Bob,you should start a log on all of the things that you have done, and things you do in the future record times,cost, shops doing the work and all associated cost and time without the vehicle. Also make a write up on all conversations with the gas co. reps., and all conversations with the repeir shop. This will very important if you run into problems in the future. use different colors of pins for different entries. and have a witness sign and date each page. That way no one can or will be able to dispute the log. It will be a bit of a pain, but if push comes to shove you will be in a good place. just my .02

 

Robert I think you'll be ok this happened to me a couple years ago. Was in NJ & they don't want people to pump their own fuel so the little fellow filled my truck w/gas while I used the restroom. Luckily when I came out I seen what he was doing & I pitched a fit. Long story short they pumped the tank out, changed filter & filled it with fuel. I haven't had any problems but I did make them sign a receipt w/ date, miles on truck & every thing I could think of with them knowing if I had any problems I was coming back. That was about 40k miles ago.

 

I am a helicopter pilot in the army. Last week a buddy of mine was killed in an accident. What can I say? Some things just aren't worth getting that worked up about and some things are. Gotta keep things in perspective. It sucks but I don't think blessing out the guy wouldve gotten me any further than acting like a professional.

The only thing that makes my situation different is I actually drove a good bit with the bad fuel. But I think it was about a 50/50 mix.

 

Man, now i'll be inspecting the fuel everytime i fill up.


and thanks for your service Bob.

 

Army helo pilot eh? I feel for you. Any idea of the GT scores on those guys responsible for your fuel? Thank goodness the separators and filters are just about dummy proof. I have seen some of those folks walk right into rotor blades at the RRF Point but I digress.

If I were you I would just push for a new engine. We cannot even begin to diagnose any pre-ignition damage that the gasoline may have caused on the pistons or in the cylinders, let alone the injectors. The only way to check this out is a complete tear down and rebuild. At that point they might as well just spring for a new unit. You follow me? This is not taking advantage of anybody. They screwed up and potentially damaged your engine, they should make it right. They should have insurance for this sort of thing, if not, that is what civil court is for.....monetary damage. You have suffered a loss/damage due to an error by a company and you now deserve fair compensation.

If the company does not agree, I bet 12 fellow citizens will. Let me review civil law for a moment. Someone is negligent or makes a mistake. This negligence results in damage to another's property. This damage has a dollar figure attached to it. Now we have lawyers who make money from these type of events. Most companies in this situation will provide a new engine rather than pay attorney fees plus the cost of a new engine. Food for thought.

 

Mike,
I appreciate what you're saying. But I don't have the time to get into a lengthy legal process over this. I know I may be the one who loses out in the end, but I am documenting everything in case I have problems down the road.

 

Well, I drove the truck a number of time over the weekend and everything seems fine. I was going to wait until tomorrow to call the point of contact with the fuel company, but he called me to check on things today. I told him that everything seems to be ok, but I am still concerned that I may have problems down the road, like injector failure a year from now that was brought on prematurely by their screw up. This is where it gets interesting : he told me that in order for them to reimburse me for my mechanical expenses, I would have to sign a form releasing them of responsibility. I JUST ABOUT LOST IT ON THE GUY! I do a good job of maintaining my composure, but it was all I could do do not blow up when he said that. I explained to him that I felt I had been very accomodating up to this point. I was willing to not make them pay for unnecesary work right now to pull and inspect injectors, etc, because I thought I would still have the documentation of everything that happened in case I did have some problems that aren't showing up right away. He told me "that's not how it works." I told him I would gladly make sure my mechanic clears his schedule for the next week so I can have peace of mind going forward, and then I told him I would call him back tomorrow.

I am just furious right now. I know that 99% of the time my truck would be fine. But I refuse to be the one who gets screwed because if there's a 1% chance that something could go wrong, I am the type who's going to stress about it until it does.

 

i understand why they do it they way they are...so to cover yourself (if they are going to pay for all of the diagnostics) have your mechanic look it over real well and if theres any slightest chance something could be wrong i would claim it and make them pay for it.

 

That's the direction I am leaning right now. I understand why they want to not have to worry about it any more, too. That just wasn't explained to me before today, and I had been trying to not make them pay for anything that may not be necesary. But I need peace of mind going forward, not to mention the fact that this has been a hassle I don't need right now. This has been a huge inconvenience for me, so I don't think it's right for them to expect to just wash their hands of it so easily.

 

This happened to a guy over on the diesel stop but he has a 6.4.

What damage will gasoline do to the 6.4 - Diesel Forum - TheDieselStop.com

I think the 6.4 are more sensitive. Maybe you can get a new set of injectors out of this.

 

That's what I need to know from the experts here - not what you think happened, but what could happen to my truck as a result of all this. So I can address any potential issues now.

 

To me it just sounds like you need to have your mechanic pull the injectors and look for ANY damage to them or any other parts. If you find the slightest amount of damage you can prove was related to the gas in your fuel then i would try to get a new set of injectors out of the deal. Basically if you sign that paper your screwed if anything else happens. Dont let them get away with it. If theres any damage then you have premature wear and that means its gonna fail early. Thats what i would do.

 

There can be a great deal of emotion in this type of situation, but I would caution against litigating. Any suit resulting from this action will likely not settle for prolonged period of time and it is easy to defend against a suit in which damages are based on probabilities of future loss. The uncertainty is just too high. In the end, I would expect a proposed settlement that will be about the same as you will receive on the front end. You get your expert, they get theirs, and everything moves to the offices of attorneys.

If at all possible, try to resolve this without threatening litigation.

Steve

 

Yeah, lawyers haven't been mentioned, Steve. From their standpoint it is a matter of whether the settlement will be inexpensive enough for them to handle in-house, or whether they will have to get their insurance company involved. At which point the insurance adjusters would become a real pain. I guess, of course, at that point I would have to get my insurance company involved, too.

Trust me, I'm trying not to escalate it to that level. I think the rep from the company and I are really trying to play nice so far.

 

Hi Bob,

The reason I suggest to keep litigation out of it is because as soon as that occurs, the defendant in this case will no longer talk to you.I know several folks have already mentioned this, and I am no expert in mixing diesel and gasoline, but in the cases I have seen where it has happened, there has been no long term consequence to the diesel engine and it is not as uncommon as folks might think.

If you can stay calm and step things through I think you will come out fine. Litigation is a much more complex task that folks are suggesting. If you can come up with a settlement that is suitable to you and not extreme to the defendant in this case, I suspect you might well make progress.

At this point, I think it is important to maintain a perspective that it was an honest mistake and these things do happen to the best of us. Right now I think the first step is to simply gather information about the possible consequences, if any. So far everything sounds to me like conjecture (my opinion).

Steve