CORNING, Calif. — A fuel mix-up at the Rolling Hills Casino’s travel center has left several drivers dealing with vehicle issues after diesel fuel was mistakenly pumped into the unleaded gasoline tank.
The casino reported the incident on their Facebook page Tuesday afternoon. Stating that the mix-up was on the fuel delivery companies part, who filled the travel center’s unleaded gas tank with diesel. The impact to drivers occurred between 7:40 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Monday night.
Adam Kovarik, shop foreman for Anderson Automotive, advised affected drivers to take their cars to a repair shop immediately.
“What they’ll do is actually swell some of the components up,” Kovarik said. “So you’ll have a fuel pump failure in the fuel tank if you continue to leave it. Long-term problems, even if it’s a little amount, what it can do is damage the catalytic converter, O2 sensors. Gas cars were never designed to burn diesel.”
Kovarik explained that unlike gasoline, which dries, diesel remains fluid, preventing it from burning properly in the combustion chamber and potentially damaging an engine’s delicate components. He warned that repair costs could range from hundreds of dollars to drain and refill the tank to several thousand if parts are damaged.
“It’s a very large repair, and the direct injected cars, the injectors, everything is much more expensive,” he said. “So it adds up really rapidly. You want to get it out of the car as soon as you can.”
The Rolling Hills Casino is asking anyone who filled their car during the affected period to reach out to their Security Dispatch Line (530) 528-3529. As a gesture, they are offering 50 cents off per gallon for all gas types until 10 p.m. Thursday, February 20th.
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