Archived Water in fuel voided warranty and truck won't run

[JHerford]

I purchased fuel at local store and the next morning I went to start the truck and water in fuel light came on. called the dealership and they said it would be a week before they could get to the truck so I bought a fuel filter at a parts store and installed the filter. I followed the instruction. I drained the filter canister as directed and installed the new filter and torqued the filter top to 24 lbs. I then turned the key on and off 4 times as the instructions indicated to fill the fuel canister. the truck would not start I tried repeating the steps for an hour and the truck still would not start. I had the dealership pick up the truck (2010 Dodge Ram 3500 dually 6. 7L cummins) and they checked the vehicle and said that I had broken the fuel canister. The truck never leaked fuel while attempting to start it. The dealership also stated that it would cost $1800. 00 out of pocket for the repairs and the engine warranty was void due to there being water in the fuel and the entire fuel system would have to be evacuated. I did not allow the dealership to do the repairs due to the fact that I inspected the fuel filter canister and found the crack in the canister was on the left side of the mounting bracket. As if the canister had been broken while removing the cainster lid. I called Dodge and they stated they were going to stand behind the dealership. I had the truck taken to a diesel repair shop and it is showing open circuit on the first four injectors.

the mechanic says that he might have to put new injectors in the vehicle. Is there any thing I can do to find out if the injectors are bad. The vehicle has 24,000 miles on it.

 

[Simplysmn]

I think I would be fighting Dodge on this and go up too the Top forget the middleman you have to start with .

 

[JHerford]

Tried that I have a complaint number with Dodge but that still has not helped me get it running or kept me from draining my pocket. They (Dodge) said the warranty is void at 24,000 miles due to water in the fuel and thats not going to change I talked with a supervisor in the complaint department and they said there was no one at Dodge to dispute there decisions. And yes the conversation was recorded by Dodge. The supervisor did put me on hold and talk with the dealership before they stated they were going to stand behind the dealerships decision to void the warranty. I should have known that they were going to find some reason to void the warranty. The last time I had the truck into the dealership the service manager threatened to void the warranty if I had a in the bed auxillary fuel tank/tool box connected to the fuel system. He stated that any add on items would void the warranty so I have been riding around with a useless auxillary fuel tank in the bed of the truck waiting till the warranty ran out. I guess I can have it hook up now.

 

[Simplysmn]

Sorry to hear you have a jerk for a dealer but I have been where you are and trust me ask for the hire up supervisor there is 1 you just have to demand that they let you talk to 1 let me look through my paper work and see if i can find the 1 number I have for the sup that helped me out when i had the problem's with my local dealer

 

[JHerford]

Thanks Simplysmn, Any information you could give me I would greatly appreciate. I am in a Nine Line Bind.

 

[JHerford]

I have also contacted Fox news and my local news channel in houston, texas and no one seams to want to inform the public on what the dealership and Dodge is doing. I help bail them out when they were in trouble and now that I am having trouble they just turn their back. This is the third and last Dodge I will be buying. I hope after people read this information they start to ask questions and do research before they decide to buy a new vehicle. At least if I decide to buy another vehicle it won't be with Ragland motors in Angleton,Texas. I will be also asking what the price of the vehicle is without warranty...

 

[Jim W]

Did you try the fuel seller who sold you the bad fuel?



Did you keep the receipt for your fuel sale?



The station where you bought the fuel and his distributor should cover the expense to replace the fuel system. If this is where the water in fuel came from, then other users of that diesel fuel station should be contacting them also for damage to their fuel system.



To me the seller of the bad fuel should be responsible for the damage to the fuel system not Ram or any other manufacture of vehicles and machines.

Jim W.

 

[SierraRam]

So I guess Dodge needs to change the "Water in Fuel" light to "Warranty Void" light!

 

[AMink]

This is the third and last Dodge I will be buying.

I doubt Ford or Chevy/GMC would be any better with the warranty issues. Have you tried a different dealer for a "second opinion"? Some dealers are way more open to aftermarket options, especially things that don't change performance. Voiding the warranty for a bed tank would be like voiding it because you put step rails on.

 

[p-Bar]

I'm with Jim W go after the fuel depot where you bought it from.

 

[rrl989]

Cummins is guilty for having a poor water separation system, there should be a failsafe in place shutting down the injectors before it grenades the fuel system.

 

[RMcKenna]

am lost here did the truck run when you parked it also how much water did you get out of the filter housing ?

 

[Missouri Mule]

The fuel supplier should responsible for water in fuel. They have insurance to cover things like this.

Always get a receipt when your put fuel in your tank.

You need to sample your fuel in the tank for water! Were and are you still getting water in fuel light on?



Water in fuel is not Dodge's problem,nor is algae or bacteria!

 

[Regcabguy]

Contact your insurance company. Your comprehensive coverage should cover it. They'll battle it out with the fuel source.

 

[BIGNASTY]

As per the above post's I WOULD BE UP THE FUEL STATIONS A** WITH TRACK SPIKES ON. When I was hauling fuel any problem like that can be traced back to the source. If the tank in the station had water in it the Veeder Root would show it. If the truck brought it in the Veeder Root would show an increase in water in tank AFTER the truck dropped the load. If the station says that they dont keep the veeder root print out then ask them if the department of weights and measures knows that?? its the law for just such problems. These new electronic BS items that the Government made the stations install do help sometimes

 

[HHhuntitall]

I'm with BIG on this one... . contact the fuel store, if they don't want to co-operate, then hire a lawyer. Yes, it may cost you $1500 or a little more, but what's a new engine cost... .



And as for your dealer voiding your warranty for an aftermarket fuel cell, I'd sick the lawyer on their butt, too! I don't like lawyers, for the most part, but they have a place, too, kinda like the Electronic BS BIG was talking about... ... . It's not your fault you purchased a faulty product, in this case, fuel. As it destroyed your engine's injection system, it's the fuel distributor's fault AND problem. If you can get insurance involved, you should get a "comparable" (yea right, good luck on that) truck to drive while yours is getting fixed. What's really not right is that you may have to resort to a lawyer just for them to take you serious..... This country is in a state of Apathy... .

 

[Sticks]

The fuel supplier should responsible for water in fuel. They have insurance to cover things like this.
Always get a receipt when your put fuel in your tank.
You need to sample your fuel in the tank for water! Were and are you still getting water in fuel light on?

Water in fuel is not Dodge's problem,nor is algae or bacteria!

Exactly this. The end user (you) is responsible for the quality of the fuel. Probably worded something close to that in your actual warranty paperwork.

I would work with Dodge to simply void the fuel system warranty, not the entire vehicle, and go after the fuel supplier. May be able to reinstate your warranty if all the required repairs are done.

 

[JHerford]

Here is the latest Guys, I contacted the fuel supplier they said there is no way that I can prove that their facility was the last fuel station that I fueled at and they have had no complaints about other vehicles reporting water in fuel. The mechanic that is working on my truck however stated that he got two other truck in with water in the fuel but a different fuel station but supplied diesel from the same delivery trucking company that delivers fuel to local fuel stations. I am still working on it. I did however call the insurance company 21st century and asked them if I could file it on my insurance under comprehension and they stated that I could file the claim. I also asked them if it would make my insurance premiums go up and they stated that in the State of Texas it would make the premiums go up. I asked them how much and how long and they would not give me a estimate on the increase of the premiums. All they would say was it depended on the claim. The mechanic stated that injectors 1,2,3,4, showed a open circuit but when he reset the ecm that the injectors would clear until you tried to start the truck. He is not sure if it fried the injectors until he says he runs a ohm test. I feel like there is still water in the injector system and there is some type of safe guard to keep the water from entering the injectors so when you try to crank the truck the injectors fail to a open curcuit. Does anyone have any input on my theory?

 

[BIGNASTY]

The poster of this thread you dont have where you are at in the states. No mind when I dropped fuel no matter where I went in the state of CA/NV/AZ/OR Those were on an somewhat regular basis and a host or other parts of the country that when a natural disaster hit. We (my truck partner)and I would go to the site and pump out fuel tanks and resupply the stations to get the area back on the road to recovery. No matter where we went one thing in common the tanks didn't get the fuel/gas from the bottom of the tank. The tanks are designed to stop pumping fuel anywhere from 800 to as high as 1500 gals left in the tank. So depending on the type of tank THAT IS A I TRIED TO BY-PASS THE CUSSING FILTER LOAD OF PRODUCT LEFT in the tank. The water in tank sensor (Veeder Root) will detect as little as 1 or 2 INCHES in the bottom of the tank. The tank pick up in NOT ON THE BOTTOM of the tank but above the 800 to 1500 gal. left before shut off. Point is that the tank at the station had to have a bunch of water in the tank water goes to the bottom so when the folks that are called to remove the water so the veeder root will stop BEEPING they have to pump into a truck and PAY TO DISPOSE OF THE HAZMAT product. Some dont want to pay for this. So they leave the turbines on mixing all the crap in the tanks up and it goes into unsuspecting customers car and DODGE CTD TDR CUSTOMERS TRUCKS to get rid of the problem. I hope this made sense to you because the gas vendor is the one that should be paying for you problem. When we picked up fuel at the rack TRUST ME they put NOTHING BUT FUEL/GAS into the truck. The oil companies have enough WATCH DOGS ON THEIR BUTT to make sure of that. The station has just as many but not as deep of pockets so WHO WOULD YOU WATCH MORE Major Oil or Ha beeb the marry camel F er?

BOTTOM LINE THERE HAD TO BE A BUNCH OF WATER IN THAT TANK TO SCREW UP YOUR TRUCK. I would like to know how much you put in your tank to do this.

BIG

 

[JHerford]

Big, I live in South Texas about 45 minutes southwest of Galveston and south of Houston. I put in around 25 Gallons I can't Remember I will have to look at the receipt again. I should know by heart by now I know the receipt was for $88. 00.