HELP!! Bad Gas Battery ???
 

Live in Baton Rouge. For those that dont know Exxon delivered about 5 million gallons of bad gas to the area. 2009 C6 Convertible has been running AWESOME with ZERO problems. I go to start Tuesday morning and it makes weird sound and wont turn over. Engine Light and Service Active Handling comes on. Finally, the car turns over but is sounding like it is only running on cylinders 1 and 7 or something. Flatbed to dealer. When dealer goes to look at it next day. The battery is dead as a fricking doornail. NO chime no lights zero. Dealer calls next day saying that they believe I got bad gas and want to drop tank and clean. Battery also dead cell. The bill thus far...... $2800. What do you guys think? Battery, for the record, is only 9 months old and i have been watching voltage. Never has dropped. I have heard MAYBE a little alternator whine. Need help fast as Exxon is saying they MAY pay eventually and my insurance company is in no rush. Also, the exhaust smelled terrible.

Document document document
keep every receipt - get everything in writing- if you speak with someone on the phone ask for a follow up email to confirm the conversation and all of the conversation contents
If your insurance company will pay under liability that is your quickest and correct solution
No use in you fighting Exxon

Does that sound like bad gas or could it be just battery. Exxon alleges it only had bad regular and i think i used premium. I think the dealer is looking for quick cash. How about flatbedding to local place for second opinion? $2800 is a lot of bones

Not turning over doesn't seem like bad gas but most certainly sounds like a bad battery. If the car had no gas it would still turn over.

When i gave it some gas it started and idled but only like one or two cylinders were firing and the exhaust smelled foul.

If you can live w/o the car pull some fuel and get it checked.
In your area you should have all kinds of labs that can check fuel to see if it meets EPA standards.
Missing might be battery related but the foul smell seems unlikely to be battery related.
FWIW you should be able to install the battery and look at the air-fuel ratio which might be off with bad fuel.
Also beware if you really have bad fuel it may have contaminated the O2 sensors, you have 4 of them and the cats whish you have 2 or 4 depending upon the year
2800 likely would not cover all of those items

I am thinking if battery does not work at dealer then i will flat bed it to local place with very good reputation. The dealer could not even get in with the battery dead. I will also likely need second opinion for any hope of exxon coverage. Is bad gas covered by comprehensive. anyone know.

This also has me thinking about fixing and trading in as i hate car problems. what do yall knowledgable guys think

I think I would get a second opinion.

I don't know this for a fact, but you'd better be as certain as you can that another place that inspects is considered to be qualified by a "funding source." The funding or payment source you are attempting to get probably wants a dealer, but maybe not. What you do want is a dealer that at least knows how to get into a C6 with a dead battery.

Bad Gas
 

Sounds like you has a bad battery or battery connection. And while trying to start it you may have flooded it.

That dead battery definitely isn't related to a bad fill up. I'm trying to figure out how you have a $2800 bill? What exactly was done?

I would put a new battery in it myself and try to siphon as much gas out as possible and put fresh gas in and see what happens before I would shell out $2800.

:iagree: Change the battery first and see how it runs. If it's still rough then see how much gas you can siphon.

Put a new battery in it and go from there. The original symptoms sound like battery problem only. Nine month old batteries can die too. It was running OK when you shut it down on Monday right? A bad load of gas would have probably showed up before you shut it down.

what's the breakdown of the $2800

Allegedly, they are dropping the tanks, emptying fuel, and cleaning out all lines and tanks.

it was running like a scalded ape when i shut it down Monday night. Never had a hiccup. Dealer swears it is more than battery i am just not sure. They are claiming bad gas plus batter. Of course, i have no idea as i am not a car mechanic, lol. Thus, not sure what to do. Allegedly, they are dropping new battery in tomorrow but they doubt it will totally fix.

You should save the gas if you have intentions of approaching the gas supplier.

You don't have to drop the tank to clear the car of fuel. You can pull the fuel pump relay and hotwire the connections to make the pump spit all of the fuel out. You wouldn't get all of the bad gas out but by the time we get some good gas around here there will be enough good mixed in.

I can help with this if you need assistance, but the dealer should really know how to do this (and I'd be surprised if they actually wanted to drop the tank vs just cycling good fuel through it). Good luck. I need to get gas tomorrow and I'm nervous about it myself.