Is the dealer scamming me?

[Dave Drown]

I bought my tractor a year ago. I have 50 hours on it now. It started losing prime recently. I took it to the dealer. Tech calls me and says whatever is in my tank isn't diesel. I told him yes it is, I got it from HEB and its the same fuel I'm running in my truck. He asked if it was biodiesel. I said no, its regular diesel. He insisted that it was bad and needed to be drained. I could not go check it myself so I said if there is no other choice I guess you have to do it. A day later I remembered I still had some of the fuel left in my fuel can that I only use for the tractor. I compared it with fresh fuel, again from HEB. The fuel in the can was paler but still smelled the same, just a little lighter. I soaked some wood samples in each fuel and lit them on fire. The lit the same, burned at the same rate put off the same black soot. I placed a drop from each on paper. They both spread the same and left the same oil residue. My research suggests the lighter fuel may simply be low sulfur. Now its ready and I have a $650 bill because the take was full of algae and sludge. They did have to replace some parts for the prime issue they were under warranty. Am I being scammed? When it wouldn't start, before I took it in, I removed the pickup tube to make sure the strainer wasn't clogged, even though that should be impossible. It was clean. Looked brand new. The tank was at about 1/4 full, so I topped it off. That's the same fuel I still have in my can. There was no brown color or sludge floating up the top after the top off. It looked normal. Also, when I unloaded it at the dealer, it started and ran fine. I just checked my can again, poured the diesel into a bucket and it looks good.

 

[dusty3030]

Your fuel you added recently could be clean and the tractors tank could be contaminated at the same time. I don’t understand how these are exclusive of one another. You can add clean fuel to a dirty / algae contaminated tank.

What would the motivation be to scam you here?

 

[Ledopmi]

I personally removed and inspected the pickup tube and strainer before taking it in—they were clean and looked new.
I drained some fuel from the tank before topping it off, and it was clean.
Fuel was coming freely through the filter, and the tractor started and ran fine on the fresh fuel.
Yet the tech claimed the fresh fuel I added “wasn’t diesel” and then asked me if it was biodiesel. Shouldn't a competent diesel tech be able to tell if its bio diesel and if it had algae wouldn't that be the claim instead of "Its not diesel"?
If the tank had actually been full of algae or sludge, shouldn't it have been obvious immediately, and would not run normally? In my case, the $650 charge for tank cleaning seems completely unsupported and excessive.
Motive? More money. Scams or overcharging like this are not rare, especially when dealers think the customer won’t push back. Maybe I'm wrong and there is a logical explanation. That's why I[m posting here before contacting Mahindra.

 

[RjCorazza]

I can't really speak to the dealer's actions, particularly without a supporting fuel sample.
I will say that contaminated fuel sometimes (frequently?) requires a "go big or go home" approach.

 

[dusty3030]

Have you called them out on it? Did they show you any pictures or samples of what they found? Anything in the filter?

 

[grsthegreat]

Removing a tractor fuel 5am, and cleaning it can be a major job. My tank would take nearly 4 hours to r&r it.

I always add protectant to my bulk tank and run it thru filters. In 30 years of tractor use, I’ve never gelled or algied out any diesel.

 

[Ledopmi]

I've not asked for proof yet. Have not been there to pick up tractor. I wanted to see if my concern seems valid or if I'm missing something. I had something similar back in 2001 with my new Trans Am. It would start running rough, then it would clear up then run rough again. I took it to the dealer over and over and they always found something to replace under warranty but the problem kept coming back. I was starting to get pretty annoyed that they could not fine the problem and my annoyance was beginning to show. Finally, they claimed I had fuel contamination. $500 charge. Even though I had ran five full tanks with this problem, somehow it was contamination. They didn't know what kind of contamination though. It just "didn't look right". The problem didn't return though but it really seemed strange. I wonder if they found the actual issue and fixed it under warranty then charged me for a tank clean because I was starting to lose my temper.

 

[Ledopmi]

What kind of protectant? If the fuel was bad somehow I don't want it to happen again. I don't have a bulk tank. I just take gas cans to town when I need more fuel. I don't use it a lot. 50 hours in one year. I don't know if I should contact Mahindra, argue with the dealer or just pay it. If it was only a couple of hundred dollars I may not worry about it but $650? The tank didn't look that hard to remove, but I didn't look into it in detail. My focus was pulling the pickup tube. That was simple enough.

 

[dusty3030]

I’d just talk it through with them. No harm in questioning it. Common rail high pressure injection systems we have now in diesels have zero tolerance on fuel contamination. Water especially.

 

[shooterdon]

I have been using a biocide and another product that absorbs water as well as a diesel fuel additive since reading about some of the stories post here.

It is not cheap but better than the alternative.

 

[rScotty]

I think the test is this: Did the work done by the dealer's mechanic fix the problem or not? If it fixed the problem, he has a claim on some of the money but maybe not all.

You're not going to ever know for sure if the contamination was already in the tank when you bought it...or got in there from some recent fuel.....but the dealer can't know that either.

When I had my shop and a customer came in with a concern like that - an argument that made sense to both of us - I would usually just reduce the bill and kiss the profit on that job goodbye.

rScotty