Posted on 05/15/2014 2:13:04 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A Bergen County gas station is under investigation for allegedly selling contaminated fuel. As CBS 2′s Hazel Sanchez reported, a woman said that her gas tank was filled with water, and now she wants the station owner to pay.
Adrienne Roetman said that her nightmare began when she filled her car’s nearly empty tank with contaminated gas from a Citgo station in Midland Park, New Jersey. It didn’t take long for the car to die.
“It just died. I mean, it wouldn’t start.” she said.
Roetman was driving a one-year-old Mazda3. A Mazda dealership mechanic said that the engine died because the gas tank had been filled with water.
Midland Park police have had to rescue more than a dozen stranded drivers, but gas station management blamed the problem on a bad fuel delivery.
Mechanics said that Roetman’s car needed new fuel pumps and injectors. The repairs cost more than $3,000.
Station owner Mohit Chopra took responsibility for the damage, but told Roetman, via email, that he would not pay her bill.
“We cannot issue a check for an unreasonable bill. Any auto expert can explain that in a case of bad gas replacement of parts is not required,” the note read.
Roetman said that Chopra initially agreed to pay the bill and then rescinded his offer. Station management said that the owner paid for the damage to all other affected cars.
“I do not have the money to put out to pay for all these expenses that your gas station has incurred on me,” Roetman said.
The Bergen County Division of Weights and Measures inspected the station and confirmed that it had sold contaminated gas, but had since been cleaned.
They said that the owner was not issued a violation, but could be if it is found out that he did not properly reimburse affected customers.
OEM parts from a dealer are not sold at Rockauto prices.
Sue Maduro.
New Mazdas are direct injected which means an electric fuel pump at the tank, a mechanical fuel pump at the fuel rail, and then 4 bosch in cylinder injectors (similar to a deisel) which are several hundred dollars a peice.
If I were to play amature detective here I would wonder were the parts truely damaged or is the Mazda dealer covering their butt while the car is under warranty. I suspect that the other cars who got bad gas had their tanks dumped and fuel system flushed to the tune of a couple hundred dollars. When the owner saw several $300 bills and then a $3,000 bill he balked.
Maybe, but I was far from home and had no access to any tools other than the ones under the seat.
water in the fuel system would have caused no damage whatsoever.....no mechanical damage would have been caused PERIOD .....I was in the foreign car repair business for 30 years....
I stopped buying Citgo gas years ago when I found out it was Hugo Chavez’s company. I know he’s dead now, but the corrupt Venezuelan government still owns it.
Please explain how the water will destroy the injector, pump, and what the hell does the regulator have to do with it?
Hell yes the providor should and must take care of what happened. It did not destroy the above mentioned items.
ps the "regulator" is an electronic chip and computer program.
It is great for drinking but sucks in an internal combustion engine. It has cost me a lot of dollars with small engines. It is hell on seals and tubing of small engines.
The best place for ethanol is in glasses for drinking and the hell away from internal combustions engines.
“Hell, if that Mazda is a rotary,...”
Sadly, Mazda no longer sells a rotary engine.
I have seen water intrusion into injectors cause pitting and uneven flows. On a small engine it could cause severe performance issues. Especially if it is a high pressure system.
Yeah, now I see I’m the pot calling the kettle black.
I’ll have to get a piece of pipe for my truck—once it’s rolling again.
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