Bad gas produces rash of problems

A rash of car problems that began in western Washington and which has spread down the I-5 corridor as far south as California has been traced to a batch of bad fuel that came from Ferndale’s ConocoPhillips refinery.
Symptoms include backfiring, hesitation on acceleration, hard starting and stalling out.

According to Roger Jobs, the Volkswagen and Porsche dealer for Whatcom County, car owners who suspect they may have suffered damage should go to the appropriate dealership for a fuel injector flushing and fuel tank cleaning. “You don’t need a receipt from a station they supply, and all costs are covered, including a certificate for some fresh gas,” Jobs said. All owners need do is show up and make an appointment, and ConocoPhillips will pay the bill, no questions asked.
Calls to the refinery in Ferndale, the source of the bad gasoline, were not returned by Kathleen Pennington, the refinery’s media representative.

Conoco sells to Union 76 stations and to independent dealers such as Fred Meyer and Costco, who are normally willing to tell customers where they purchase their fuel. Joe Khoury of Crazy Dazy’s on H Street, for example, said that he buys only “Chevron, Exxon or Shell, nothing but the best, and so far no problems.”