MIDLAND, Texas — Before anyone fills up at the pump, a warning — drivers in Midland are experiencing serious car troubles after diesel fuel was mistakenly pumped into gas tanks at the Murphy USA gas station off of Andrews Hwy.
Typically, at a gas station, black handles mean regular gas, and green handles mean diesel. However, for some drivers, like Midland resident David Garcia, that wasn’t the case.
"My car died on Friday after I picked up my son from school," Garcia said. "I saw posts on Facebook earlier in the week about diesel in the gas at Murphy’s, but my car was fine, so I thought I was in the clear. Obviously, I wasn’t."
Many people took to social media to share their frustration and to warn others about incorrect fuel at a Murphy’s gas station.
Noah Sanders, the social media manager for West Texas Automotive, posted about the influx his job was seeing.
"We had five or six cars come in that weren’t running," Sanders said. "We probably heard from 20 to 25 people trying to figure out what was wrong with their cars. It all boiled down to Murphy’s."
Putting diesel fuel into a gasoline engine can cause serious damage. It could be the difference between a car starting up, or not starting at all.
Sanders explained that if anyone has a gasoline car with diesel fuel, it would be easy to notice there is a problem.
"It would probably feel a little bit jolty, but most of our cars got towed in from the gas station, they didn't actually get out on the road," Sanders said. "If you fill it up with a full tank of diesel, you're probably not going to get it to move very far, but if you fill it up with about one fourth of a tank, it's probably just going to feel like you're having some kind of mechanical issues."
West Texas Automotive has seen an increase in drivers coming in with the same problem. Mechanics are dropping gas tanks and draining diesel — a time-consuming and pricey process.
"Some shops are having to change fuel lines, fuel pumps and stuff like that," Garcia said. "They're going to have to change the fuel injectors, and flush all the diesel out of the engine."
Sanders added on, saying the damage could be so extensive people could end up needing a new engine.
Fortunately, Murphy's is willing to help cover the cost.
Car owners can request a full service report form, shown below, that a mechanic shop must fill out to receive assistance.
The mechanic or dealership must be ASA or TTN certified according to the document.
Murphy USA also sent the following statement to NewsWest 9:
"As you can imagine, we are already working directly with customers who have reached out. If any other driver believes they may have been affected and purchased either diesel or regular unleaded fuel between 11:34pm on August 21st and 10:00am on August 22nd at our N. Midkiff Road location, our Customer Care Agents are eager to speak with them at (800)-843-4298." - Murphy USA
However, financial problems aren’t the only challenges for drivers who are now without a car.
"I was supposed to start a job this week," Garcia said. "Now, I can’t even do that."
While Murphy’s and local mechanic shops work to fix the vehicles, all drivers can do now is wait for the green light.