Bad fuel from big station

[Milbikes]

Well, my 6.5 Suburban started right up today (4 degrees outside), warmed it up and headed off to work. Got about 1/2 mile and it started to starve for fuel and then died. Truck has recent new tank, lift pump, injector pump etc. Looked in the filter housing, barely any fuel. Had it flatbedded home.

Started up the M1008, warmed it up, and went off to work. Guess what? Same thing. Got that one home.

Tarped over the suburban, and put a propane cannon heater under it, and warmed it up for 45 minutes. Got it started, added a bottle of Diesel 911, and then filled the tank at Mobil (Canton, CT), and filled a clean five gallon plastic can. I poured some of the new fuel into a glass jar and left it in the garage.

Drove around the rest of the day. Came home, looked at the jar of fuel, and it is clouded badly!! Can't see through it! Little lumps floating in it!

The sad thing? I have a jar of fuel purchased this SUMMER that is still clear as a bell!

I am really ticked at Mobil! Selling fuel that has a cloud point that is only suitable for hot weather!! At $3.69 a gallon, times 27 gallons, I now have a full tank of cr^p fuel. What are my options?

IF you are in CT, AVOID buying fuel from MOBIL. It is CR@P.

 

[mr.travo]

Wow..... Just wow.....

 

[DUG]

Your fuel pretty much comes from the same place no matter what the station. Fuel moves it way through the refinery system until it gets to the terminal. The terminal stores the fuel in massive tanks and can store products from many different companies in the same tank, since base products are identical, it's only when the product is loaded at the terminal rack into the tanker for delivery to your local station that it becomes "Exxon", "Shell", or "Mom & Pop" fuel.

If you followed the trucks you could see Mobil and Arco trucks filling up at the same place.

 

[Westech]

GO to the station and talk to the manager. I bet your NOT the only one.

 

[gimpyrobb]

I have heard that the new ULSD is causing problems everywhere its cold.

 

[1986Blazerk5]

My brother on a trip down south on his motorcycle got a bad tank of gas in his bike, and it stalled on the highway. And he had to be towed to a shop where the fuel system had to be flushed out. I told him to go back to the gas station where he bought the fuel but he didn't. If it was me i would go back and b***h the manager out saying you want a free tank of GOOD FUEL. And they pay for the tow and repair to flush the fuel system out.

 

[bratpackdad]

If you send an email to corporate and go to the station you will get a gift card.
I did.

 

[Milbikes]

I sent an email to Mobil. We will see if they respond. When I was in the local Napa auto parts this morning, they were going crazy selling diesel treatment and batteries to all of the local diesel owners. They said it was like a plaque that hit the diesels. The flatbed driver said his truck was running weak in third gear and above. He said it felt like his filter was clogging up (Wax precipitates do that...). At this rate, I will be riding my Ural sidecar to work.....I don't really want to do that. It will handle it nicely, but human tissue doesn't do well in -20 wind chill.

 

[Ferroequinologist]

I got almost a 1/4 tank of water in my dodge diesel one time from a mom & pop truck stop in VA. I was on the way here to SC towing my other pickup. I had to pull over several times, water in the fuel light, etc etc. Too bad I was halfway into NC when it happened, and I HAD to get to SC. So I kept dumping fuel and got to a station to top off with clean. End of it all cost me 1200 bucks to have the lift pump replaced, tank flushed, etc. By the time I got back to the truck stop, they just laughed at me, said I couldn't prove it was their fuel. I called the BBB anyway and left a complaint.

Don't fill up at a diesel pump unless it has the big filters on the outside of the dispenser. Also, maybe carry a glass jar and pump some in to it first to see what your getting.

After what happened, that's the reason I burn my own fuel 99% of the time. I know what I'm getting.

 

[Edgethis]

Hopefully you get a reply from the office and some free fuel. That's just ridiculous.

 

[O.D. Fever]

I have had the same results using Mobil fuel. I only buy BP localy in the winter as it is winterized fuel. 3 days to thaw out that Mobil crud.

 

[wikallen]

In the winter, I try to get my fuel from the Kwik Star company that are around my area. They use anti gel and guarantee it. When I fill up outside of Kwik Star areas, I use plenty of Power Service.

If a fuel is labeled at Winter Blend, then I would not expect it to gel so easily. I would call the station where you filled your trucks.

 

[southdave]

I dump about .5 gal of prem. unleaded in 30 gal of diesel and get a 30 mircon fuel filter with a heating element installed betweem the stock filter and the tank

 

[Bighurt]

Looks like you have been a victem of the fuel hike. Distributer probably sold summer fuel, or potentially mobile just miss marked their fuel. Possibly a bio blend higher cloud point. Here our #1 is B20 blend which has a cloud point nearly identical to #2 non blend.

I run stanadyne additive in every tank.

 

[Unforgiven]

Old underground storage tanks leak. Many are simply mild steel. They get old, rust, and leak. They leak fuel out (which makes the EPA very unhappy) and let water leak in (which makes the consumer unhappy).

I used to work as an environmental geologist. The largest chunk of our business, the cash-cow so to speak, was from gas station assessment. Our job was to drill sample holes all around the stations & check for soil contamination. I'd say that 3/4 or more of the gas stations had to excavate their tanks & replace them. Some were outright shut down by the EPA and never reopened due to the cost of replacing the tanks & disposing of the contaminated soil.

I wouldn't blame Mobile per say. But rather it is the owner of that particular gas station who hasn't maintained his underground tanks.