Man spent $2,500 fixing his car, then discovered something shocking on his gas cap that made him wonder if someone was trying to ‘kill’ him

A man from Los Angeles recently had a scary discovery with his car. After paying $2,500 to fix his vehicle, he found something strange on his gas cap that looked like someone was trying to damage it. TikTok user Alberto Martinez shared his story online. 

He explained that he hadn’t used his car since New Year’s Eve and was about to drive to Irvine and then Riverside to visit his nephew for his birthday. When he tried to put gas in his car, he noticed something unusual. “I work in downtown LA, and I was trying to put gas, and this is what I found,” he said before revealing his finding, according to Motor1. 

Martinez unscrewed his gas cap and found a pile of brown, grainy material sitting in the opening. He described it as looking like “candy salt” and wondered if someone was trying to kill him or had a problem with him.

Sugar in a gas tank won’t actually destroy your car

Many people believe that pouring sugar into a gas tank will completely ruin a vehicle. The common idea is that sugar doesn’t dissolve in gasoline and instead creates a thick, syrupy mess that blocks the fuel tank, fuel lines, and engine. This would supposedly make the car impossible to drive and require expensive repairs or even a new engine.

However, this belief is actually a myth. Popular Mechanics investigated this claim and spoke with Mohammad Fatouraie, an engineering manager at Bosch, a company that makes fuel system parts. Fatouraie said that Bosch has never seen an engine damaged or destroyed by sugar in a gas tank. He also mentioned they haven’t heard of any real, confirmed cases of this happening.

Modern cars have multiple filters in their fuel systems that can easily catch sugar crystals. A single sugar crystal is about 200 microns in size, and car filters can trap particles much smaller than that. 

These filters are located in several places, including around the fuel pump in the gas tank, along the fuel line, and at each fuel injector. This isn’t the first time autonomous vehicles caused unexpected collision problems that left owners dealing with repair costs.

Even older cars with carburetors instead of fuel injectors have enough filters to protect the engine. Since sugar is heavier than gasoline, it would simply sink to the bottom of the tank. A mechanic could remove the tank, clean it out, and possibly replace the sock filter and fuel pump if needed.

The engine itself would remain completely fine and wouldn’t seize up or explode. Despite this fact, many people who commented on Martinez’s video still believed sugar could destroy a car. One of them, however, had a great advice for him. 

“File a claim and see what’s next but follow up with a depreciation or valuation after vandalism and you CAN receive a depreciation check,” they commented. Car troubles seem to be a common theme lately, as another driver recently discovered serious issues with their Range Rover right after purchasing it.