Will My Insurance Cover My Bad Fuel System?

Here is a couple of scenarios where insurance has covered bad fuel systems and when they have not:

• Scenario 1: A customer put DEF into their fuel tank on their 2017 Ford F- 250 rather than the DEF tank, on complete accident. They ran the truck, unknowingly and destroyed their entire fuel system in a matter of about 30 minutes. Diesel is the only component which lubricates the high-pressure fuel pump, any sort of contamination inside of this pump assembly will cause catastrophic damage (IE. water, dirt, gasoline, def fluid, etc.). The damage occurs on the cam lobe & roller of the injection pump. The metal begins to deteriorate and will send metal shavings through the entire fuel system. Furthermore, in the case of DEF fluid, it begins to crystalize and form chunks inside of injectors, fuel lines, and sensors causing failure. The only way to effectively fix the problem at hand is to replace the entire fuel system.

• Decision: Because the customer put the DEF fluid into their fuel system on accident, it is treated no differently than you crashing into someone. They covered the entire fuel system replacement minus the customer's deductible.

​​

• Scenario 2: A customer filled his truck up at a gas station after running below a 1/8 of a tank of fuel remaining. The fuel this customer received was less than adequate and contained debris and water. Before he was below a 1⁄4 of a tank, his truck quit on him and left him on the side of the road. After testing his fuel, we found that the most likely cause of his injection pump failure was the fuel he received from that fuel station.

• Decision: The insurance company paid to have his fuel system replaced.

 

• Scenario 3: A customer came to us with 300,000 miles on his 2011 F250 with the 6.7L diesel, he said for the past few days the truck has been surging, hard to start and he feels like it’s not performing the way it should. His check engine light was also turned on. Upon further evaluation, we found that his high-pressure fuel pump was on its way out. Although it was still running, bits of metal were beginning to accumulate in the VCV bore. We tested his fuel and found no issues of contamination besides the metal in the system.

• Decision: We had no jurisdiction to submit this claim to insurance, no contamination was found, and we could only assume normal wear and tear on his vehicle. This customer kept up with his fuel filters and the fuel he was putting in the truck was up to low-sulfur diesel specifications.

​​

• Scenario 4: A customer came to us with multiple injector issues and lack of power on his 2011 Chevy 2500 with a 6.6L Duramax. Upon our diagnosis, we found that someone had poured a mixture of sand and water into his fuel tank.

• Decision: The insurance company covered his entire fuel system. This would be a similar scenario to someone undertaking a hit-and-run on your vehicle. Unfortunately, he is still unaware of who did this to him, but he had full coverage on his vehicle which took care of the fuel system for him.

​

​

Why did my CP4 Pump fail?

• Although we’re completely certain, the best theory we have been able to conclude is related to the ultra-low-sulfur content in the diesel sold in the US, and the type of metal used in the CP4 pump. All on-road diesel vehicles in America are required to run low-sulfur diesel, during the process of removing the sulfur, lubricity agents in the fuel are removed causing pre-mature failure inside of the CP4 pump. Although we’re always researching different ways of failure, this is the best theory that we’ve been able to come up with.