hi everyone

2009 maxima S, about 38,000 miles

recently i filled up at a local gas station and the SES light popped on about ten minutes after i pulled away

car started to rumble, shake etc. at an idle

acceleration felt a little bit off too..

as it didn't seem like anything absolutely dire, i let the car sit for a few days, took it on a small trip or two as need be. finally, i had the chance to take it into nissan and get it diagnosed. well, as it turns out, the gas is contaminated. it will cost over a thousand dollars for the problem to be resolved, as they need to replace a sensor and clean the fuel injectors, gas tank, etc.

i have contacted my state's department of agriculture and made a formal complaint, in addition to notifying the gas station & distributor of the problem. they seem somewhat reluctant to believe that their gas is bad (surprise). the gas is being tested by a state inspector now, but it will take a number of days for the results to come back. until then, my car will sit at the dealership.

the warranty i have on the car won't cover this because of the damage inflicted, rather than the failure of the part itself. i was told even during the 36,000 mile bumper to bumper i would have been responsible for the repair as well.

has anyone else had this kind of problem before? what was the final outcome? are there any tips you can give me?

 

I've never heard of such a problem but I wish you the best of luck.

 

No suggestions here...just a whole lot of empathy.

 

Just wait for those results to comeback, if there was somethign wrong then they will Have to pay for it.

 

Wow, thats just crazy man. Keep us posted on this. What gas station was this?

 

This happen to a friend of mine, the idle was messed and it would stall, just like you described, the dash lights lite up like a xmas tree, my solution to the problem was take his car to the jersey shore, a good highway run to get the gas out

Drove it to almost empty and then filled it up, car was fine

 

This was not an uncommon problem back in the 1940s and 1950s, but I haven't heard of this happening in decades. It may be that all this widespread flooding is beginning to affect underground storage tanks. If flood water finds its way into the storage tank, that is very bad, as most flood waters are very polluted with all kinds of toxins and other chemicals.

You may have a real problem in that it was several days between the time you got the gas and the time the state inspector took his sample from the station. If the station had a gasoline delivery during that interval, all bets are off.

As advice to some here, running out of gas with the 7th gen (and many other modern vehicles) can also result in damage to some of these new environmental protection devices, such as the catalytic converter. Getting a new cat installed might cost between $500 and $1000.

 

yeah i don't think it running it to near empty is really the best idea, nor would it fixed the broken sensors

i was told the gas had a mix of some type of oily substance in it that wouldn't burn, rather than the high water content that most see when they get "bad fuel"

still waiting on the results to come back. thanks for the kind words everyone.

 

Good luck I know Shell had a big thing going on with bad gas keep us posted

 

update:

i traded it in and got a 2011 crimson black S

they provided me with a repair invoice and letter head stating the amount of damages caused by the contaminated fuel at the time of the trade

still no reply from the state, which should be monday (keeps getting pushed back) according to the inspector

 

pic of the new car

 

Damn really had to do all that, sorry to hear

 

Hopefully you made out in this deal, did the numbers fall into your favor, and I guess you won't be getting your 1st fillup at that certain gas station that started all this

 

yeah everything went fine w/ the trade process and came out as i hoped

i will continue to pursue payment for the amount of the repair invoice though

 

Well I'm coming in a bit late on this but the dealer's prescription to this sounds like BS to me. Unless the fuel was varnish or had sugar poured in it I can't imagine how it would destroy the fuel system. Did you happen to keep a sample of the fuel?

 

they have a sample of the fuel

whatever i got ruined a sensor and required the tank to be dropped and cleaned etc etc

i don't really know what interest the dealership would have in misdiagnosing the problem

 

LOL mayb it was just a plot to make you buy a new car??

 

you know whats funny on the way to south carolina i noticed something weird i stopped to get gas @ shell twice and when i did 5 minutes later my check engine light turned on and at idle my rpm's where at about 1200-1500 i pulled the battery and it stopped it actually happened twice good thing i only put $20 both times.....for some reason i had a feeling it was the gas because i know for sure nothing is wrong with my car....good thing i had a bottle of racing fuel so i just poured it in the tank and it stopped. never get gas at a random exit off the highway where the station is next to a corn field in the middle of no where lmaoo

i usually always get BP