[Mustang37]

Is there such a thing as “bad gas”? I switched gas stations recently and my car has been acting real funny. It’s like gasping for gas at times and it’s jumpy! Could it be bad gas or something more serious? Can bad gad do something to the engine? I don’t want it to be anything costly!

[MotorX]

I'm not sure it's necessarily accurate to say "bad gas." Sometimes a station's tanks are not protected well enough and water or dirt gets into the gas. It is these foreign substances that can cause issues with performance.

[hotrodSteve]

It could be that the fuel filter is getting clogged up. That would make the car act like it's gasping for gas and shouldn't be too costly to replace. I'd check that first.

[Mustang37]

Cool, so we could just replace the filter and see how the car runs. I hope it's that easy and that much money. I understand that sometimes things can get into the gas tanks, but come on.... We are paying top dollar for gas!

[Byker]

If that doesn't fix the problem, it could be the fuel pump. That's a whole different matter and much more costly, especially since some vehicles have two and some are in the fuel tank. I hope it's the filter and I'll bet it is.