Intermittent starting, sputters when it does start

CHELSEA SULLIVAN

MEMBER
2009 KIA SPECTRA
150 MILES

Our car with start sometimes, but when it does it’ll spit like it’s out of gas, or not getting enough fuel to the lines. My fiancée just bought a new fuel pump. It’s spitting out gas and everything like it’s supposed to. So his dad mentioned it could be the Duralast Vapor Canister. So my fiancée took it off, and shook and it and a bunch of black pebbles came out. Are those supposed to be in there? Or did he mess up by shaking them out? Also any ideas to what might be wrong with the car? We charged the battery at auto zone and had it charged. So it isn’t that either.

1 Reply

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

Hi Chelsea,

First, the canister that he shook needs to be replaced now. Those black pebbles are actually charcoal. They are called charcoal canisters and they are there to filter the fuel vapor from the tank then it sends it to the engine through the purge valve and the engine uses it.

As for the issue, you could have a issue with the purge solenoid. However, we need to start with monitoring the o2 sensor data with a scan tool. We need to see if the fuel trims are positive or negative when this is acting up. This will tell us if we are getting too much fuel or not enough. Then we can make a decision on what the issue is. Just because it sputters doesn't mean it is not getting enough fuel. It could be getting too much due to a stuck open purge solenoid.

Depending on what we find we may need to measure fuel pressure while this is happening but lets start with monitoring the o2 sensor data and go from there. Thanks

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-fuel-system-pressure-and-regulator