Bad fuel leaves cars clunking

Stations close after gasoline, diesel mixed in delivery error

Tom Sharpe | The New Mexican

3/26/2008 - 3/26/08

Several filling stations around Santa Fe closed Wednesday after learning Giant Industries delivered gasoline mixed with diesel, which created mechanical problems for untold numbers of motorists.

A Giant Industries spokesman said the fuels were accidentally mixed in a tank at its Albuquerque pipeline terminal. The "fewer than 40 locations" in the area that received the mixed fuel — both retail stations and wholesalers — were notified of the error late Tuesday, said Leland Gould, director of governmental affairs for Western Refining, which owns Giant Industries.

"We are in the process of removing all the mixed fuel and replacing it with fuel that ... meets our high standards," he said. "We are working with our customers and local repair shops to make sure any of their customers that have been impacted have been taken care of."

Gould said he did not know which stations in Santa Fe received the mixed fuel or how many motorists were affected. But problems were reported at Peerless Tyre, 3010 Cerrillos Road; Giant Service Station, 2961 Sawmill Road; Brewer Shell, 4061 Cerrillos Road, and other Shell stations in Santa Fe.

Kimberly Hargrove of Santa Fe said she filled the tank of her 1998 Toyota Tacoma pickup at Peerless Tyre about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. "Within two minutes, it started struggling ... tossing and choking," she said. She returned to work, but when she got ready to leave at 5 p.m., "it didn't want to start," she said. "I finally got it to go, but it was coughing smoke, so I drove straight to the Toy Auto Man."

Stephen Inoue, who has owned the private mechanic shop at 4774 Airport Road since 2000, said Wednesday he is working on Hargrove's truck as well as another from Colorado that was accidentally filled with the mixture at a Costco station in Albuquerque.

Inoue said the general managers at Peerless Tyre and Costco told him a Giant tanker filled gasoline tanks with diesel at 10 area stations. "They were totally straightforward," he said. "I asked them, 'Did you have a problem with diesel getting into your gas tanks?' and right away they said, 'Yes, we'll take care of any expenses.' "

Inoue said he was told Giant would reimburse affected motorists for hotels and other expenses if they would keep receipts.

Asked about that, Gould said, "All I can tell you is that if they go back to the retail location, all of that has been lined out. ... We're certainly not going to inconvenience a customer. We're going to take care of this the right way."

Although Gould said everyone who received the mixed fuel was notified Tuesday night, Peerless Tyre's general manager said he was not notified until 7:15 a.m. Wednesday.

"It's an unfortunate deal and we really got shafted," said the manager, who declined to be identified. "We don't even sell diesel. So we never should have had an incident."

The manager said Peerless will remain closed until at least this morning so Giant can "pump all the gas out of the station, purge all our lines and (give us) brand new gas. ... A guy in our office said, 'I've been doing this for 42 years, and this just happened one other time.' "

Gould said Conoco-Philips had a similar mix-up in the Albuquerque area two years ago.

Patrick Lovato, another motorist whose car malfunctioned on the tainted mixture, said he filled his tank at Brewer Shell before going to work at the Penitentiary of New Mexico on Wednesday morning — also later than Gould said stations were notified.

Although he noticed no problems driving to work, "after I parked it at work for a short time, then I started having all kinds of problems with it," Lovato said. "It wouldn't start ... and when it did start, it was idling really low. I had to wait a while before I could even put it in reverse to even do anything. Then the engine was knocking really long, almost like a backfiring."

Lovato said when he spoke to his girlfriend, she told him her car was having problems, as were those of four friends and two relatives who filled up at various Shell stations in Santa Fe. After Brewer Shell explained the problem to him, he said, he took his car to the Santa Fe Nissan dealership where six to eight cars were waiting to have the same problem fixed.

Jessica Vargas, a circulation clerk at The New Mexican, said her husband was unable to start her car Wednesday morning after she filled it up with what she thought was gasoline at Peerless Tyre on Tuesday afternoon. She said an Albuquerque dealership where she bought the car picked it up Wednesday and is working on it.

Vargas said Peerless explained the problem and gave her two numbers to call Giant Industries. She said she called, but the company has yet to respond to her. "Hopefully, everything will be worked out here soon," she said.

Inoue said the extent of the problems caused by the mixture of gasoline and diesel depends on how far the car is driven and the ratio of gasoline to diesel. "If they put in a full tank and try to run the car for extended periods, there's a chance for destruction of the engine," he said. "If they have 30 percent diesel and 70 percent gas, there will be pinging, knocking, power loss and smoking ... because the engine is having to work harder."

Inoue said affected cars need to have their tanks drained, their entire systems flushed and their fuel filters replaced. Once the tanks are filled with fresh gasoline, the vehicles should be test driven, their computer information monitored and their spark plugs replaced. Once the engine is warm, oil that might have diesel fuel in it should be replaced. Inoue said this should cost $200 to $500, but more if there is damage.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.