."

 

Won't dispute that there are some duplicitious dealers nor that there may be some really bad fuel in gas-strapped parts of the country.
That said, when a mechanic says the problem is 'bad gas', it sets off my bullshit alarm like a fire bell in the night. Usual translation is 'I don't know what the hell is wrong with it, so I'll blame the fuel...'
But we're ahead of ourselves; the dealer hasn't been heard from.
With a virtually new car, any dealer would have a hard time talking their way off the hook.
Like I said, wait and see, and ask lots of questions. I'd be mighty careful about disconnecting fuel lines on a new car; more chance of voiding the warranty, or having a starring role in a garage fire, film at 11.
Still need to know from the OP; is it throwing any codes? Engine light on?
My advice, and worth every penny it cost.
Moon

 

bad gas. if you have a receipt complain to the better business bureau. have the gas station pay for your car and pain and suffering.

 

Problem solved!
Water was in the gas. BP refunded the gas today. Drained the tank and refilled with 89 and the Fit came right back to life. Thanks for all the replies and info. If anyone has any questions on draining the tank on the 09, just hit me up, its not that hard at all. Thanks again to every one for their help.

 

GREAT end to the story!! Thanks for letting us know about your good news.

 

Yes. How is it done? Please post it here.

 

Disclaimer,
This is only a description of what I did to my car, I nor Fitfreak.net will be held responsible if you hurt yourself or your Fit. Please remember that gas is dangerous and you must be careful working with it. Please Please Please don't attempt if you have little or no experience working on cars. This only describes how I drained my fuel tank, I can't say it is the correct way.




I will work on a write up as soon as I can with pic included, but there is a plastic skid plate located under the center of the car. There will be 4 or 5 ( cant recall the exact number right now ) 10mm bolts to be removed along with 4 plastic pop-rivets that will be popped out. Then you will see the plastic fuel tank. There will be a metal skid plate that will cover the the tanks snout and the end of the fill tube. There will be two 12mm bolts and one 12mm nut holding this triangle shaped protection plate to the underside of the car. There will be a white connector holding a fuel line to the plate, just slide that off and you can remove the plate. There you will see where the fill tube connects to the snout of the fuel tank, there will be a pressure clasp ring holding and fill tube and tank snout together. Put something to catch the gas under the tube and snout, while using a pair of pliers to squeeze the pressure ring together and slide the tank snout off the fill tube ( be careful, it will run out rather fast ). You will notice that the flow of fuel will taper off in just a few seconds. There is a flapper in the tank snout, so take a two foot piece of fuel line and run it into the tank snout, now things will be flowing. Once done reconnect everything and your good to go. Do not forget there will be fuel left in the line leading to the engine.

 

I'd be asking for more than that from BP!!!

Glad the problem is solved though