Drivers should watch out for early signs of water damage

FARGO, ND (Valley News Live) – Last week we investigated the findings of a Fargo gas station having water in its gasoline. Now we take a look at how Valley drivers can tell if they have a bad batch of gas.

Water has appeared in the gasoline of a Fargo Holiday over the past month, causing major damage to their vehicles, leaving them with big bills and no means of transportation.

Dennis Johnson, owner of Johnson Auto Repair, says he’s seen quite a few cars arrive with contaminated gasoline in their tanks.

“It’s kind of a major problem, it can, it would get immediate attention if you had that because it can damage the engine,” Johnson said.

Johnson said it’s a big job to repair water damage in a vehicle.

“A year ago I had a Lexus that was 75% water and we ended up taking the tank apart, flushing everything out and it cost almost $1,000 before it was all cleaned up,” he mentioned.

While most drivers need to be convinced that their gasoline is strictly gasoline, they can look for signs that there is water in the mixture.

“Most of the time you’ll get poor engine performance, rough idle, your check engine light may come on and start flashing from misfiring, and too much water will just about stop it,” he said. declared.

Johnson says another sign to look for is poor acceleration and steam coming out of the vehicle’s exhaust.

He says if you see these signs and suspect you have a bad batch of gasoline, the best thing to do is have the vehicle towed to an auto repair shop to have the gasoline tested.

The Consumer Protection Division of the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office said it received four water-in-gasoline complaints from the same gas station.

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