Costco sold me bad gas

[Fried Chicken]

This was on the motorcycle; I think I tanked 5 gallons.

This was about a month ago, so I don't have any, nor am I seeking any recourse. Calling costco, they obviously denied any issue with their gas; frustrating because I was seeking diagnostics and not lawsuits.
The bike was running and then puttered to death. I managed to find a hiding spot to test, and got a cough before complete death. Very frustrating, as I was only about 2 miles from home but still had to call for help. It was also hot as blazes.

I initially suspected the fuel pump connector, since I'd just been in there dicking with it. Pulling the quick-disconnect on the fuel line, shoving an allen key into the 1-way valve, and cranking the bike soaked the floor in "gas". I got clued in b/c the gas on my hand didn't feel right, neither in smell nor in texture (wasn't evaporating as thoroughly as it should have).

My suspicion is thus: Costco recently came to the area, an area dominated by regular gas cars and harbor freight tools. I suspect they oversized their premium gas tank, 93-octane, no doubt achieved through the use of ethanol. This degraded, and I got the dregs at the bottom.

Fortunately no engine damage, else I would have probably raised hell. I'm 90% confident in my bad gas diagnosis - no other explanation makes sense. I should start keeping receipts I guess.

 

[nomas]

Your post is confusing . Are you saying Ethanol caused your bike to quit ?

 

[4wd]

Roy D Mercer’s boy had his life changed by bad gas

 

[HemiBenny]

My suspicion is thus: Costco recently came to the area, an area dominated by regular gas cars and harbor freight tools. I suspect they oversized their premium gas tank, 93-octane, no doubt achieved through the use of ethanol. This degraded, and I got the dregs at the bottom.

Wow!

"An area dominated by regular gas cars and harbor freight tools."

 

[Fried Chicken]

Your post is confusing . Are you saying Ethanol caused your bike to quit ?

The gas in Costco's underground tank went bad b/c of the ethanol is what I'm saying.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

The gas in Costco's underground tank went bad b/c of the ethanol is what I'm saying.

Highly unlikely because of their volume. It takes months for ethanol to fall out of phase. Now it's possible they received a bad mix.

 

[Fried Chicken]

Highly unlikely because of their volume. It takes months for ethanol to fall out of phase.

That's why I bring up that the majority of cars here don't pump premium.
Maybe the heat did it in, but I don't have a different explanation for the poor gas I got.

 

[HemiBenny]

Assuming the bike is running properly again, what did you do to rectify this problem?

 

[Fried Chicken]

Assuming the bike is running properly again, what did you do to rectify this problem?

Drained the tank and refilled, bike is back to normal like nothing happened

 

[Thebigm]

The gas in Costco's underground tank went bad b/c of the ethanol is what I'm saying.

Nah they sell too much gas

 

[Oillover]

Need more information regarding the machine to make an accurate conclusion.
How old is it? any mods? what's the mileage?

 

[Zee09]

I'm glad because Costco isn't close to me and I grew tired of all of the cheapskates bloviating about Costco gas and all of the buffonery about it being the greatest in the world blah, blah, blah....

Sorry for the OP though...

 

[Fried Chicken]

I'm glad because Costco isn't close to me and I grew tired of all of the cheapskates bloviating about Costco gas and all of the buffonery about it being the greatest in the world blah, blah, blah....

Sorry for the OP though...

They do, right?

Like I said, my suspicion is the tank they use is too big for the area (they have an impressively large gas station), but nobody here tanks premium gas. I know this, b/c I will sometimes do the "fuel pump walk" where I check each pump and do the mental arithmetic to figure out if the last guy put premium gas or not. I do this b/c I'll sometimes refill the bike with only 3 gallons, really close to the minimum dispensing amount. I'd say the number is significantly under 10% for premium gas... and I also imagine costco is used to a clientele who more frequently tank premium. That and the overwhelming summer heat... I suspect I got the dregs of the oversized premium fuel tank, which was mostly water.

 

[Thebigm]

They do, right?

Like I said, my suspicion is the tank they use is too big for the area (they have an impressively large gas station), but nobody here tanks premium gas. I know this, b/c I will sometimes do the "fuel pump walk" where I check each pump and do the mental arithmetic to figure out if the last guy put premium gas or not. I do this b/c I'll sometimes refill the bike with only 3 gallons, really close to the minimum dispensing amount. I'd say the number is significantly under 10% for premium gas... and I also imagine costco is used to a clientele who more frequently tank premium. That and the overwhelming summer heat... I suspect I got the dregs of the oversized premium fuel tank, which was mostly water.

Try to get behind the car that uses premium gas,

 

[dishdude]

Where is "here"?

I highly doubt you got bad gas from Costco. For the amount of fuel they sell, a shipment of bad gas would have been noticed immediately.

 

[Fried Chicken]

Where is "here"?

I highly doubt you got bad gas from Costco. For the amount of fuel they sell, a shipment of bad gas would have been noticed immediately.

Texas; not a big city, but growing (like every town in Texas)

 

[HemiBenny]

They do, right?

Like I said, my suspicion is the tank they use is too big for the area (they have an impressively large gas station), but nobody here tanks premium gas. I know this, b/c I will sometimes do the "fuel pump walk" where I check each pump and do the mental arithmetic to figure out if the last guy put premium gas or not. I do this b/c I'll sometimes refill the bike with only 3 gallons, really close to the minimum dispensing amount. I'd say the number is significantly under 10% for premium gas... and I also imagine costco is used to a clientele who more frequently tank premium. That and the overwhelming summer heat... I suspect I got the dregs of the oversized premium fuel tank, which was mostly water.

So you walk the pumps and look at the total in dollars and gallons to determine who pumped premium? That's dedication!

Those darned regular gas and Harbor Freight people! Making life hard on you!

 

[dishdude]

Texas; not a big city, but growing (like every town in Texas)

Your username had me thinking only of Kentucky, which would also align with regular fuel cars and HFs.

 

[Fried Chicken]

Where is "here"?

I highly doubt you got bad gas from Costco. For the amount of fuel they sell, a shipment of bad gas would have been noticed immediately.

This was exactly my thinking as well

 

[The_Jeff]

Just because the above ground gas station takes a lot of real estate doesn't mean much for the underground storage tanks. I'm confident they right-sized it. You could probably scrape up real numbers from the fire permits or town GIS data.

They don't "need" bigger than maybe a semi-trailer and a half to get their best pricing. Their 87 octane is likely bigger still so they can get gas at the most logistically relevant times-- times that don't interfere with customers in line to fuel up. For all we know the fill hole could be well off to the side so the trailers don't bock traffic. As you say, there's lots of real estate devoted. Even if they sold one tank of premium fuel a month, that's "fresh enough" and they must sell more than that.

Honestly it sounds like you got water in your gas that the ethanol coagulated with. The question is where did this water come from, was it pumped or did you somehow get rain water, vandals etc in your tank after you bought it? Costco should have a water in-tank warning device and/or separator at the dispenser.