'Ugly bus' saga continues on the streets of Newbury Park
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

Vandals damaged the Ratafias' bus by pouring a substance in fuel tank

According to the website www.snopes.com, it's not true that putting sugar in the gas tank will ruin the engine of a gasoline-powered vehicle. To save money, Jennifer and Marcus Ratafia have been living part time in their converted International bus, parking it on a street in Newbury Park. The bus runs on vegetable oil.

Some complaints had been heard about the vehicle's presence on the street, and one night vandals poured a sugar-like substance into the fuel tank. Whether it was sugar or another sticky, gritty substance, it ruined a new engine that cost the couple $10,000 to replace.

"Several people had brought this to our attention both before and after the recent (Thousand Oaks Acorn) article," Jennifer Ratafia said. "However, every mechanic we spoke with told us it is very possible that sugar, as well as various other substances placed in the fuel tank, would blow a diesel engine over time, if any of it were to get through the filters to the engine."

Greg Yee, service manager for Dion International Trucks in San Diego, said he thinks that putting sugar in such a fuel tank could eventually ruin an engine. "It is feasible. It could damage the engine over time, though I've never seen it happen," Yee said.

The Urban Legends website says substances such as sugar or sand do not dissolve in gasoline, making it impossible for them to get through the fuel filters to the engine. But damage to the fuel system can occur, according to the website.

Opening the hood and putting those substances directly into the oil system could also cause an engine to seize up. Also, eco-friendly engines running on biodiesel have unique mechanical issues, and their fuel systems react differently from a gasoline engine, Yee said.

"It's true though that we cannot say for 100 percent certain that it was sugar because the fuel would have had to be tested at a lab, one more expense we could not afford," Ratafia, 34, said. "It could have also been another substance. However, our mechanic noted that our oil--if the sugar got past the filters and into the engine it would eventually show up in the oil--was sticky, gritty and foamy, like it would be if it had sugar in it."

The Ratafias, who are expecting their first baby next month, said the money they were saving to buy a home in North Carolina had to be used to fix the engine.

The bus was found one morning with the gas cap off, the locks glued shut and a threatening message on it, Ratafia said.

She and her husband continued driving the bus for about a month before it stopped running, she said.

The Ratafias come to Newbury Park periodically to help Marcus' parents, who've lived in their home for 27 years. Marcus, 36, grew up in that home and graduated from Newbury Park High School.