I was running on empty so I stopped and put in $20 worth of premium ( wallet stolen so no credit cards... long story). Anyway, made it about a mile and car was running rough and died. I finally limped across the intersection ( after a lot of honking behind me, apparently people ignore hazard lights ) to a gas station and put in fuel treatment. I made it another mile before it died again... repeat proceedure of finally limping across the intersection to another gas station, more fuel treatment. ran ok again for another mile, then it happened again. Luckily I made it home after that. Car towed to dealer the next morning and when service guy called, he said I pumped in 90% water ! He proceeded to tell me it could run up to $4000 between cleaning both tanks, new fuel pumps, new blah blah blah...... ultimately said if injectors are bad it could cost up to $6000. I called gas station and they said they would pay, but I'm guessing they are going to balk at paying that kind of money. Anyone have this type/magnitude of problem before ? by the way, it's '09 black beauty with only $35k on it. Just bought it in Feb with absolutely no problems until now.

 

Damn that's some crappy luck there.

I don't think the car will have as much damage as they think but being a dealership it doesn't surprise me that they're wanting to replace everything. When I was a dealer tech that's how our dealer wanted things done too, even though it wasn't always necessary.

Bare minimum both tanks need to be drained / flushed out, the fuel lines & injectors need to be purged via scanner, then try to see if the car runs right. If not it could turn into an expensive mess.

Good luck.

 

I think you should post the location of this gas station so everyone local can avoid it at all costs.

 

Sorry that happened to you. I've heard anecdotal stories about people who supposedly gassed up while the tanker truck was filling the station's underground tanks, and subsequently had problems with crud in the fuel system immediately after. Theory is that the high flow fill from the tanker stirs up the sediment and water that settles in the bottom of the storage tanks.

Another possibility that is just as likely is that when you ran your gas tanks to the bottom, you had some crud that got carried into the fuel lines/injectors and caused your problem. Good argument to always refuel with at least 1/8 to 1/4 of capacity remaining.

 

But fuel pickup is always from the bottom of the tank. It's not like the pickup floats on the surface.

 

I've had it happen w/in 20 miles of gas station, but not as soon as you. The owner sent me a check for a small amount which was what I actually had to pay---so it was covered. Yours is multiples of what mine cost which was basically a tow and a drain.

 

You can claim this on your insurance and they will subrogate with the station if they won't pay. With mine, the station refused to pay, and my Insurance tried to say it was an accumulation of water over time in my tank (not possible in that particular truck). A year later and a lawsuit is dragging out. I had $10K in damage to my duramax, shredded all 8 injectors, my cp3 pump, etc etc.

Good luck.

 

$3718.16 later and car is running great ! $2585 in labor and rest in parts/taxes. I thought service rep was overstating the fuel to water ratio but looking at the two samples they saved for me, very little gas on top of a whole lot of water. He said I pumped 90% water in my tank but I think it was even higher than that. In a mason jar, almost full to the top, gas floating couldn't have been more than 1/4". He shook up the sample and it just looked like dirty water. Next phase will start tomorrow when I go talk with station manager/owner. Going to call my lawyer today to learn of all my options. During my second conversation with the manager he said they would pay for damages, but I expect a little push back when he sees invoice. Will post results to possibly help the next person who goes thru this. Sure was fun last night making sure the car ran right........ kinda sacred my gf a couple times :-0
I love my car ! ! !

 

You're lucky, you're below the small claims threshold. I wouldn't bother with a lawyer just yet. If he stated already he'll take care of you, then you're already at an advantage. Just take record of all these conversations. Document EVERYTHING! Since the gas station fought me from the beginning, it made it tough. That said, being a diesel, than ran my cost way up, so I'm stuck in big boy court.

 

I think chp has a good point to not go the lawyer route just yet. Talk with the station manager, see if it can proceed along without threats. Be matter of fact and business-like even though right now you're out big dollars. They have insurance for these things and know it can happen altho most stations have their water level checked very regularly. If that much water is there, it's getting inside the tanks. And that means something is leaking out, like gasoline. They do not want that made public, huge fines. UST (underground storage tank) legislation has been in place for over a decade.

 

I was alluding to the possibility that there was some crud that was FLOATING on the surface of the fuel. Junk lighter than gasoline, residue from the build. Had it happen to me just once, but it was after I ran the tank dry and essentially plugged the in-line fuel filter.

 

Yeah, I didn't think of that.

 

Since the gas station is picking up the tab, then not that evil if you let a shop do all the work to extract the water from the tanks.

Myself, if the fuel was at less than 1/2 a tank, would have just siphon out the gas in the drivers tanks, popped the fuel line at the fire wall connector and put a hosed from the fuel line connector at the fire wall to a 5 gallon bucket, jumped out the fuel pump at the relay and used it to drain the last of the fuel in the tanks to the 5 gallon bucket.
Note, if the fuel was at over half full on the gauge, would use the fuel pump first to drain down the passenger until the gas gauge was at under 1/2 full, then siphon the driver tanks, then used the fuel pump again to get out the last bit in the driver tank.


From there, gallon of Meth or couple bottle of HEET (same thing), put in about 5 gallons of fuel, jump the fuel pump again to push about 1/2 gallon of fuel/ Meth suspended water to drive out the last of the water in the fuel line to the 5 gallon bucket, then started the car and let it run for about 20 mins to finish burning any straight water that was in the fuel rails, then take the car down and fill it up all the way with fuel and a bottle of techron.

The Meth/Heet will suspend the water when you get it down to less than a gallon or two in the tanks, and will be fine to run with the tanks filled back up to finish getting the last of the water out of the system.

Now having stated this, and the fact that the shop should clear the water in the tank the same way I just pointed out, don't let them touch the car if they are quoting you anything over a few hundred to flush the water out of the system.

As for the 5 gallon bucket of water/fuel and the touch of meth, good for bonfire starter fluid to dispose of it that way.

Bluntly, only reason that the tanks would need to be dropped is if the fuel was littered with debris, and that was clogging the fuel pump filters. Injectors, between the Heet/Meth and Techron, water that was run through them is not going to hurt a thing.