I think it might be a combination of things, water, moisture or alcohol in the gas, they tend to settle at different levels in the tank. The water is heavier than gas, so it goes to the bottom of the tank. A couple of cans of dry gas, one with each fill up will help get rid of the water issue, just follow the recommendations on the container, The intake valve cleaning is actually a walnut blast. I know the name sounds strange but that's what it used. The intake manifold is removed, and the machine is hooked up to the two ports and blasts the valves with small pieces of walnut. It works amazingly. Because the fuel injectors are no longer located in the intake manifold and behind the intake valves, and the fuel injectors are actually in the cylinder, the gas being sprayed in by the older style system would normally help to clean the intake valves, but that is not happening now. Below is an example of what happens to valves on direct injection engines. This carbon build up also ends up on the tips on the fuel injections just making the situation worse, so if it has never been done on this vehicle it really should be.
The valve cleaning is recommended between every 22 to 44,000 miles. So really it should be part of a normal 30k service. I don't think it's the Fuel Rail pressure sensor. You're correct, you would have a check engine light on, and most likely the vehicle would be in Limp Mode with reduced power.
A fuel system cleaner will help to clear up the fuel injector tips but Google direct injection intake valve cleaning for some more information on it, this will give you a better idea of why it needs to be done.
The engine computer will eventually start to flag cylinder misfire codes, it's probably not doing it yet because the issue is coming and going.
here is a video of the process as well, he explains how it is done and what happens when it is not done pretty well. Hopefully this will clear up the issues you're having. I fully understand how frustrating a tank of bad gas can be, I spent a full week repairing a Jeep that had a full tank of extremely bad gas. It actually caused an ignition coil to get hot, short out and ruined the engine computer. So, I recommend getting gas at the same station where you know the gas supply is fresh each time, at least in your area, obviously you can't do that if you go on vacation.
But let us know how you make out, and if you have any more questions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFvXbTIiAVY
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Thursday, January 26th, 2023 AT 7:58 AM