A man who thought he had a malfunctioning gas gauge discovered there was a whole lot more in his gas tank than unleaded!

A mechanic was taken by surprise when he found $35,000 worth of marijuana in a gas tank. The current owner isn't the first owner, and he isn't a suspect. Now police are trying to figure out who the drugs belong to.

The man took his 2009 Nissan Armada to the dealership yesterday. Apparently he was having trouble with his gas gauge reading correctly. The gauge was stuck at the halfway mark, even after filling up. He wanted it fixed.

The service department at Tim Dahle Nissan is used to doing repairs, oil changes and tire rotations, but discovering 35 pounds of marijuana in a gas tank was something new.

Sgt. Justin Chapman, with the Sandy City Police Department, said, "When the mechanic at Tim Dahle Nissan pulled the tank off, discovered that half the tank was full with packages, large packages in plastic wrapping." He added, "The packages were not in a separate container themselves. They were basically free-floating in the gasoline."

When Sandy City police arrived on scene, they confiscated 2.2 kilo packages of marijuana, totaling about 35 pounds. Detectives say its street worth is close to $35,000.

"There was some care taken to wrap those and make sure they were tight, air tight, water tight, I guess liquid tight," Chapman said.

Police say the man who brought in the car isn't a suspect. He bought it at an auction a month or two ago. Investigators are looking in Arizona, where the car was owned before and was also used as a rental.

The state crime lab is trying to find any forensic evidence that could lead to a drug dealer or mule. "Possibly fingerprints or some other type of indicator that might show them where it'd come from or who it belonged to," Chapman said.

Police say it's likely the case could be turned over to out-of-state investigators.

The car owner, who declined an interview, at least got to keep his car.

E-mail: ngonzales@ksl.com