Contaminated Diesel - big repair bill!!

photome

Any update?

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

Funny there isnt.

No doubt its eiither the OP or the garage who cocked up rather than contaminated fuel and the OP after their rant is too embarassed to say.

keith1950

Hi, I work for a main dealer-approx. 4 months ago we had 6 cars recovered in over a period of a few days that had all filled up with diesel at the nearby Tesco store.After testing it was found that the fuel was "very frothy" and the contaminant turned out to be excessive detergent in the fuel. Whether it came from the refinery like this or had been caused when cleaning out the fuel tanker I don't know, but it would be worth asking Trading Standards to test the fuel. Tesco paid for all the repairs and some were as much as £3000 per car. You really need to find someone else who has had problems.

pulliptears

I run a TR7 in the summer, I went out Thursday and he was running like a dream, perfect in every way. Filled up at Tesco's (Unleaded) and drove the half a mile home.
The next day I went out in the TR7 he was awful, misfiring terribly and really struggling. Ended up nursing him the 10 miles home. Spent an infuriating afternoon checking everything from distributor to plugs and leads etc. Put some plug testers on and confirmed I was sparking well. The only thing that had changed from the perfect car the night before was the fuel.

In the end I added some lead replacement to the tank (7's were designed to run on unleaded anyway but it was a different grade 28 years ago lol) and that seemed to do the trick, he's run perfectly since.

I cant prove anything obviously, but the only time I have ever had this problem was filling up at Tesco's.

Anyone recommend a good fuel? I live close to an Esso where I may try next.

plane_boy2000

pulliptears wrote: »

From when I passed my test at 17 my Dad drummed it into me that I should always keep my car topped up and never let it go under half full lol
I do try and stick to that, Its never gone under a quarter of a tank and the usual fill up in my clio is £27 or so.

Waste of time. No benefit plus you end up carrying more weight around and visiting the petrol station twice as often as you need to.

tomstickland

pulliptears wrote: »

From when I passed my test at 17 my Dad drummed it into me that I should always keep my car topped up and never let it go under half full lol
I do try and stick to that, Its never gone under a quarter of a tank and the usual fill up in my clio is £27 or so.

I've run all of my cars down to zero. Run out of fuel a few times, lol. Managed to coast into the petrol station last time it happened.

goldspanners

tomstickland wrote: »

I've run all of my cars down to zero. Run out of fuel a few times, lol. Managed to coast into the petrol station last time it happened.

dont try it with your diesel though tom, you might need to bleed the fuel up and some can be a right pain these days.

withabix

pulliptears wrote: »

I run a TR7 in the summer.... Filled up at Tesco's (Unleaded) and drove the half a mile home.
The next day I went out in the TR7 he was awful, misfiring terribly and really struggling. (7's were designed to run on unleaded anyway but it was a different grade 28 years ago lol)

In the end I added some lead replacement to the tank and that seemed to do the trick, he's run perfectly since.

Anyone recommend a good fuel? I live close to an Esso where I may try next.

Yes, put SUPER Unleaded in your TR7 :rolleyes:

[Lead replacement additives boost the octane rating].

pulliptears

withabix wrote: »

Yes, put SUPER Unleaded in your TR7 :rolleyes:

[Lead replacement additives boost the octane rating].

Ahhh now there is the thing, it WAS Super Unleaded I filled up with because I stupidly thought it would be better for the car

Maybe from other stations yes, but from my local Tesco, no way.

I had called at the station earlier and it was closed with a sign that read something like "Closed all day due to technical problems", when I drove past later that night it was open. Whether I had fuel from a fresh delivery or there were other problems I dont know, but I have never seen such a dramatic difference in the running of a car after a refuel.

Ms_Brush

Update:

Found out something interesting...

The Tesco petrol station in question had all their diesel pumps shut for almost a week after my car broke down... thought that was a bit telling. Why would a busy forecourt on a major trunk route have no diesel for a week?? Either a fuel shortage, or a problem??

I have been unable to find any other complainants, but spoke to the fuel officer at Trading Standards who said that many diesel vehicles will run on any old cr** so its likely that lots of cars are running badly but havent stopped (yet!). Apparently the sensors in Renaults are really sensitive and will activate with any substandard fuel. He also said it could well be a thinnant that they use to clean out the fuel tanks. Apparently, if it hasnt been drained properly, it will float on top of the diesel and could quite easily be pumped into a vehicle, and has happened quite a lot. The difficulty will be proving this conclusively.

Had a holding letter from Tesco's - apparently Sir Terry Leahy (the chief Exec) is not in the office and he will deal with my complaint on his return. No idea when this might be, but they have 9 days left to respond under the sale of goods act. Not given up hope yet...