What is the Proper color for Gasoline?

[alexarav]

I was just at the repairshop cause my car is broken down and they told me they pulled something other than gas from gas tank. They gave me a sample of the liquid in a clear container. The liquid is clear with a very slight tinge of yellow...at the repairshop they told me they suspect diesel got mixed in with my gas.

If my memory serves gas is supposed to be completely clear like water, or am i wrong? This is Regular (87 Octane) gas from an Esso station.

[curtis73]

Plain gasoline is clear with a slight tan or yellowish color. Additive packages make them appear slightly different depending on where you get it. I remember for a while Amoco used to tint their high octane fuel a little bit bluish green.

[MagicRat]

You can test the sample yourself for diesel contamination.

Take a bit of that sample fluid from the tank and pour it on an impervious surface. An old dinner plate will do.

If the fluid evaporates completely, leaving a totally dry plate in a few minutes, then the sample was entirely gasoline.

If the plate stays wet and a bit greasy for many hours, then at least part of the fluid is diesel.

[alexarav]

well guys...the liquid has a tinge of yellow in it...AND i just ran that test with the evaporation; and its gasoline. It also combusts easily. if i just pour a few drops on the pavement they burn for about 20 seconds.

Which means come tomorrow morning the repair shop has a bit of explaining to do, because they insisted that there was diesel in my gas tank.

[RidingOnRailz]

Like light beer.

[GulfCoast]

The color of regular unleaded is off white. I’d like to know what the mechanic said after you went back to the shop?

[alexarav]

Originally Posted by GulfCoast

The color of regular unleaded is off white. I’d like to know what the mechanic said after you went back to the shop?

lol i told him that i ran the basic tests on the solution and it's 100% gasoline...and he was like "oh...well thats odd. Guess it is gas."

He didnt put up an argument...and I wasnt charged for the draining plus given $50.00 for the gas they drained out of my car.

[Moppie]

Originally Posted by alexarav

He didnt put up an argument...and I wasnt charged for the draining plus given $50.00 for the gas they drained out of my car.

He's a good honest mechanic who made a legtimate mistake then

[alexarav]

Originally Posted by Moppie

He's a good honest mechanic who made a legtimate mistake then

for reference, what was actually wrong with my car is this: the repairshop i took it before this one came up with two error codes "mass air flow sensor malfunction" and "crankshaft sensor malfunction"...the first repair shop (a canadian tire btw), fixed the crankshaft sensor, but advised me that it would be better to take my car to a hyundai dealership for the airflow sensor cause it was more expensive and only the hyundai dealership can refund it if it doesnt fix the problem.
I got the car to the dealership and they changed the sensor...then the car was still running rough...thats when all this diesel shit started...turned out the actual problem was that when canadian tire replaced my crankshaft sensor, they didnt tuck away the cord for it properly. As a result the cord rubbed against the timing belt and the timing belt made a partial cut in it.

moral: dont go to canadian tire. I got my money back from them though, but i hear that many people dont.