Contaminated fuel from a Port Douglas service station left a number of people with the unwanted Christmas gift of emergency mechanical repairs late last year.
Upwards of five vehicles needed fuel contaminated with water removed from their cars on Thursday, 27 December 2018 after filling up at the Mobil on Warner Street.
Uwe Klinger, owner of Port Douglas Mechanical, said the watery fuel caused the cars to break down almost immediately.
“The servo’s fuel got contaminated with water and when people tried to refill their cars, they didn’t get more than 50 metres,” he said.
“It can cause permanent damage but what we do is change the fuel, clean the tank, put in new fuel and most people were good to go.”
One Mobil customer, who asked to remain anonymous, said they were shocked when their car broke down shortly after refuelling.
“It just conked out and started making loud clanking noises,” they said.
“The motor started to shake and wouldn’t start again so I took it straight to the mechanic.
“All I know is I had some fuel in the tank when I filled up and when I went to the mechanic, he dropped the fuel and there was water a debris in the fuel tank.”
The customer theorises the heavy rain and recent localised flooding of Warner Street may have been to blame for the contamination.
“It’s an old station that is prone to flooding,” they said.
“When I went there the following day, the employees were out the front and they knew there was a problem.”
Mr Klinger said the ordeal was handled well by the petrol station.
“Mobil was good; they looked after them supplied them with hire cars.”
The customer and Mr Klinger report Trinity Petroleum covered the cost of the repairs for the damaged cars and reimbursed affected customers for the cost of the fuel.
Trinity Petroleum, the Cairns-based owners and fuel suppliers of the Mobil Service Station on Warner Street, declined to comment on the incident.
Extracted from Newsport