Disaster averted!

Dr.Jass

Dr.Jass

Pastor of Muppets
I just went out to the garage for a minute, and noticed a very-strong gasoline smell. At first I thought one of the fuel tanks had finally succumbed to rust but after checking the snowblower, lawnmower, Conquest and LeBaron, there was no leakage.

I went over by the furnace, and sure enough the inline filter (which has never leaked) was leaking like a sieve. Fuel was pouring out. There's a huge puddle of fuel in the corner and countless soft-material parts are now junk.

This was a gasoline smell, not a diesel-fuel odor. I have never, ever put gasoline in my furnace tank as it's a recipe for disaster, and yet somehow I've got some in there. Not good. The furnace was running while I was out there and I shut it down to avoid a vapor explosion. I'm thinking the gasoline deteriorated the seal in the filter housing which caused it to leak. I'd set the thermostat to 60° this morning to get the LeBaron somewhat up to temp so I could do some priming and painting on it tonight after upping the temp; there was no fuel smell whatsoever as of 7:30 this morning.

I just put 11 gallons of diesel in it Tuesday, yet the smell is of pure gasoline. No, I didn't screw up because I got to smell diesel all the way home from the gas station, and diesel is its own pump (nozzle size).

My guess is that one of my neighbors had a gas can of old fuel and was trying to do me a favor by dumping it in my fuel tank. I don't believe for a second it was anything malicious... but someone might not know how these things work and just thought they were being nice.

The smell of gasoline is so strong in there I would not venture back out to the garage and dare to turn on the lights for fear of levelling my garage and possibly seriously injuring myself in the process. The vapors are really that bad.

I guess I'll need to tighten the filler plug with a wrench from this point forward, so no one does me any "favors" in the future. :doh:

You have no idea how glad I am I went out there for essentially no reason.
 
Yikes! I had a fuel line on a snowmobile leak on me while I was in the house having supper and taking a break from working on it and I came back to a shop full of fumes with a lit wood stove in the corner. :eek:
 
Having barely survived being nearly burned alive when my apartment burned down about 10 years ago, you got lucky! Good thing you went out there!
 
That could have been nasty.
I once saw the aftermath of an oil tank fire - same thing, someone had put gas in it. There was no real explosion but the house was gone, right to the foundation.

Glad you went out for no reason too. :)
 
You're a lucky man. It's interesting how we do random things, only to find out the reasons later. Take count of your blessings.
 
Someone's neighborly deed left me about $1000 in the hole to replace or repair things the gasoline destroyed, including my air hoses, extension cords, the wheels on my welding cart, countless gaskets and seals, and a set of plug wires for which I paid more than $110. The damage is both extensive and expensive... and after having the windows and doors open all day, one still can't get within 10' of the outside of the garage without smelling gasoline.

What a fuckin' mess. I can't wait for the "helpful" neighbor to tell me how they helped me out. I appreciate the sentiment, but I will explain to them the disaster they did cause, then the disaster they could have caused.
 
Wow that could have gone so bad...glad you randomly wandered out there.

Sucks that someones best intentions are now actually going to cost you big $$$. :(
 
doc is there anything you can save via baking the item?..i just know alot of gas/improper chemical effected items can be saved via baking them
 
Not really. By the time I'd remembered the siphon effect there were several gallons of fuel on my garage floor for probably 12+ hours. I've aired the garage out since the morning after I discovered the leak; the gasoline has evaporated but diesel is forever. :doh: The stuff doesn't evaporate at normal temps and the smell is nearly permanent. At this point I'm no longer concerned about flash-ignition, but it's going to be tough to work in there for a while.
 
Doc, try visiting your local fire dept. and see if they have anything to eliminate the diesel stench somewhat. Or maybe a truck/trailer jobber.
 
Citrus degreasers are your friend. Aromatic enough to over power the smell, and able to cut through the residue on the floor. Though I'd keep Valentine out of the garage for a day or two after.
 
Rusticle, I got exactly that from our heavy-truck supplier. I haven't used it yet; I've been dealing with the fumes whilst working on the LeBaron.

V8440: No admission yet but I think I know who it was. As expected, they thought they were really doing a good thing judging by their sheepish reaction when I explained the disaster. If I'm right, I may never get an admission of guilt but I know it will never happen again. If I'm wrong it's not a big deal as I'm not holding anything personally against anyone at this point--should I find out it was intentional, though, things will change significantly.

Other than the Boozefighters, I really have great neighbors. For example, when I work in the garage I usually put my portable compressor outside since it's so loud. One night, I wasn't watching the time and it got to be relatively late. I was sandblasting which is obviously compressor-intensive. One of my neighbors that has three young children actually came over and knocked on the garage door. I looked at my watch and knew my error before even opening the door, but she was quite nice about it and just asked if I realized the time. I apologized and brought the compressor back inside and closed the door. She didn't suffer silently and bitch to the other neighbors nor did she call the cops. She just knew I was working on my car and that I'd likely lost track of time, so she came and reminded me. No hard feelings either way and we remain good neighbors. That's how it should be.
 
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