i have a 2013 Chevy Cruz and someone put a large amount of honey in the gas tank. i rode around for about ten days with his in my car during the warm weather we had until one wonderful morning once it got kinda colder to a car that would not start. i had called into the dealer to make a service appointment for an oil change. about three day later, if that, i noticed the engine smelled like it was burning as if someone had spilled oil on it and it was burning off. i called my tech people who told me my oil pan had been recalled and that was the smell. anyway they are telling me that the only damage done to the car was the entire fuel system and that they don’t believe it made it to the engine i just bought this car and i’m terrified that they are not going to look into the engine and make sure there is no damage done. i asked if they would do that, and i was told no. they would replace it, run a test, and drive it around the block i believe due to the smell, it made it to the engine i guess i need some info about the damage it will do and how i can get someone to listen to me. OH, i forgot to tell you, the engine did make a clump sound soon after i smelled the burning.
Sugar by itself is soluable in a gas fuel system. Which means it should cause no probem. However, honey doesn’t only contain sugar, but also includes some amount of bee’s wax, and this could be a problem.
Tester
What’s “A large amount?” I’d be surprised if it made it past the fuel filter. (Granted, it probably did a number on that poor filter!). After the tank is drained and cleaned, it may not hurt to run a thing of Techron or other fuel injector cleaner through it.
I’d hate to venture a guess on this one as I don’t understand why someone would stand there forever and wait for honey in the wintertime to run down a filler neck nor do I understand why this would cause a burning smell from the engine.
How many miles on this thing, how is the engine oil level, and who are “your tech people”?
At this point I’m a bit skeptical but Cynic is my middle name anyway. 
Coles law “a large amount” was enough to require that the tank couldnt be cleaned and had to be brand new and it caused a little under 4000 dollars in damage… Ok4450 it had a little over three thousand miles on it and the tech people would be the chevy dealer i bought the car from the level of oil was over 70% and onstar reported no needed attention the day before the car wouldnt start
The 70% refers to the Oil Life Monitor (OLM) percentage of oil life remaining. It has nothing to do with the oil level which has to be checked with the dipstick under the hood. For your peace of mind get into the habit of checking the oil level every week or two.
Ed B.
thanks ed for that information and if i ever get my car back ill be sure to make sure i get into that habit… however can anyone tell me if honey damages an engine and how long you can drive a car with honey in its engine before the engine is no good,plz i need help
Can we go back a couple of steps? How do you know that honey was actually introduced into the fuel tank? How has this been determined?
I don’t think honey would cause any permanent damage. It would just clog things up. If the engine runs properly for the next tankful of gas after things are cleaned up, I wouldn’t worry about it.
Are you dealing with your insurance company on this? I think that vandalism is usually covered.
Most of the honey was probably sitting down in the bottom of the fuel tank, below the level that the fuel pump pulls from. Replacing the tank most likely got rid of most or all of the honey. I wouldn’t worry too much.
jdmere… when the tech people at the dealer ship droped the tank the honey was there the tech tasted the honey to make sure thats what it really was…shadowfax…the canister, all injectors, pipes, hoses, sensors, modules, and heat sensor were damaged by the honey and i also filled up twice during the ten days it was in there…lion9car the repairs are covered but i dont even want the car back everyone i’ve talked to states that it wont take long for the honey to reach the engine because when the fuel tank heats up the honey will mix in and travel to the engine i cant find anything online about this being true
Honey in a gas tank is one of the weirdest ways I’ve ever heard of to sabotage a vehicle. Some of that honey has already been diluted and traveled throughout the fuel system.
Is your insurance company paying for all of this or is it out of pocket?
You state that you don’t want the car back but unfortunately, the car is going to remain yours unless you trade it off, sell it, or give it away along with taking a financial hit on it.
The tech may have thought he tasted honey, and the fuel system may have been gummed up with something, possibly even organic, but I don;t believe it was honey. Honey is almost entirely sugars and water. It should dissolve in gasoline and burn through the system without adverse effect.
http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2001/loveridge/index-page3.html
It sounds like they’re doing a thorough job of replacing everything suspect and doing so under warranty. Keep your copy of the shop order for your records, but I believe you’ll get a normal life out of the car with normak reliability. I can understand your worrying, but in thiis case I think it’s unnecessary.
the canister, all injectors, pipes, hoses, sensors, modules, and heat sensor were damaged by the honey
Whoever told you this is full of it. We’re talking about honey here, not nuclear waste. Honey is not going to damage a pipe.
and i also filled up twice during the ten days it was in there..lion9car the repairs are covered but i dont even want the car back everyone i've talked to states that it wont take long for the honey to reach the engine
If the honey was going to reach the engine, it already has. You’ve filled up twice, which means you’ve put around 600 miles worth of honey into the system. But since honey isn’t nuclear waste, it didn’t hurt anything.
because when the fuel tank heats up the honey will mix in and travel to the engine i cant find anything online about this being true
The fuel tank does not have a heater. It’s winter. What are they talking about? Someone is either pulling a joke on you or is trying to get money out of you.
Boy, when you start a post with “honey”, you get a lot of interest.
That’s one brave tech person. Just a matter of driving the car and putting lots of mileage on it in as short a time as possible to draw out any problem. I wouldn’t be too adverse to checking the fuel filter frequently. Anything that passes through that should be easily combusted in the motor.
Honey is mostly fructose which is a sugar. Sugar is a chain molecule made up of Hydrogen, Carbon and Oxygen. C6H12O6
Gasoline is also a chain molecule made up of Hydrogen and Carbon. C8H18
The big difference is the Oxygen. Because the sugar chain already has oxygen in the molecule, it is harder to get it to burn. Gasoline is far more volatile, but once ignited, they produce much the same byproducts, water and carbon dioxide.
The honey will clog up your fuel system, but it won’t do much harm to the engine, if any.
First, if your car was parked in a public area when this happened, let the police dept know what happened. They may be able to send patrol cars by more often for a while to keep an eye on things, and possibly figure out who was responsible.
Second, if this were my car I’d have my mechanics remove, drain, and clean the gas tank, then remove the fuel filter and pump out whatever junk remains in the line between the tank and the filter, then put in a new filter and a new full tank of gas and cross my fingers. I expect the problem would go away. It might run a little rough for a week or two. But I’d give it an opportunity to fix itself before investing in anything else.
shadowfax…they must be trying to get the insurance company for the money because i had them fax me a order for the parts that were needed to be replaced and all the parts were listed and thats what i put in the post. Also it wasnt the tech who told me about the tank it was another person that told me of this and i believe it did reach the engine because of the burning smell and the clump sound from the car. i didnt have a chance to use the gas i put in the last time because the car wouldnt start onstar states there is 85% tank level so most of the gas was still in there when it shut off on me
ok4450 the insurance is paying for it all exculding my deductable and i believe it has gotten throught the fuel system and caused more damage than anyone and see. i have searched high and low about this and can not find anyone who can answer me. i called a chevy dealer out of state and was told that yes it can and will get through the system into the engine cause it to lock up and need to be replaced which starts off at 4000 -6000 dependng on this and that
dagosa…right the first thught that came to mind was yuck how nasty was that and why did you feel the need to share.i will be putting as many miles on it as when and if i ever get it back ald=so where is the filter located at so i may check it