ASDA Watford - Contaminated Diesel?

cardinalbiggles

s_b wrote: »

tip for anyone running a modern diesel
go to the next garage if you see the tanker filling the tanks as any water and crap gets swished around until everything has settled down which i could assume would take a fair bit of time in those big underground tanks

OP ask your local rag if they heard anything

Tip for anyone reading this post. Modern diesels have water traps and fuel filters to stop this.

Fill up and dont worry about it.

SamDude

Thanks all for your replies - to answer the responses:

I've checked the local Watford Observer news website and there isn't any mention of issues with ASDA fuel recently.

I should have retained some of the fuel and had it examined, but at the time I was stressed out with the thought of the huge repair bill and potential loss of my car. By the time the garage suggested possible fuel contamination, they had already carried out most of the work. It was getting better after they changed the MAF sensor and cleaned out the valves, but the underlying problem was still there.

maninthestreet - just to clarify, the tank wasn't completely empty when I filled it. My point was that the problem didn't become apparent for around 40/50 miles as the previous fuel was still being used up before the ASDA diesel would have started to be used (and that is when the rough idle noise started to occur).

Seeing as I have 'used up' the potential evidence and there are no other reported instances to back-up my case, I will write it down to a lesson learned.

Thanks again,
Al

vikingaero

When you pump in diesel into a near empty fuel tank there isn't going to be any separation of the fuel. The diesel will foam and slosh in and be well mixed. About the only fuel not affected will be the small amount already in the fuel line to the injectors.

Flyboy152

aass11 wrote: »

Hi all,

Around the 23/24th May I filled up my car (Audi A3 diesel) with fuel from ASDA in Watford. There was enough fuel to last around 50/60 miles and the reserve light had not come on at the time.

I drove home from Watford which was a 30 mile trip and the next day I noticed that the engine was sounding really rough when idling. This did not improve as the car warmed up.

As soon as I started driving, it was fine and it ran without problems. I took it into my local garage as the rough idle was getting worse and worse by the day. The garage kept it for a week to diagnose and repair the issue. At one point I was told that they couldn't figure out the cause and I may need a new engine - at around £2000 that is a big ouch!

The garage cleaned out various valves and replaced the timing belt and MAF sensor, but in the end they told me there was nothing else to do. It did sound a tiny bit better after the clean up, but the rough idling was still there.

The garage did say that it could be a fuel contamination issue and to 'drive out' the remaining fuel and fill it from another location. I've done this yesterday and I also added a dose of Redex. After driving it today, the rough noise at idle problem has disappeared.

I may be lucky that it wasn't worse, but I did have to pay the garage for the work carried out to diagnose and (try to) repair it.

Thanks for reading this far!

Questions:
Did anyone else have any problems with ASDA fuel from Watford in the last few weeks?

How do I go about reporting the problem with the fuel and getting some compensation for my garage bill and out of pocket transport costs?


Thanks,
Al

Are you sure you didn't put petrol in the car?

cardinalbiggles

vikingaero wrote: »

When you pump in diesel into a near empty fuel tank there isn't going to be any separation of the fuel. The diesel will foam and slosh in and be well mixed. About the only fuel not affected will be the small amount already in the fuel line to the injectors.

Seconded, and in addition since it took 40-50 miles for the OP to actually notice anything even had it been a small amount of diesel after that distance it would have been well mixed!