pavac4

on my soapbox... recently while driving my 00 nissan frontier, i knew i had a fuel problem, or a fuel delivery problem..
sure enough, my mechanic, who i have worked with for 10 years, and is solid gold, in my opinion, discovers much water in the gas in the fuel filter, and in the tank. not to drag this out, but for a number of reasons, i can point exactly to where and when, i bought the gas. I was near empty, low on cash and bought $15 worth of regular. (no receipt). I drove home appx 1 mile, without any issue. next morning, about 1/2 mile from home, it starts to run very badly, and i can hardly make it to town, and head straight to the shop. after i find out about the water, i call the distributor, and get a song and dance about how, and how frequently they test for water, etc., etc., and that it is highly unlikely, in fact nearly impossible, that the bad gas came from their station, and he was sorry for my problem. i politely tell him that i expect him to pay for the work on my truck, and would be sending him the bill.
i do have the gas taken from the filter, which is loaded with water.
anybody have any bad gas stories, or advice?
many thanks.

oldalaskaman

I hauled gasoiline to stations back in the day, it was common practice for a station to try to get you to add 500 galons of water to every 3500 gallons of gas . Some drivers went along with it some didnt. It also was pretty common to see a station owner outside with a garden hose in the tank as you pulled up. Thats all very illegal now. If you've gone to a station and got water , you need to report them . Selling water for $4.50 plus a gallion and calling it gas will get them jail time.

Larry/car

It is going to be hard to prove where you acquired the water. If the service station doesn't have any more complaints better just forget it.

oldalaskaman

There's a number posted on fuel dispensors , that when you call it they will send someone to do a test on the stations output , if that test shows more water than allowable, they require the station to pump the tank out. Then they retest periodically to ensure compliance. I know this cause I've worked both ends of it. Your tax dollars pay for it.

Flame Red

From the days when I had a boat I learned that adding several bottles of Dry Gas will get rid of the water. Was a common problem until I added a water gas separator. They used to sell it Sprawlmart back in the day. I always had a case on hand since it had a 60 gallon capacity. I believe it was Methanol. It would run rough, but it would run with a lot of water in the gas. Much better than being stuck overnight in the middle of nowhere.

sailorsteve

I had the same problem with a new 1983 Audi, got a load of water in the gas. I had to get towed and the whole fuel system had to be cleaned out. Had same response as the OP, basically they told me, tough sh_t. But they were polite and said it with a smile.

vette40509

Last summer I was driving in northern Kentucky(Mayslick). I had a new(4k miles) 2009 Silverado Diesel. I filled up at Walmart(Murphy's). Less than 60 miles later I was being towed to dealer because of gas in my diesel. I had a receipt to prove I filled there and called to complain. Eventually they cut me a check without admitting any guilt for $1500. Repair was $10500. Car insurance paid $10k on comprehensive. Took a week to get truck fixed and this was while on vacation. Anyway I called "Dept of Agriculture" in Ky who sends out people from "Weights & Measures" to check on problem. It took them a few days to get out there and of course by then the tank was emptied and reloaded. Don't know how many had a problem and probably never will. The "weights and Measures" people not only check for accuracy of pump but impurities as well. Try that for help.