Hi Scotty,
I own a Volkswagen Polo Petrol 1.2 MPI 2013 highline. I am located in India. The car is only E10 compliant and the government has mandated E20 as the only fuel for past 1 year. I am having Check engine light repeatedly. Initially it showed- P0068, P017100, 03302, P307A00 using bluetooth OBD scanner and car scanner app. I had throttle body and MAP sensor cleaned. The car does not have MAF sensor. After resetting the codes. the car ran fine for few days without check engine light. But STFT remains at 10-15% and STFT swings upto +25% during driving. My car mechanic was not able to find any leak and i checked EVAP purge valve suction test after putting car in idle. It was OK. I thought the high fuel trim data could be due to E20 petrol. Today i got the fuel refilled to full from reserve and check engine light came as soon as i left the fueling station. I had noticed similar thing before that check engine light came soon after fuel refilling. Today it showed P0171 and 11730. Can you tell me what i should be doing and also If I should consider selling the car soon. I am the first owner and I have tried to maintain my car for past 13 years.
Today it showed P0171 and 11730.
Did you mean to press P when writing the 2nd code?
But STFT remains at 10-15% and STFT swings upto +25% during driving. My car mechanic was not able to find any leak and i checked EVAP purge valve suction test after putting car in idle. It was OK. I thought the high fuel trim data could be due to E20 petrol. Today i got the fuel refilled to full from reserve and check engine light came as soon as i left the fueling station.
There was still the original formulation of gas in your fuel line when you first started your car to leave the gas station. Typically, you have between 6 and 8 miles of range before the remaining fuel in the fuel line itself is used up.
Ethanol has 30% fewer joules of energy vs raw gasoline on a per-liter basis. You also need to burn more ethanol to maintain stoichiometry, even when mixed with 80% gas. If the car was not designed t accommodate the mandatory increase in fuel injector capacity, the engine will run lean and it will trip codes related to running lean, as confirmed in your case.
Can you tell me what i should be doing and also If I should consider selling the car soon. I am the first owner and I have tried to maintain my car for past 13 years.
E20 is corrosive to cars that were not designed to deal with E20 gasoline. Rubber components in the fuel system will become brittle and crack, for example, and those parts can cost a fortune.
If they produce components to turn you Volkswagen into a Flex-Fuel capable vehicle, you could go in that direction, but you will need a lot of stuff. A bigger fuel pump, Flex-Fuel capable fuel lines and hoses, bigger fuel injectors to accommodate the increased fuel use, then you will need to overhaul the exhaust system. You would need a dealer-level scanner to adjust everything.
That is probably going to cost more money than the car is worth now. I would think about selling it and getting a Flex-Fuel capable vehicle. That way, if India mandates another increase in the ethanol content of fuel, the Flex-Fuel capable car can safely deal with it; I was using E85 instead of E10 for 8 months as a way to save money (gas was $3.29 a gallon vs $2.22 for E85) until both E85 and E10 both skyrocketed. E85 is now $3.78 and E10 is $4.29 at a nearby gas station. I've been slowly refilling my tank with E10 instead of E85. My truck has a fuel capacity of 36 gallons, and I've been filling up with E10 every 10-12 gallons to lessen the impact on my wallet from a single fuel-up. I haven't had any issues.
Good luck!
@justin-shepherd Thank You for the detailed analysis and reply.
government has mandated E20 as the only fuel for past 1 year.
What you actually have is a government problem. That is beyond the scope of this site to address. Over time E20 fuel will wind up destroying your fuel system if it was designed for E10. Your government does not care, in fact that goes along with your politicians' desire to get you out of your car and into an electric bus.
