Bad Gas

[Mass_Shyster]

Right. The bad gas doesn't kill the starter. The improper attempts to start the vehicle kills the starter.

The bad gas was an actual cause of the damaged starter, though it may not have been the proximate cause.

The starter was damaged because it overheated.
The started overheated because it was operated for too long.
It was operated for too long because the car wouldn't start.
The car wouldn't start because there was bad gas in the car.
There was bad gas in the car because the driver pumped bad gas into the car.
The driver pumped bad gas into the car because there was bad gas in the station's tank.
There was bad gas in the station's tank because <insert reason here>
The driver pumped the gas because he was at the station
He was at the station because he needed gas
He needed gas because he had driven his girlfriend home.
He had driven his girlfriend home because she was cute.
She was cute because her mother was cute.


Therefore the starter died because his girlfriend's mother was cute.

 

[Zigner]

You're arguing semantics here. OP never said the bad gas caused the starter to go out, just that it happened to go out at the same time when the car was running badly. It could have been a completely different issue or it could have been from continuously cranking the starter without the engine turning over. It's an irrelevant side detail that the OP should have left out but he was just happy that the reimbursement he got was enough to fix another issue that happened so he added it in there.

If the starter gave out because our OP continuously cranked it, then the OP caused the starter to go out. If a car does not start within a reasonable period of time, then continuing to crank it can burn out the starter...which would be the OP's fault. The proximate cause is the OP's improper attempts to start the vehicle (which, btw, is specifically mentioned as a bad thing in the owner's manual.)

 

[Cali408nia]

If the starter gave out because our OP continuously cranked it, then the OP caused the starter to go out. If a car does not start within a reasonable period of time, then continuing to crank it can burn out the starter...which would be the OP's fault. The proximate cause is the OP's improper attempts to start the vehicle (which, btw, is specifically mentioned as a bad thing in the owner's manual.)

Ok... I agree with you but you're trying to place the fault of the starter on the OP, and the OP never claimed it wasn't his fault or that it was the fault of the gas station. He never even claimed it had anything to do with the gas incident (only that it occurred around the same time). So why go into this whole "what-if's" game? It's a detail that's irrelevant to the topic of the thread. I also like how you have read the owner's manual of every vehicle ever produced so that you know what the OP's manual says

 

[You Are Guilty]

She was cute because her mother was cute.

I can prove this is blatantly incorrect via photographs of some ex's families.

But it does explain why I go through starters like underwear (one every year or so).

 

[Zigner]

Ok... I agree with you...

Good, glad I could make you understand.