Have anyone heard of the recent series of fuel-gauge failures that have occurred in the Kentucky area these last few days? Apparently it appears to be caused by something in the gasoline that has not yet been identified. AAA Kentucky has reported that garages confirm something is fouling the sensors which can cost up to $900 to replace. The problems have not been widespread yet, but there have been some reported failures in northwester Pennsylvania. A variety of vehicles and makes have been affected with some dating back to 1966 while other are as current as 2003 and 2004 models.
fuel-gauge fouling problems
- Thread starter mojo
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I only heard about it just 25 minutes ago on the radio...on the Paul Harvey thing of all places.....no details, of course.
Anything yielded by searching news.google.com?
Anything yielded by searching news.google.com?
mojo,
Let us know if you find out what it is. I am getting more convinced to run a fuel additive all the time now to combat "unknowns" in the fuel.
We are still getting reports over here of some gas stations diluting the fuel with ethanol, over and above the 10% mandated limit. Ethanol can be purchased here free of tax, gas is taxed heavily, so you can see their reasoning -not their ethics.
Dave
Let us know if you find out what it is. I am getting more convinced to run a fuel additive all the time now to combat "unknowns" in the fuel.
We are still getting reports over here of some gas stations diluting the fuel with ethanol, over and above the 10% mandated limit. Ethanol can be purchased here free of tax, gas is taxed heavily, so you can see their reasoning -not their ethics.
Dave
Just found out from WAVE 3 TV in Louisville, KY that Marathon Ashland admints fault for bad gasoline and pledges to make it right. Apparently, there was one tank that revealed the gasoline contained trace amounts of elemental sulfur which is supposedly removed during the refining process. The elemental sulfur corrodes/reacts with the silver contacts in the fuel sensors which in turn causes the problems. Marathon Ashland has said its Speedway Stations were the hardest hit by this bad gasoline. Marathon has said that if you have a gas malfunction and bought the gasoline after May 3rd, call Marathon Ashland at 888.263.3778 and they will cover your expenses.
Apparently Shell and Texaco are also having problems in the Louisiana and Florida areas due to high sulfur levels. The tainted gasoline originated at the Motiva Enterprises refinery in Norco, Louisiana, according to Shell Oil Co. Motiva is the refining arm of Shell in the East and South. Motiva supplied the gasoline to both Shell and Texaco.
High sulfur levels force gas stations to stop selling fuel
High sulfur levels force gas stations to stop selling fuel
The issue with this fuel gauge fouling is not just the "level" of sulfur in the gasoline, but the type. The problems that occurred with the Ashland/Marathon gasoline was due to the presence of trace amounts of elemental sulfur. When sulfur is in this form, it has a greater degree of reactivity with silver which resulted in the problems. This particular batch of gasoline only had a total sulfur level of 30 ppm. That really is not that high, but within that 30 ppm there was the trace amounts of elemental sulfur. Elemental sulfur is "free" sulfur that exists not bound by hydrocarbons. The follow on reports of problems in FL and the statements that they were due to "high amounts of sulfur" can be misleading as the elemental sulfur is the culprit.
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