HKA Texas Humble, Kingwood, Atascocita, Texas Humble, Kingwood, Atascocita, Texas
By Amy Davis at KPRC Local 2 News
We count on fuel to keep our vehicles moving, but one Houston man says a local gas station sold him bad diesel. He worries countless other drivers may have gotten the same messed-up mix.
Ryan Pekarik’s Volkswagen runs on diesel, but it wasn’t running very well after he filled his tank at the QMart Shell station at 9410 North Sam Houston Parkway East near Wilson Road.
“It just kept getting worse,” Pekarik said. “The rough starting issues and then it started rough idling.”
A mechanic drained the diesel from Pekarik’s car.
“In the tank was a bunch of dirty fuel,” said Pekarik.
He saved the fuel that was drained from his car, took pictures and included them in his claim to Shell. He wanted the company to pay for his $630 fuel flush, but Shell denied the claim. A representative told him Shell had the diesel pumps tested and they found no problems with the fuel.
Several weeks passed before Pekarik realized he needed to file a complaint with the Texas Department of Agriculture. On May 22, the TDA says the diesel pump failed inspection. A TDA spokesman told Local 2 the failed test generally indicates the diesel fuel is contaminated with gasoline. Inspectors bagged the pumps until the station fixed the problem, but this was a full five weeks after Pekarik’s fill-up.
