lonsal

iTrader: (2)

The day started fine. Kiwanis meeting, picked up parts at McMaster-Carr. I considered stopping at one of the four stations at State College and Ball to get gas, but decided to wait since I still had over half a tank. You'll see later in the story why I'm glad I decided to wait. Then I continued on to Don's shop to pick up my transmission.

Don wasn't there, I called him on his cell and I found out he was an hour away. I had a lot on my schedule for the day, so I couldn't wait. I got help from Jeremie and Alan to get it out and into my truck. Then I went to the Pick Your Part yard on Katella.

I got there just after noon and was in the yard probably 20 mnutes tops. I started the truck and was headed out of the dirt and gravel parking lot when I hear a "ding, ding, ding". I glance down and see the gas pump indicator alit and fuel on "E". WTF? Someone stole my gas!

I pulled a u-turn and headed back to the parking lot, but I didn't want to stall out the truck in the middle of all the commotion, so I pulled it over to the side where I would be out of the way. I crawled under and inspected the underside of the plastic gas tank expecting to find a hole punched in it. Nope, no hole, all is dry. Then I look forther forward and see liquid dripping. I crawled under the front on the passenger side and feel up where the drip came from. The plastic fuel line has been cut.

I called 911 and was transferred to the OC sherriffs. Then I hoofed it back to the PYP yard to speak with the manager. I told him what had gone on and showed him where I'd parked. He went back inside to check his security tapes. Meanwhile OC Sherriff car has arrived. I explain it all to her, show her where I parked, etc. Then we both go t meet the PYP manager.

Unfortunately my truck is too far left to be in the field of vision of the closer camera. Another camera confirmed my truck was in that spot at 12:11, but was gone by 12:29. But it is too far of a shot to see anyone around my truck or see any license plates. I finish up with both the sherrif and PYP manager. Then I call my auto insurance company to start a claim. Finally at 1:19 I called AAA for a tow. I'm told it will be roughly a half hour. Just before that time is run out I get another call saying it will be another half hour. A few more calls from the tow company and they finally arrive just after 3:00 with a flat bed truck carrying a wrecked PT Cruiser atop it. He tried to lift the truck from the rear, but his hydraulic cylinder wasn't powerfull enough to lift it as high as needed. He radios back to the shop (just down Katella) and two other guys show up to help.

I recommended putting the truck on the flatbed and towing the PT Cruiser. That is the eventual solution used. The bad news is that now this means I'm now the second drop off instead of the first. I'm thinking no biggie, I'd overheard them say it's just off the 5 fwy in Pico Rivera.

Were on the 91 fwy headed West forever, then up the 110 to the 10 west again. Nowhere near any Pico Rivera. Try Venice and Pico. We finally drop it off just after 5 PM. I haven't had a bite to eat since breakfast, so I ask to stop at JitB for a small shake and pee break. Then were off again. I had him drop me off at my house arriving just as an Allstate insurance claims adjuster calls for a statement. I had the tow truck driver follow me to the Dodge dealership.

The service writer decides to try driving it closer to the garage. The truck starts and runs fine, so it must be the return fuel line that is cut not the feed line. They'll call me tomorrow to let me know if it looks like tampering or not. I just don't get how they could get roughly 20 gallons out if a line that is higher than the tank at all let alone in the 20 minutes I'm gone. There was no sign of gas on the ground where I'd parked either.

I'm finally done and home again just after 7:00 PM. The bad news compounds. Don called me earlier while we were still in-route. I couldn't hear very well over the noise of the tow truck cab, but I heard enough to learn of an incident back at the shop from when I picked up my transmission. I'll need to work the resulting damages out with Don. Sorry!

And the news goes on... The tow truck driver also pointed out a leak in my drivers-side axle seal while he was hooking up the tow hooks.

What a day! Not my worst in memory, but it has to rank somewhere in the top ten.

Lon

Julie Bergman

Yep, bad day!

1989GTATransAm

iTrader: (3)

...and Jeremy is still standing there waiting for you to look at his door.

BretD 88GTA

Lon, that does suck, but look at it this way — with that cut fuel line, you could have had an engine fire leaving PYP.

Now that, would have made for a REALLY bad day.

Hope everything works out okay.

TA

iTrader: (1)

I hope you get it all out of your system, and the week improves from there. You don't know how good you have it until you have it bad once in a while...

TA

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

Call from Dodge. No cut line, fuel sender functions fine. The drip I saw was from the a/c line. I won't get into what they want to repair the rear axle seal, front & rear brake job. I'll pay the $95 for the diagnostic, but I'm taking it to another shop for a second estimate on the other work.

Now here's the mystery that still baffles me. It registered 5/8 full just before I went to Don's shop. Just over an hour later it registers empty. Where did nearly 22 gallons of fuel go? Locking gas cap on the truck.

I just called them back to ask if the locking gas cap was still there, it is. Then the service writer told me that he used to do smog checks and bought a slim-jim kit that included masters for removing locking gas caps. He described them as being similar to lock picks. They leave no evidence of having been used. Maybe this info solves my mystery. It's too bad that camera that showed my truck in the parking lot was too far away since the gas cap is on that side the camera viewed.

I guess I should be glad they didn't punch my tank. That was the preferred method back in the late 70's during one of the gas rationing periods. Several of the customers at the bowling alley I was working at got their tanks punched and gas drained while they were bowling including my supervisors Cadillac CDV.

Lon

BretD 88GTA

Yeah, but wasn't it only like 20 minutes that you were away from the truck? Could someone pick the lock on the cap, drop in a siphon tube and pump out 22 gallons of fuel in that time? Even with a hand-crank pump it seems to me that it would take some time.
And then get away without leaving any evidence.

Tidbit

I will guess its just another notorious GM Fuel Guage sticking. Every GM car I have owned has done this to me even the Camaro. Both my truck and El Camino will stop at aobut 1/2 tank sometimes when it is actually dropping lower. The first time it did it to me I was puzzled why in the heck I am not getting fuel when my tank is still reading- thought I lost a fuel pump.Then in screwing with the key a few times listening for the pump to prime I notice the gauge finally drop to empty- I thought 'you little bastard'


PS- Anyone else noticing their cars are not getting the same distance on a tank opf gas as they used to do 10 years ago? This fuel is getting worst BTU wise. It might burn cleaner per gallon, but you need to brun 1 1/2 gallons of the crap to get the same distance unleaded use to propell you 10 years ago. I proved this on a trip to Arizona and back a little over a year ago where I got 9.8 miles per gallon going out on Calif fuel and 12.3 coming back on Arizona fuel AND A HEAD WIND through the notoriously windy indio with all the windmills.

'Would love to see what 1 1/2 gallons of this new winter oxygenated crap puts out emissions wise compare to 1 good ol' gallon of unleaded in years past.


My bad day still hasn't ended since march 14th when I was invoilved in that motorcycle fatality. Turns out 4 1/2 weeks later on the police report it was not his mootorcycle and his insurance company is declining liability. SO Now I have a Laywer involved and we finally found the owners insurance company and are waiting for then to accept liability or we will have to begin a big fight- BS- its been 6 weeks and my truck is still sitting there untouched and I can not even fix it with my own money becuase it would mean me tamopering with evidence on our lawsuit. So life has been sucking bigtime with me trying to operate my business practices with the ElCamino that only carries about 500 lbs (an average daily load for me is about 500 and a heavy load is 3700- my truck can carry 4000.) ****** racing on motorcycles!!!!!!!!!!!! and the lives they screw up inclucing his own dead ***.

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

Close. I seriously doubt Dodge uses GM fuel gauges, but it must be either the fuel level sensor, the wiring or the gauge has an intermittant problem. As I waited for the truck to be driven up from service I told Debra that I'd need to head to the nearest gas station (which is in the opposite direction of home from the dealership). Imagine my surprise when I start the truck and find that the gas gauge is registering 3/8 full. OK, it's a bit lower than the roughly 5/8 full it registered the day before, but nevertheless it shows I have fuel, so no emergency trip to the nearest gas station was required. So my bad day wasn't as bad as I originally thought (other than my having to waste 6.5 hours for a tow to the dealer).

I've called Allstate to close the claim.

On the other work we discovered it needed. Yep, mechanic #2 confirmed it. He called me to come back to the shop to examine the rear brake drums, shoes, piston cylinders, axle seal, front rotors and pads. He's replacing the front discs and rear drums (Dodge dealer was only going to turn them) along with the rear brake cylinders and do a complete brake flush for $1099 or roughly $100 less than the dealership wanted for doing less work.

Lon

Tidbit

Opps, my bad, I read Dodge and was stuck on my GM problem when I wrote my comment- Sorry bout that- brain fart.

injdinjn

Dean
If getting a settlement was a sure thing you could rent a new truck. But the way things happen now you could end up eating your truck repair also.
You better hope they dont get his name off anything he had of value, like cars, bikes, house etc.

Tidbit

Thats why as soon as I had info on him and his inssurance company I immediately pressed them for a response and the next day I hired a lawyer. I did not even have his name untikl the face page of the police report was released 4 weeks later. He was already flown to NewOrleans and in the ground 10 days after the accident (I now find out through investigations). I=My thought is I had better get a claim attached to his personal belonging before such things happen- we are on the same page Tom- thank you. I figured it is very likely the wife was paid a death benefit, or still will be- all is still being investigated. But yes, I acted as quick as I could once I learned the info. Nobody would help until I had info to the case.