Local drivers accidentally fill up on watery gas; Experts say it can cause expensive repairs

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – A number of drivers may have a hefty car repair bill on their hands after getting watered-down gas from Cowboy’s gas station off of Highway 280.

The owner tells WBRC that a cap was accidentally left off the fuel tank for the pumps and it caused about 370 gallons of water to get into the gas. About 10 drivers filled up with it and local experts said they could be looking at serious damage.

“It can cause damage pretty much instantaneously,” Long Lewis Ford of Hoover Shop Foreman Edgar Barron said. “Usually water in the fuel can cause you starting issues. Driving down the road, it can start hesitating, skipping, not surging, or not running correctly. That’s what you run into with water in it.”

Barron said the amount of water damage to your car depends on how much gas was in your tank, but he said the problems usually start instantly.

“If there is not a lot of gas in it, we will take the gas tank down, empty it and clean it,” he said. “Then, we put it back in and then run the engine again. If it clears out, then you are okay. Some scenarios, depending on how long the water has been in the gas tank, it can cause more damage and your repair can get more expensive. Worst case scenario, it can damage an engine.”

Barron said it likely won’t happen from leaving your gas cap off before a rainstorm, but it’s a problem when it comes straight from the pump. He said it is most common in diesel trucks.

“When we do see it in vehicles, it’s been something that’s been picked up from a bad gas station where the water has entered the actual fuel tank in the ground.”

Barron said there isn’t a way for drivers to tell if it’s bad gas, but there are ways to try and protect your tank.

“Don’t go to a gas station that is not used a lot, because that gas sits underground for a longer period of time,” Barron said. “The best idea is to go to a gas station with a high turnover rate. That means the tanks are consistently being filled.”

Barron said repairs can cost multiple hundreds to thousands depending on the severity of damage, but the owner of Cowboy’s gas station tells WBRC that they’re going to take care of the cars who filled up with the contaminated gas.

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