cabe008

Hello all,

Maybe I can get some help. I brought an 08 CPO rdx about 3 weeks ago, and last night the car shut down on my wife while she was double parked, she tried giving the car a boost but that would not work, after about 15 20 minutes all the lights in the car started to dim and and the windows would not go up or down, again she couldn't boost the car. I called acura and they towed the vehicle to the nearest acura dealer which is in Brooklyn NY.

Now the service dept calls me today and says that there was a contamination in the gas tank and that they must remove the gas tank, clean the gas lines, injectors, and the fuel pump they also tell me that this is not warrantable, and that I have to pay around $700 for this work.

I asked the service mgr how could this happen and he said that somebody either put deisel fuel in the engine or something else.

I dont believe any of this because My wife was just coming back from a 1 hour trip, and she put gas in the car before the ride. Any help would be appreciated. thanks

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

possible in that after it had been mixed and such is when it had issues, especially starting


maybe see if she actually kept the reciept from filing up , that will easily tell if it is diesel or not (and if indeed it does say gas on the reciept, maybe the station filled their tanks wrong , which would mean they be liable for repairs)


also for a bit of history, what type of vehicle did your wife come from, was it diesel powered?
just asking for if it could have been habit base, with filling up



also normally it is very hard to fill a gas vehicle up with diesel, the nozzle won't fit into the filler neck, so she would have had to literally hold it there while filling up (but you can stuff a gas nozzle into a diesel neck no issues though)

cabe008

she drove a regular gas vehicle in the past, when she went to the gas station last night she put around 8 gallons of fuel and then drove for about 50 + miles. what really gets me is when I was speaking to the service manager over the phone he barely let me get a word In and kept telling me how his dealership is honest and etc etc. Goes on to tell me that he needs the ok to do the work and if he checks it out and its contaminated then I got to pay, and if its not then he will do the work under the warranty.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

standard practice for warranty work they are not quite sure on what is exactly causing it (like on the wife's subie, had to approve the dealer to look at the engine to see if warranty would cover it, and if not, we would have to pay the diagnosis fee; and if it had not been covered, sure as hell was not staying there...)


as far as him not letting you get a word, cause he is praising the dealer being honest and such LMFAO, almost sounds like he did not even let you tell him exactly what had even happened, i would definitely question that though...



also how many miles on the vehicle?, since it is used, assuming roughly 30k?

cabe008

Thats exactly it, he didn't even want to let me speak, he started to speak to me so fast and not even explaining any thing, I didnt like that,\. the car has 30k, then he kept asking me if i had any enemies and etc etc, when I started to ask him specific questions he began to stumble with his wording and the last thing he said was that he would check it again.

Hey he mentioned that after he removes the gas tank he would be able to check what is contaminating the gas, my question is: cant he just stick something in the gas opening and check the actual gasoline from there? there is around 10 gallons of gas in the tank right now. also my wife left the lights on the car on for 2 hours straight before driving it, could it also be that the battery is drained and the dealer is just not saying anything?

and we also had a subie before the rdx.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

heres the one issue with having enemies though.... why do think the inside gas door release is standard issue on so many Japanese cars (mainly lacking on pickups)(either mechanical/cable/keyed door, or electronic)
because it makes it very hard to tamper with other people's gas, either putting something in it, or siphoning it out



and asking about enemies, personally, that is your business, and not his, his worry should be getting the car running right more then anything (yes there might be something with enemies tampering with it, but it should only be asked about like once MAYBE twice, not focused on


as far as checking the gas through the filler neck, not really, some of them are not the easiest to get hoses down into BUT here is one question i ask though, is why can't the fuel pump be removed for a peek inside (considering it is a honda afterall, it will more then likely have an access plate to the top of the tank, and the fuel pump, either under the rear seat, or rear floor, so the fuel pump can be serviced easily if necessary), and and once the pump is out, you can basically see into the whole tank to see what might be in there
(and should only be like an hour or two maybe to remove and reinstall it, so alot cheaper then that $700, and what says if it won't be covered you don't want an independent shop to clean it for you...)

also on some honda's they also have drain bolts on the tanks too, but not everything may drain out with that method though, so not the best way to check it out

as far as the lights being left on, did the car start without needing a jump then (and where the radio stations still saved for the presets, along with the clock reading the correct time?)
if so the battery was not drained that much, even then the driving should have recharged it anyways (and if she cranked the car for a good 15-20 minutes (depending on how many times she tried though) before the lights dim, when you had the no start issue, that does not sound like a very weak battery (let alone a jump start did not help either)




and on the subie they have there quirks, and the fit and finish is not quite up to Acura/Honda standards, but they fairly reliable cars (minus the 2.5 liter engines with their head gaskets, but once repaired correctly with an undated gasket, they don't have any issues with them again) and almost unstoppable in the snow (as long as the car does not get high centered of course though)
so model did you have then...

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

also i ask another thing, is when the car did not start, did it smoke alot, or at least stumble when it was trying to start? or did it just crank over, and nothing much happened, other then the motor spinning over?