Some Californians may have been filling up on bad gas for years
- Thread starter crasch
- Start date
-
- Tags
- california gas
LOL. While it's not likely that the gas was "bad" I can see some civil lawsuits for fraud popping up. The tanker company must have made a nice little profit on selling old gas as new. I wonder what they treated it with or if they just mixed it in with fresh fuel. My guess is they just mixed it in at some predetermine ratio.
It came out of old abandoned vehicles that went to the scrap yard. It was old fuel. Old fuel doesn't burn as clean if it burns at all.
Another bloviated headline.
Sheesh.
Seriously. Magnitude of problem? How much went to ground? How many people used this fuel?
I didn't think breaking the law had any leeway.
Did they actually break the law?I didn't think breaking the law had any leeway.
I am not saying what this "Lamb Fuels" outfit did is good if true. BUT how much fuel did they spill?
Also, are the authorities and the press always right? Has Lamb had their day in court?
What are the details?
How many drivers in CA and how many got actual bad fuel?
We don't know details. And details matter.
There should be no leeway, but there are real violations and paperwork violations. It should make a difference if guilty in sentencing.
Don't scrapyards remove all fluids when the vehicle arrives? I'm sure it burned just fine when mixed. This seems more of a permitting issue (ie transporting "hazardous waste") in the eyes of the State of Calif.
They've done an investigation & It sounds like they have enough evidence to support breaking the law. They've started court proceedings already & they pleaded not guilty. The story does lack some about the details. I understood the just of what's going on & I don't know if anyone would have access to the details short of Freedom of info request.
Ya. No HAZMAT permit and a few regarding the sale "disposal" of the old fuel.
From my understanding yes it's removed when before crushing/processing the auto. Don't know how this set-up was though.
If old fuel could be rejuvinated then there would be a wider market for it but the reality is it can't be. Fuel breaks down & once that process starts it can't be reversed. There are products like Stabil that will prevent fuel from breaking down for a certain period of time, claimed 12 months, but that's the opposite of what's happening here.
They're taking old fuel that doesn't burn very well if at all & that will leave more fuel system deposits. I'm all for recycling but it needs to be set up appropriately not just haphazardly taking old fuel & selling it. We can't minimize that fact. They're selling old fuel out of an old car that's could've set for 10+ years. That's not going to "Burn just fine" when mixed as the mixture would be brought down to it's weakest octane value.
It's like saying you'll mix old coffee grounds in with new coffee b/c it'll taste just fine. Or take that old oil that's been sitting outside half open & saying it's ok because it's been "mixed". I know you're not saying that but just kind of the general analogy. I'll note that all of this old fuel comes with all the contaminates like water.
Fuel lasts for about 4-5 months before it goes bad especially in the ultra dry environment of California. The article states that the fuel was "treated" before resold. Who know what that means but again, bet it burned just fine. Sure they may have been some really old gas in the tanks kept by the scrapyard but I'd gather it represented a very small portion of their daily intake of vehicles.From my understanding yes it's removed when before crushing/processing the auto. If old fuel could be rejuvinated then there would be a wider market for it but the reality is it can't be. Fuel breaks down & once that process starts it can't be reversed. There are products like Stabil that will prevent fuel from breaking down for a certain period of time, claimed 12 months, but that's the opposite of what's happening here.
They're taking old fuel that doesn't burn very well if at all & that will leave more fuel system deposits. I'm all for recycling but it needs to be set up appropriately not just haphazardly taking old fuel & selling it. We can't minimize that fact. They're selling old fuel out of an old car that's could've set for 10+ years. That's not going to "Burn just fine" when mixed as the mixture would be brought down to it's weakest octane value.
It's like saying you'll mix old coffee grounds in with new coffee b/c it'll taste just fine. Or take that old oil that's been sitting outside half open & saying it's ok because it's been "mixed". I know you're not saying that but just kind of the general analogy. I'll note that all of this old fuel comes with all the contaminates like water.
The bigger issue is fraud. If I'm buying 2 month old gas it should be heavily discounted but we all know it likely wasn't.
Marinas must have been a big depositor of old, stale gas that's being " Recycled". It's not unusual for them to pump hundreds of gallons of old gas from boats that have been sitting for years , or even sunk. There was a company by me, that said they would "Polish" the old fuel so it could be used. I don't think I would trust that deal tho. But scrapyards have to do something with all the fluids they collect. If the collected gas gets mixed in with gas that's being distilled ,they must remove enough contaminants to pass a quality control test. If gas has been bought, then left to go sour, then someone figures out how to reuse that hazardous waste so it's not dumped on land somewhere, they should be able to get paid for their trouble. After all, oil and natural gas comes out of the ground before it's made into usable product. And there's no law that says it must be posted, where the gas they are pumping came from.,,
How long until the attorneys start running commercials like "Did you buy gas from XYZ between 20xx-20xx? If so, you may be entitled to significant compensation! Our network of attorneys will fight to get you...."
The recycling yards in Calgary drain all the fuel from the tanks of vehicles coming in. No idea where it goes. It’s not far from from the central fuel distribution tanks in SE Calgary.
My opinion on this is how old does gas have to be to be considered "bad"? Every spring I start buying 'hurricane gas' for the generator(s). I usually fill 2 or 3 five gallon cans. Once hurricane season is over, the gas could be several months old, even with rotating it with my lawn mower cans. I'll wait until my oldest car (1992 Saturn) is almost empty, pour in 5 gallons and drive to the nearest gas station to top off. And repeat until all cans are empty. Been doing this for years and the old Saturn doesn't miss a beat. In fact, it seems to get slightly better mileage with the mix. (No proof of this) Perhaps some of the ethanol has evaporated?
dnewton3
Staff member
WOW ....
Not the article.
Rather, the fact that you've been here 19 years, your previous post was in 2005, and you only have 3 total posts.
That's the epitome of restraint!
Old gas when it starts to sour, smells bad . Like varnish. And when you think about the thousands of gallons of other gas it gets mixed with, will help it become better. That, and the additives they put in it will make it usable again. Plus it gets filtered before they send it out in a truck for delivery. I'm sure they didn't just start doing this yesterday, and we've all been running this type of gas for years without issue. All is takes is one conspiracy theory guy to set off the alarm and cause panic.,,,
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2023
- Messages
- 192
So it wasn't " Top tier " ? ...
I know the local pick a part advertises as an employee perk "free gas". I'd run it all day long too.
Similar threads
- Locked