Ford diesels dont like sainsburys

elp99jcm

patman99 wrote: »

Nice to know Ford are still using every excuse they can think of to avoid fixing cars under warranty. I'll bet if you said you ran it on BP Ultimate they would have told you that fuel was a problem.

Precisely my thought. The error code could be caused by around 7 faults (according to Ford), I think fuel filter is the only one that isn't covered under warranty so that's the first thing they try.

If it does solve the problem then great, but then if those of you that are convinced it is not the fuel that is a problem, what caused a 5 month old car with 9k on it to clog up the filter. E.g. what could it be that is covered?

I still have the (perhaps futile) argument that they are not selling cars fit for purpose.

Also, they haven't mentioned draining the 3/4 tank I still have of supermarket fuel. Surely I need to do this?

photome

I have done over 100000 miles in a ford diesele in last few years all on supermarket fuel mostly sainsburys, including Bury st edmunds and had no problems

ps havent used B st E for a month or two

pinkteapot

10 plate Mondeo 2.0 TDCi... Runs absolutely fine on Asda diesel.

We tried a tank of BP diesel once. Didn't make a blind bit of difference to our MPG or the car's running so we didn't bother again.

If you had a problem, went to the dealer, and lied and said you'd filled up with BP Premium fuel, would they even know?

vax2002

The trading standards should step in here.
They are 3 types of diesel sold,
refined heavy oil (normal diesel) derv
semi synthetic blends Derv + Bio
Bio diesel.

They should be clearly labelled as such and the Derv percentage labelled at source, terms such as "city diesel" Premium plus, town and country should be banned and customers should be informed what you are buying.

elp99jcm

Picked car up today and taken it for a run of around 30 miles and it is fine so changing the fuel filter seems to have resolved the issue (run to work tomorrow will show).

Questioned Ford somewhat before I paid, but they have me over a barrel, I have to have my car back.

I asked if I could have some documentation listing what fuel I can use and which I have to avoid. I was told something along the lines that Ford have not made a decision on it, which was a strange response. Sounds like they are aware but not announcing it?

The chap from Ford talked all about bad supermarket diesel, how they import cheap foreign stuff which is lower octane etc. (I know, complete rubbish). I asked if I could have it in writing so I can go to Sainsbury and inform them they sell inferior fuel and he said no (funny that!). I asked what the fault diagnosis will be and he said 'suspected fuel problem'.

I also asked that is he saying this was a bad tank of fuel or something that has happened over time and he said the filter waxed up over time. So I asked if Ford were suggesting that the fuel was below British Standard and was told no. So I asked is Ford saying that it is not necessarily compatible with the standard set in Britain and he suggested I take this matter to Ford direct, not the dealership.

Which I intend to do, I can't imagine I'll get anywhere but must try. I want to know what fuels I can and can't use and how I tell. For example, if I drive to France this year, what EU fuel standard do I look for?

Thoroughly unimpressed. The Ford guy kept telling me how I had be given a substantial discount on the price of the work (25%) which I got for being a repeat customer (I've never been there before). Every question I asked I was told about how I got a great discount, I should have paid £189. I paid £126 (yes, I know 33% but lack of maths is the least of my concern with Ford).

When I phoned back to pay I asked one more question - I currently have 3/4 of a tank of supermarket fuel, should I get this drained or will I have the same problem. He didn't really know, kept saying "We have followed the advice of our Ford motor technician". But what he did say that was useful was that he didn't think so as the problem is due to particular cold weather.

He stressed several times that this is a problem for many vehicles and not just Fords, I just don't know.

My thoughts at the moment are that the particular fuel additives in the City Diesel, combined with the cold weather have caused a problem with these engines. I think Ford are well aware of it and hoping it will go away (which it will with warmer weather). There is absolutely no science behind that statement, I have no idea if this is feasible. I'll also admit there is not a lot of evidence but it is not exactly an easy hypothesis to test.

I will write to Ford though, and Sainsbury and I'll post if I get anything useful back.

Look on the bright side, my car is all shiny now after a lovely valet.

andrew-the-cat

elp99jcm wrote: »

The chap from Ford talked all about bad supermarket diesel, how they import cheap foreign stuff which is lower octane etc.

The guy is talking !!!!, I guess he doesn't realise that a substantial amount of the diesel sold in the UK is imported.

Also there is no reason why a certain car cannot run on a specific vendors diesel. Imagine if all cars were like that, you buy a new BMW but find out you can only fill it up at the garage 30 miles from you. That would never work.

In my eyes there are 3 possible answers to this:

flawed design of the engine or any of its components by Ford (are they still using the Peugeot developed engines in their diesels?)

bad batch of fuel (it has happened before)

the tanker driver put some petrol in the diesel tank by mistake (has also happened before, god knows how some of these guys get an ADR licence)

Either way I doubt Sainsbury's will do anything about it. One car out of maybe a million that fill up with them every day has a problem? Unlikely to be their fuel. If it was maybe 1,000 or 10,000 cars then there may be a case.

For your information I normally always use Sainsbury's diesel, as I work there so it's the most convenient and it's normally always the cheapest in the city. I did 10,000 miles in a motability car using nothing but Sainsbury's diesel and never had a problem. I continue to use it in my own car.

Oh and by the way, Sainsbury's "city diesel" is just ultra-low sulphur diesel. Which pretty much all diesel in Europe is now anyway.

flyingscotno1

Sainsbury's as far as I am aware use the same fuel supplier as Tesco.

The whole 'won't work on a particular brand of fuel' sounds like complete and utter nonsense. Even if it was lower quality 'from the continent' as it was said cars are designed to work on a broad range of fuels- you wouldn't want to be in Belgium and your Ford breaks down because the diesel is a slightly lower quality now...

My opinion is that it sounds bogus and I'd like to see Ford back up any concerns that their cars don't work on a major supermarket's fuel which will meet British standards.

photome

flyingscotno1 wrote: »

Sainsbury's as far as I am aware use the same fuel supplier as Tesco.

The whole 'won't work on a particular brand of fuel' sounds like complete and utter nonsense. Even if it was lower quality 'from the continent' as it was said cars are designed to work on a broad range of fuels- you wouldn't want to be in Belgium and your Ford breaks down because the diesel is a slightly lower quality now...

My opinion is that it sounds bogus and I'd like to see Ford back up any concerns that their cars don't work on a major supermarket's fuel which will meet British standards.

Sounds like a case for trading standards if Ford are selling cars not fit for purpose

Obukit

vax2002 wrote: »

The trading standards should step in here.
They are 3 types of diesel sold,
refined heavy oil (normal diesel) derv
semi synthetic blends Derv + Bio
Bio diesel.

They should be clearly labelled as such and the Derv percentage labelled at source, terms such as "city diesel" Premium plus, town and country should be banned and customers should be informed what you are buying.

There is no such thing as 100% diesel in the UK any more, they are required by law (Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation) to have 5% biodiesel in all UK diesel (and 5% bioethanol in petrol).

Likewise, car manufacturers are required to make sure their car works on this blend. If Ford UK are stupid enough to say that it won't work then I would be returning my car as not fit for purpose. As it is, they clearly know nothing (saying it is a problem with octane, diesel has a cetane value, which is the opposite to octane). I suspect Ford head office would deny all of this rubbish.

elp99jcm

Well I've written to Ford today and also to Sainsburys, the latter more to stir things up (e.g. Do you know Ford are informing customers not to buy your fuel etc.)

I'll report back, I am sure Ford will deny all this. I suspect I will get the answer that the car suffered some unspecified contamination which caused the problem which blocked the filter and caused the problem.

I am a bit concerned about the fact that there may be further damage that has been caused if the vehicle was not designed to work well with all fuels, which will cause problems later. If Ford deny liability now, they will never cover further costs. Perhaps some diesel additives are in order.