Diesel mixup does major damage at gas station
We can't imagine how many safeguards had to be ignored and incompetent people employed to allow such a thing to happen, but somehow last Wednesday a Super Petroleum gas station (no pic available, generic station at right) in Holbrook, MA had its underground tank for regular unleaded accidentally filled with diesel fuel during a routine delivery at 3AM. Three days passed before the mistake was realized, during which time 45 cars expecting good ole' 87 octane were fed diesel fuel. The Enterprise reports that some cars made it 20 miles before they stopped dead in the street while others didn't make it out of the station. Local mechanics that received the windfall of business from the error eventually figured out what was going on and three days and 45 downed cars later the damage came to a halt. Fortunately, affected car owners are reporting that the gas station has been paying for each vehicle to be repaired or performing the repairs itself. Station owner Dana Watson is even filling each car repaired by her Super Petroleum mechanics with a fresh tank of gas. She might want to double check what she's pumping this time.
[Source: Boston Herald via Kicking Tires]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
prince 7:09PM (12/25/2008)
this is a very serious scenario. especially if you have a brand new vehicle, it would cause you a big heahache. i advise the vehicle owner to see and smell for themselves the gasoline being loaded to their vehicle.
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Chivo 7:42PM (10/11/2006)
Idiots. At least it was not a diesel tank filled with gasoline. That would be interesting... 45 cars * 45 new diesel engines = $180,000 + $30,000 labor = $210,000... and then lawsuits, which will happen anyhow.
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Jason_801 7:45PM (10/11/2006)
Nice of you to suggest the owner is somehow at fault. Sheesh.
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DanGarion 7:54PM (10/11/2006)
"Jason_801"
If you own a business you must take responsibility for the products and services you offer regardless if the product you actually produced or if a company supplied it to you to sell. It's called good business.
I'm sure this business owner will be getting reimbursed from the company that put the diesel in the tank.
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ruggels 8:04PM (10/11/2006)
" Idiots. At least it was not a diesel tank filled with gasoline. That would be interesting... 45 cars * 45 new diesel engines = $180,000 + $30,000 labor = $210,000... and then lawsuits, which will happen anyhow."
Odd, when my mother filled her tdi (mistakenly) with gas, we didn't need to replace the entire engine... i'm curious where this logic is coming from.
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fordman 8:07PM (10/11/2006)
Nothing happens if you put gas into a diesel engine.
It does not start. I did it to a Golf TDI.
We emptied the tank and fueled up and took off.
No damage. We even told the dealer since it was under warranty they laughed said its ok and dont do it again and that it happens often.
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Kumar 8:13PM (10/11/2006)
We all KNOW what good business is, and that's not what they were talking about. Not bringing the idiot that filled that storage tank into this is a little odd....not to mention the people of questionable intelligence that, after just filling up, had their cars shake and shoot out smoke without thinking the fuel was bad. How bad a shape are these cars in that people just think, oh well, bessie's dead, time to get another ride? OH wait, one of them was driving an '85 olds, and is planning to sue, yeah, good luck with that.
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neox 8:14PM (10/11/2006)
I once put a gallon or two of diesel fuel on my Catalac XLR accidently(there was no sing on pump) nothing bad happened to
it.I found out when the car's ON STAR E-mailed GM and me about it.
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Jason_801 8:17PM (10/11/2006)
I didn't say anything about responsibility, Dan. I'm self-employed and I understand good business practices, thank you.
The Autoblog writer's last sentence would seem to suggest the owner had personally caused the damage by being less then proficient at moving fuel from pump to car.
This is, of course, ridiculous.
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dakota 8:55PM (10/11/2006)
"If you own a business you must take responsibility for the products and services you offer regardless if the product you actually produced or if a company supplied it to you to sell."
The problem with your logic is that the owner has a way to test each and every batch of fuel that comes in, or even tests the tank. A fuel suppler comes in, fills the tank, and thats that.
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vin 8:53PM (10/11/2006)
what the hell is a catalac ? ok people i think we found the guy at fault for this !!!
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Richard Warren 9:32PM (10/11/2006)
It happens.
Years ago Iowned an Arco station, when fuel was delivered I stuck the tanks before and after delivery, if the totals didn't match I knew something was wrong. The other thing I did was watch what came out of the tanker into the tanks at the start of the process. Saves a lot of problems. Don't see that going on much very often. You'd also paste the tanks everyday to check for water and see that the amount that went through the pumps matched what was in the ground. Don't see that much these days either.
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vin 9:01PM (10/11/2006)
i like how everyone is ready to blame anyone they can... i dont believe the owner of the station is at any fault at all ... and who's to say it was the guy who filled the tanks fault ? it could have been the person that filled the truck !! and if the same guy that fills the truck is the guy that fills the tanks, we need to drop him in iraq with the rest of the idiots
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Greg A. 9:02PM (10/11/2006)
You'd think someone who bought or leases a car as expensive as the XLR would have paid better attention to the badges on the car, the signs at the dealership, etc.
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vin 9:06PM (10/11/2006)
anyone find out what a CATALAC is yet ? lmao
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Will 9:07PM (10/11/2006)
The guy with the XLR must be ghetto rich to drive an XLR but only fill up a gallon or two at a time.
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vectorbug 9:08PM (10/11/2006)
"13. anyone find out what a CATALAC is yet ? lmao"
Its a typo.
I can't believe I'm going through all this effort just to post this.
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tim 9:13PM (10/11/2006)
a catalac is a generic cadillac
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epp_b 9:21PM (10/11/2006)
["Fortunately, affected car owners are reporting that the gas station has been paying for each vehicle to be repaired..."]
"Fortunately"? No, that's the wrong word. Definitely the wrong word. If someone screws up badly enough to damage someone's car (let alone 45 peoples'!), paying to have those cars repaired is a given.
["...or performing the repairs itself."]
Yeah, like I would trust the same gas station that crapped up my car to repair it.
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ramsport47 9:16PM (10/11/2006)
Does no one else know the difference between the smell of gasoline and the smell of diesel?
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