Mistaken Identity

Wednesday was moving day.....we started getting ready to leave around 8 am, and were ready to hit the road around 10 am....right on time!  We bid Ernie "until next time"....who is coming down with a bad cold so no hugs were exchanged.  We got on I-95 and headed north toward Melbourne.....we stopped at the Flying J at exit 131 off I-95 to get propane and a $100 of diesel....it was $4.29/ gallon there so we wanted enough to get our tank above 1/4 and then head up to Melbourne where we were going to spend the night, and Gas Buddy showed a good diesel price in town at $3.95/ gallon.....not bad right now.  By the way, the propane only cost $3.09 per gallon at Flying J.

We arrived in Melbourne around 12:30 and headed to the station shown on Gas Buddy with the $3.95/ gallon price.  We spied the green handled pumps and pulled in.  Right away I noticed the price on the green handled pump was 4.09....much higher than the reported price, so I decided just to get $200 worth, which would put us up over 1/2 tank and then look for a better price on our way up to St. Augustine.  The higher significantly higher price than reported should have been a warning flag, but I missed it completely.

We finished fueling and headed back down the street to the Lowe's to park for the day.  We planned to have lunch with friends, and spend the afternoon with them.

About a mile down at a stop light the engine stopped.  I've never had that happen before.  It did restart, so we continued down the road.  About a mile later at a stop light it stopped again.....hmmmmm....did I get bad diesel?

As we were pulling into the Lowe's parking lot the engine died again, this time for good.  Fortunately it was a slight down hill and we were able to coast to a stop in a decent parking position.

The engine would turn over, but not fire.  I got on the phone with Good Sam ERS and talked with a representative who said he would find a mobile mechanic in the area who could come out.....at this point I was thinking bad fuel....maybe clogged fuel filters.

I then contacted our friends to tell them we would be available for lunch.....Chris suggested they come over, bring some diesel so we could change out the filters (I have two extra sets) and see if that was the problem.  So they came, and we changed the filters, primed the news ones and screwed them back in place.  The DD fired right up and ran for about 5 minutes, then shut down again sputtering.

At this point Chris suggested I call the gas station and find out when they last filled their diesel tank, and had anyone else complained.  I called and explained to the young lady who answered what had happened after I bought diesel at their station......she replied "Sir, we don't sell diesel here"

I was stunned...I had just been there and used the green handled nozzle....she again emphatically said they did not sell diesel at that station......all of a sudden the realization hit both Chris and I.....I had put in 50 gallons of their mid range unleaded gas in my tank.....they apparently use green nozzles for that grade......doh!  Now I have 100 gallons of waste.

Changing out the fuel filters

Shortly thereafter the mobile mechanic arrived.  I told him what the problem was.  We needed to get the bad fuel out, and he was not equipped for something like that....there is 100 gallons to remove.  Chris (Technomadia) suggested (seeing a trend here?) I call a local marina to get a referral for a mobile marine mechanic....he felt they must have to do this kind of thing a lot with boats sitting for a long time and the fuel goes bad, or something.  So I did that and got a referral to a guy who referred me Mike at Trident Oil Disposal who has a waste oil truck which can pump out the fuel and dispose of it. I could have gotten the fuel out, but what am I going to do with twenty 5 gallon cans of bad fuel?  On top of that I would have to buy 20 gas cans at $15 to $20 per pop...cheaper to have someone properly equipped come and remove it.

So, Mike will be here this morning (Thursday) at 9 am to pump out the bad fuel, then we will put about 30 gallons of good fuel in so we can drive to a station that actually sells diesel and fill up......a $400 lesson (just for the fuel....the pump out will cost $150....drive time, plus labor, plus disposal of the bad fuel).

I also talked to my mechanic at Choo Choo Express Garage and Don told me I shouldn't have any engine damage with only a few miles driven.  He said he had a driver of one of his tour buses drive a long way on bad fuel, and he put another 300,000 miles on it after that without a problem.  I felt if I could get out half, 50 gallons, I could add 3 quarts of ATF, or 3 quarts of 30 weight oil to neutralize the gas, and then fill up with good diesel, but I feel more comfortable taking it all out.  After all the price is the same to pump 100 gallons, or 50 gallons out, so an easy choice there.

I'll update later today after we have gotten the bad fuel out, and the good in.......always be sure to read what the pump says....don't go by the color of the nozzle.  Part of my problem was I was expecting them to have diesel based on Gas Buddy, so didn't pay attention.....big mistake.

After we had resolved how to solve my mistake we walked across the street to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner, and I sat there taking gentle jibes from Chris, Cherie and TLE about my bonehead mistake.  Laughter is the best medicine, and I have mostly gotten over the $500+ I just figuratively flushed down the toilet.  If that's the worst that happens on our journey I'll be fine.

It was comforting to have good friends here while we were sorting out what to do....Chris had a lot of good ideas, and I am thankful for his input yesterday.  He got me focused on solving the problem.

On top of that we had a nice place to park overnight.....there is a nice pond right next door to the part of the parking lot we are in.

Thanks for stopping by!