Cel

[Mr_Rich]

I was driving south on the freeway late Sunday night. I suddenly turned on a CEL on the dash. My truck is normally rock reliable and had just turned 234K on the odo. I had a steep grade to climb and midway up the grade my truck started bogging down to 35 mph; no power. Uh-oh. I barely made it to the summit and I pulled off on the next exit where the engine died at the stoplight. The engine restarted and I pulled in to a shopping center. I pulled the codes and came up with a code 44. My old Chilton manual I had with me didn't list that code, and/ or I didn't find it. I didn't see anything unusual under the hood so I restarted the engine and drove normally on surface streets for a couple of miles. It seemed okay so I jumped back on the freeway and made the fifty miles back to the house without incident.
I went online to check up on code 44 and one of the causes was "Water in the gas". I had just filled up my tank about ten miles prior to getting the CEL. I think that nailed it. My truck seems to be running okay now. I stopped at the hardware store and bought a quart of denatured alcohol. I poured about a pint in the tank to pick up any residual water that might still be there. I'll change the fuel filter and a tune-up is due soon since I'll have to go through a smog check this year.