Barry Warren, owner of 299 Automotive in Longview, Texas, was recently faced with customers suffering from problems after fueling up at a nearby Murphy USA gas station.
KLTV reported that several drivers experienced their vehicles coming to a stop and failing to start after filling up at the Murphy station this past Monday. Warren has seen at least two drivers potentially impacted by the fuel come through his shop already.
Before taking any action, Warren shared that the first thing his shop does is retrieve a fuel sample to determine whether the gas is bad, or if diesel was mistakenly dispensed into the car.
“We always get a fuel sample when somebody says that they filled up just recently and then the vehicle’s running bad,” said Warren. “‘Cause it happens more than you know.”
In the event that it is contaminated gas, there are a number of options the shop has. Typically, the injectors are cleaned, the fuel lines are flushed, the tank is dropped, cleaned from the inside and refilled with fresh fuel, which typically costs around $400. In worse cases, the vehicle may need new injectors or a new fuel pump, which can reach upwards of $1,000.
When gasoline gets in a diesel motor, it turns into something much more costly and time-consuming, requiring the replacement of the injection pump and possibly ejectors, as well as flushing the lines and dropping the tank. This can run up to $10,000 for a customer.
The day after drivers began experiencing problems, Murphy USA put caution tape around the pumps and was not selling gasoline, while trucks with the name Clean Fuels National—a national fuel storage tank cleaning company—were parked outside.
