I've been working away from home this week and I came down to my truck yesterday morning and noticed that there were marks in the dirt on the side of the truck and around the fuel door. I opened it up and my def cap is off and it looks like someone tried to use a screwdriver to get my locking gas cap off. I took a picture and went back inside to the hotel. The manager was super helpful and took me into his office to go over the security tape. Another truck had been parked between me and the camera but you could see someone walk between the trucks and stop near the rear cab door. The truck next to me was a new Chevy and the person when to it's fuel door after mine. I can only hope that the person didn't put def in its fuel.

As for mine I had it flatbedded to the local dealer and I rode with the driver with the keys in my pocket. The dealer knew exactly what to do understood the threat to the diesel by contaminated fuel. They had the def tank out in about an hour. They removed the fuel filters and inspected them and they were fine, looks like the $15 locking gas cap worked. We decided to replace the def tank completely, rather than just clean it. They dispatched a parts guy to drive nearly an hour to get one from another dealer and then to a parts store to get a new locking gas cap. By 2pm I was on my way again. With a new def tank, new filters an oil change and a TCM flash which I hope might cure my rough down shifts.

As for the hotel, the manager is sending my bill to HQ for consideration because I'm an executive platinum member an my company stays in Holiday Inns a few hundred nights a year. For now I'm about $1800 lighter in the pocket. Still that's better than the possible alternative.

 

wow.. if theres two things you don't mess with its a man's woman and a man's truck.. I'm glad you got it sorted out quick but I'm sorry that dirtbag got away.

 

Good for you for catching this! Azzholes like this are one thing that really **** me off! NO ONE has the right to mess with someone else's vehicle, equipment, home, nor anything else that has been bought and paid for!

 

You don't have comprehensive coverage on your truck?

 

This.

You'd have only paid your deductible, not $1800.....

 

I do, but I live in Canada and am working on a project in the US right now. I talked to my broker and he said you just give him the reciepts when I got back next week. I just paid out of pocked to speed things up and will get it reimbursed through insurance if they hotel wont pay up.

 

Oh ok, gotcha

 

Yeah, that was a big risk that fellow took. One day he might be in the news...


Glad you caught this! Probably no way to tell what was put in the DEF tank now. Hopefully the Chevy had a locking cap too, and their DEF port is under the hood, a bit more tamper proof.

 

Wow, that's unbelievable. You don't hear much of vandalism like that, but I guess anything can happen. I think you acted appropriately given the circumstances, and you're darn fortunate to have that locking cap!

 

I've often thought about gluing razor blades to my gas caps.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using IB AutoGroup

 

If something other than DEF is run through that system, what's the repair cost to clean up that mess? $3,000 - $4,000 or so in parts/labor?

Edit: I just noticed in the DEF nightmare post where the replacement cost was explained so never mind, I was way off.

 

Just curious, did they inspect the contents of your DEF tank and did they actually find any thing foreign (other that a Canadian in the US )



What possess some people to randomly vandalize like that? Stealing your fuel I could understand but to just damage someone else's property takes a special kind of looser!

 

I have thought about getting a locking fuel door to protect both fuel and DEF fillers, but then thought no one would ever mess with my truck so why spend the money.

Maybe I had better think again. There are really some scumbags out there.

 

I have one on my truck just incase! Theg can cram whatever. They want in the def hole. It doesn't work anyway.

 

They did empty the tank and something oil like had been put down the pipe.

Just after I got the truck in July I was filling up and talking to another SD owner who was at the same pump. A lady pulled in to the station in a civic and proceeded to yell at us for killing "Mother Earth" by driving such big trucks. She ranted until she had filled up and then left. The other guy asked if I'd heard about def contamination and if I had a locking cap. After he explained things, I went right to the parts store. He had put a lock on his filler door. He agreed it looked bad but was a small price to pay.