Chapter Eighteen
Should you stay or should you go?
The question gets asked occasionally "If a tanker truck is filling the gas station’s tanks at the time I pull up to fill my gas tank should I stay or should I go?"
A gas tanker can hold up to 9,500 gallons of fuel so when it drops fuel into the underground tank at a gas station if by chance there is any silt, dirt or sludge in the tank it is going to be disturbed. But with that in mind, gas stations have filters on the intake pipe and filters at the dispersing pump that trap this dirt, silt and sludge. Every automobile since its conception has had a screen on the pickup in the tank and a fuel filter in line that also traps these unwanted particles.
A lot has changed in the past years; technology, the design of better filters and the introduction of ethanol to our gas supply are just a few to mention. Ethanol is like a cleaning solvent; it goes in and cleans contaminants from both the storage tanks, gas tankers and your gas tank. I know this for a fact as recently I was working on a friend’s 2000 Bentley Arnage, this car is 13 years old and has only 40,000 miles on it, so we know it’s been sitting a lot over the years building all sorts of crud in the tank, lines, filter and injectors. He had some drivability issues which I addressed along with a Top Engine Clean / Fuel Injection Service to get everything back to normal. Carbon is a byproduct from running fossil fuels that builds up in your engine, (not as bad as it once did) so to get things back to normal, this service goes through and cleans the throttle plate, idle air control valve, intake manifold, backs of the valves, tops of the pistons, O2 sensor and the front of the catalytic converter. So I went ahead with the cleaning and for the first time in over 20 years of performing this service the car ran worse, and I mean real bad! Now keep in mind this is a $225,000 vehicle, so nothing on it is going to be cheap. As I fretted over my dilemma I drew my associates together that are the top of their game in drivability and diagnostics. The conclusion I made was that the cleaner I had put in the tank had done its job. It had removed all the contaminants from the tank, lines and filter and pushed them up the line into the injectors creating major havoc for me. Once I realized what the issue was it was easy to correct the problem. The Bentley performed as it should, and I have to add that in my 33 years in the industry I have never ever driven a nicer car.
So should you go or should you stay when a tanker truck is filling up at your favorite watering hole for your car? I go! Everything shows that you should be okay, but because of my history of seeing problems back in the 70’s and 80’s I just feel better about not staying. Sometimes it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks; ask my wife.
“Some people hear voices.. Some see invisible people.. Others have no imagination whatsoever.”