Fuel Contamination

Last weekend, I was riding my R1200RT and got stranded in a small town in Arkansas due to fuel contamination. Here is how it happened and perhaps others have some thoughts about how to prevent it or fix it should it happen to you.

I stopped at an Exxon station in Gould, AR and refueled with premium fuel from the pump. The bike started OK, but died after going about a quarter of a mile and wouldn't restart. I immediately suspected fuel contamination, but had no way to confirm that so had the bike towed 160 miles to the closest dealership in Memphis. (My insurance policy with Progressive covers towing up to 85 miles or the closest dealership whichever is farthest.)

When the dealer service tech drained the tank, the fuel was obviously contaminated. The larger top layer was milky white and there was a smaller bottom layer of darker fluid (apparently water or something else). The tech removed all the bad fuel and replaced it with fresh fuel and the bike has run fine ever since.

I contacted the Exxon District Manager in Arkansas who said it was a problem they are experiencing with ethanol based fuels. He said they would replace the filters on that tank and has offered to repay me for damages/costs. I will let you know how much of my out-of-pocket costs (repair, hotel bill, .etc) they will cover.

So what can we do to prevent this in the future? My riding buddies and the BMW service manager think it might be better to use mid grade fuel if you are forced to refuel in small towns where premium fuel is probably not used that often. In my case, the station was in a small agricultural town (no stop light) where most local people probably use only regular fuel. So the higher grade fuel isn't used as often and is more susceptible to being contaminated as it sits in the tank longer.

Apparently, using national brand fuel such as Exxon versus smaller regional distributors isn't a sure proof preventative measure either.

For a roadside emergency fix, carrying a small siphon hose now make sense. Simply drain the bad fuel and replace with good. The bike should run OK afterwards.

Thoughts?

Lee

It could happen to me but it hasn't. And I just finished a ride thru' several of the western states, mostly thru' small towns.
However, I'm very cautious about where I get gas.
I look into the top of the tank every time I get gas to see where the level has gone to. I wonder if you could have seen the problem at that time.
dc

David13 said:

It could happen to me but it hasn't. And I just finished a ride thru' several of the western states, mostly thru' small towns.
However, I'm very cautious about where I get gas.
I look into the top of the tank every time I get gas to see where the level has gone to. I wonder if you could have seen the problem at that time.
dc

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Some of the premium now is summer blend, I got some of that and start cranking time is doubled, and the first 30 seconds is kind of rough. Then all is good.

With that much water, even dri gas would not help. Contact the state EPA, if water is getting in, gas is probably getting out. and that station will probably go bankrupt rather than fix it Which is still good for the environment since the state will come in and clean it up. I love to canoe, fish and swim in those streams, I do not want to swim in gasoline.

Rod

ragtoplvr said:

With that much water, even dri gas would not help. Contact the state EPA, if water is getting in, gas is probably getting out. and that station will probably go bankrupt rather than fix it Which is still good for the environment since the state will come in and clean it up.

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Yes, that is my next step; particularly if I don't get satisfaction from Exxon.

I don't know how underground tanks are vented, if at all. I can't see how an underground tank could allow fuel to absorb that much water from the air inside in the tank so water leakage into the tank seems more probable.

David, I don't think it's possible to tell that you have bad fuel from a visual inspection through the bike's fuel filler tube. I have a hard enough time seeing if the tank is even full.

The suggestion to use a middle or even low octane fuel in really rural locations is probably great. I mistakenly used regular fuel starting out on a long trip. Moderate speeds, and did not feel/hear any differerence.

Ethanol

Living in Missouri where ethanol is mandated, in desperation I use Stabil Marine formulation. Don't know if it does any good but I have not had any problems. Despite the damaging effects of ethanol, it is here to stay given the farm lobby. It has ruined countless small engines and has caused major damage to boat engines and fiberglass fuel tanks. The EPA wants to start placing E15 in service stations which will exacerbate the problem for those who are uninformed. This is especially true for multi blend pumps that will keep a residual amount of the previous octane in the system ( approximately 4 gallons).

http://www.goldeagle.com/products/product3CC6.aspx

BMW Triumphant said:

The suggestion to use a middle or even low octane fuel in really rural locations is probably great. I mistakenly used regular fuel starting out on a long trip. Moderate speeds, and did not feel/hear any differerence.

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When in doubt you are best to use whatever gas that particular station sells the most as it is more likely to not have the start of separation. As Ethanol fuel sits it will separate and that is bad. Some rural stations sell far less fuel overall then a bigger city station and very little premium and far less then that of a middle grade.

So when it doubt ask someone at the station which grade they sell the largest volume of and get that one. More times then not it will be the Regular.

anchorbend said:

Living in Missouri where ethanol is mandated, in desperation I u Stabil Marine formulation. Don't know if it does any good but I have not had any problems. Despite the damaging effects of ethanol, it is here to stay given the farm lobby. It has ruined countless small engines and has caused major damage to boat engines and fiberglass fuel tanks. The EPA wants to start placing E15 in service stations which will exacerbate the problem for those who are uninformed. This is especially true for multi blend pumps that will keep a residual amount of the previous octane in the system ( approximately 4 gallons).

http://www.goldeagle.com/products/product3CC6.aspx

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I am in Missouri and I get alcohol free premium. Puregas.org can tell you stations near you. i do get a bit better mileage.

Rod

Lee, the exact same thing happened to me, almost the same story, except in Pigeon Forge, TN and at the only Shell station in town. Come to find out after a $400.00 flatbed tow to Pandora's in Chattanooga, that I had pumped in 3 gallons of water instead of premium. I submitted my repair, towing and hotel receipts to the distributor who immediately reimbursed me 100%.

During this process, I learned a lot specifically:

1. Water is heavier than fuel. This means that in your tank, water will immediately sink to the bottom of the tank and will get into the fuel injection system very fast - just like you experienced. That's why you didn't go very far down the road.

2. You can't tell what you pumped, because if it's bad, it sinks fast! You'll still see and smell gas on the top of the tank.

3. Other dealers (specifically a Harley dealer) can't help you with a BMW. Unless your bike is a Harley, the dealer won't or can't work on it...no matter how hard you try. This applied to the dealer in Pigeon Forge - not sure about any others.

4. NEVER get gas when you see a fuel tanker unloading. When they unload, they swirl up the water that is in the bottom of the underground storage tanks and it needs time to settle. Defy this, and you'll pump some water with your gas. Keep going to the next station.

5. All underground tanks have a small percentage of water that sits in the bottom of the tank. When the tanks run low, yes, you'll pump water just like I did. Unfortunately, you don't know how low the tank is, so you'll always be taking your chances. The earlier suggestion is valid - if you think that little premium is pumped, you'd be better off buying some lesser grade.

6. Always, always keep all of your gas receipts. If I had not kept my receipt, I could never have proved that I had purchased gas there. No matter how inconvenient, keep 'em for at least a day or two.

7. If you're desperate for gas but doubt the quality, never fill it up. Only buy enough to get yourself out of trouble.

Lastly, I have no idea if any of this applies to diesel (for automotive/truck purchases), but I KNOW that these facts apply for gas. Kind of ruined a 3200 trip from Denver to the Smokies and back. We were 18 miles away from Gatlinburg!

Happy and safe pumping!

-Kevin

Good advice about keeping receipts, traveling I always pay with card for that reason. Never thought about using regular over premium, although try and avoid using out of the way stations, not always possible. Thanks for heads up

This happened to me - kinda - a year or so ago. Poorly timed a ride home to Clovis, from Tucson. It was Feb and there was snow on the ground in Ruidoso [mountain community]. I planned to refuel in Ruidoso, NM - just at 400 miles from our house in Tucson - I run an Aux Fuel Cell on my RT. I arrived in Ruidoso to find a power failure. All three stations I knew of were down. I rode on to Ruidoso Downs [couple miles] and found the station there also down. I recalled seeing lights on at the Wal-Mart on the hill between the Downs and Ruidoso so - as much as I hate Wal-Mart - I decided I hate running out of gas more.

Cold.
Snow.
Wal-Mart.
Gas.

Being the moron I am at times, I pulled to the pumps and got in line. When it was my turn, I bought premium gas from a Wal-Mart - filled both the bike and the fuel cell. Riding the 200 miles on in to Clovis, I started noticing the bike seemed to be laboring pretty hard as I got near Portales, NM [18 miles from home]. When I stopped at a traffic light, the bike died. Got it restarted with a lot of throttle, and keeping it rev'ed up. Made it home missing and sputtering the whole way. Parked the bike in the garage for the night. Running over the events, the ONLY thing I could think of was bad gas.

Went to the garage in the morning and drained the fuel cell [easy to drain, I have a quick disconnect hose I can plug into the hose on the cell, turn on the fuel valve and drain it into a fuel container very much like the one shown above]. It was pretty clear there was water - a lot of water - in the fuel cell. Problem was now obvious - Moron buys fuel at Wal-Mart, PREMIUM FUEL FROM Wal-Mart at that. Should have known better and just bought enough to get me down the mountain to Roswell. Anyway, siphoned the fuel I could out of the main tank and dumped a fresh gallon in to get to the station down the street and added Seafoam - which I ALWAYS have on hand - to the fresh fuel. Cleared all the problems up quickly.

Quick note: Seafoam is great to get the water out but the amount of water shown by the OP, and what I had in my tanks, was way too much for even Seafoam to handle. You'd still need to drain to crap gas out.

I didn't waste my time calling Wal-Mart to report the problem.

kmolldenver said:

Lee, the exact same thing happened to me, almost the same story, except in Pigeon Forge, TN and at the only Shell station in town. Come to find out after a $400.00 flatbed tow to Pandora's in Chattanooga, that I had pumped in 3 gallons of water instead of premium. I submitted my repair, towing and hotel receipts to the distributor who immediately reimbursed me 100%.

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Small world Kevin. I live just over the hill from Pigeon Forge in Maryville, TN, but rarely go there as there is just too much traffic with all the tourists (same for the Dragon ). We used to have a BMW dealer in Knoxville, but it it went out of business earlier this year and the closest is now Pandora's in Chattanooga. I've used them for service work and have been very happy with them.

Thanks for your information. Apparently fuel contamination isn't common, but it is certainly possible even with nation wide brands.

Speaking of dealers, I was somewhat surprised to find that there really aren't that many BMW dealers in some parts of the country. While standing on the side of the road in a pouring rain with a sick bike, it seemed strange that the only AR dealer was way up in Bentonville.

It seems these stations are being very negligent with there tanks, because even back in the 70s when I was pumping fuel as a kid, we would put some kind of water finding paste on the big stick when we checked the tank levels every day. Man have things changed.

As an aside, my BMW service rep recommended I run some BMW Fuel System Cleaner through the motor so I bought a bottle at the dealer while passing through Nashville. At my next refueling stop, I was surprised to find that the container didn't have a clear strip to view the internal fluid level; it was perfectly black and opaque. So it's impossible to know how much cleaner you are using without pouring it into another graduated container first.

Nice packaging BMW!

BMW Fuel Additive is a formulation of Chevron Techron. The packaging is BMWs color choice, Chevron Techron is in the same bottle - just red. That said, it's not a big deal to pour in about half a bottle. Exact measurement really isn't vital in this case. Regardless what you pour in - the bike will burn it just fine.

junkjohn said:

It seems these stations are being very negligent with there tanks, because even back in the 70s when I was pumping fuel as a kid, we would put some kind of water finding paste on the big stick when we checked the tank levels every day. Man have things changed.

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When was the last time you had someone pump your gas??

BTW - I too pumped gas for tuition in the late 70's

I use 4 ounces of Techron in my R1100R's tank. To get the quantity right, I filled a measuring cup with 4 ounces of water, then poured the water into any empty plastic water bottle and marked the water level on the outside with a strip of duct tape. Pour the water out and set the bottle aside until any remaining evaporates. It sits on my workbench until needed.

SteveAikens said:

BMW Fuel Additive is a formulation of Chevron Techron. The packaging is BMWs color choice, Chevron Techron is in the same bottle - just red. That said, it's not a big deal to pour in about half a bottle. Exact measurement really isn't vital in this case. Regardless what you pour in - the bike will burn it just fine.

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Hi Steve,

Yeah, I just wagged it at the pump and actually came pretty close by putting in 5 oz instead of the recommended 6.6 oz per full tank.

Of course, it's easy to measure in the home garage, but I didn't have a graduated container on the road so was surprised to see that the BMW bottle lacked simple measurement graduations on it.

Not a big deal, but it shows how packaging can look pretty, but be a bit useless to the consumer.

Enjoyed your story about traveling in NM. I've actually attended the races at Ruidoso Downs, drank a beer or two in Cloudcroft, and have had the pleasure of smelling the cow pens in Clovis when the wind was right.

Been a while since you've been here Lee? We don't have to wait for the wind any more, we have so many feedlots now that we have the Southwest Cheese Plant here, all we have to do is open a door....

I like it here. After a while, the smell is only rarely a problem - but when it is, it can take your breath away.

NM is a pretty sweet state for me. I live in Clovis - the high desert. Virtually no traffic to speak of, roads are decent for the southwest and I can ride to mountains within a couple hours, whenever I want. Granted, not many curves until we get there, but I have clients all over west TX and central and east NM. I can't take the bike to work with them very often so dead straight, dead flat decent roads are a good thing when I want to get there fast.

Shoot me an email next time you head my way - coffee's on me.

Startron & StaBil Marine formula

Several of us here in Michigan (not necessarily BMW owners) use either Marine Formula StaBil or Startron. I actually use 1/3 Stabil to 2/3rd's Startron. Been using this mixture for 3 years now in all of my gas engines & boat. In my 1300GT I usually fill up at home for the riding I've been able to do this summer. I also use Techron occasionally as well. The Startron seems to get good reviews with the ethanol mess. If you buy the "better" Startron (most concentrated version) you can easily pack it while on a trip to put in the tank.