1st Diesel car - avoid supermarket fuel?

Richard53

I've had two episodes of rough running from my Mondeo Tdci in 8 years of ownership - rough idling, loss of power, smoke and around 10 mpg lost, both on the mpg display and by measuring fuel used. Both times were immediately after filling up at Tesco, and the symptoms disappeared when I filled it up again from another source.


I'm not a chemist and have no knowledge of the industry, so I can't say for certain that the Tesco fuel caused this, but it seems an odd coincidence. For me, I have a Murco garage nearby which is about 1p/litre more than Tesco, it's closer, there's hardly ever a queue, and there's a nice lady on the till, so it's a no brainer for me. I only get supermarket fuel if I have no alternative.

Gloomendoom

My wife and I both have diesel cars (with DPFs) and they are fed almost exclusively on supermarket fuel, as have their predecessors, with no problems at all.

Tigerprint

If the Dealer has advised non supermarket fuel, then I would take his advice, at least until the warranty has expired in this case anyway... Last thing you want is for a fault to occur & for him to ask if you used supermarket fuel.....

Personally, for a newer car I would always use branded...

forgotmyname

Richard53 wrote: »

I've had two episodes of rough running from my Mondeo Tdci in 8 years of ownership - rough idling, loss of power, smoke and around 10 mpg lost, both on the mpg display and by measuring fuel used. Both times were immediately after filling up at Tesco, and the symptoms disappeared when I filled it up again from another source.


I'm not a chemist and have no knowledge of the industry, so I can't say for certain that the Tesco fuel caused this, but it seems an odd coincidence. For me, I have a Murco garage nearby which is about 1p/litre more than Tesco, it's closer, there's hardly ever a queue, and there's a nice lady on the till, so it's a no brainer for me. I only get supermarket fuel if I have no alternative.

Spooky, I had the same Mondeo TDCI, normally filled up at sainsbury's but i filled up at Tesco before going away, It was quite low, getting down near the red and the computer flashed up 50 miles left on the way there.
After filling up i pulled out onto the main road and down to the traffic lights, It seemed to idle a bit louder with more of a pronounced knock to it. This got slightly worse on the way to the coast and never really felt the same afterwards. Power still there but it never quite recovered fully from that. Sometimes it was quiet then it would knock a bit again.

Coincidence or not? I have never used Tesco for fuel since though. I use Sainsburys all the time with no issues. I avoid Morrisons because my local one had misfuelled several times that I know of. And it seems that they put more biofuels in with the diesel. My car wont like that.

Mercdriver

Tigerprint wrote: »

If the Dealer has advised non supermarket fuel, then I would take his advice, at least until the warranty has expired in this case anyway... Last thing you want is for a fault to occur & for him to ask if you used supermarket fuel.....

Personally, for a newer car I would always use branded...

Unless the car guide book or the manufacturer specifically states no supermarket fuel, the dealer would be in a spot if he refused to repair under warranty.

Zandoni

I have just recently gone diesel myself and I'm not using supermarket fuel anymore.


I used to use Sainsbury's petrol but I stopped because I was told my fuel filters in a terrible state every service. I'm also not impressed with some of the tankers that are used to deliver to the garages.


My neighbour had terrible problems with his Jag after using Morrison's diesel so he has now stopped.

chaucer

Retrogamer wrote: »

"Premium" diesel you get at some forecourts usually has an additive in it similar to Redex. ...

Redex is unfamiliar to me.
Googled.
Thanks.

Paully232000 wrote: »

... my other half, who is a chemist for an petrochemical company ... says it is fine ...

Mmmh. So there may be some urban mythology in this?

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

With that engine fuel isn't the real problem but leaving engine oil in for too long is.
Forget the joke service schedule, change the engine oil with good quality full synthetic of the correct grade every year without fail, or half the recommended mileage whichever comes first.

Recommended service interval is 12,500 or 12 months I think.

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

The better fuels do have more goodies added, but a dash of Millers Diesel fuel additive should do the same job with standard fuels and at less overall cost...

Millers additive Googled also.

IanMSpencer wrote: »

The main advice I would give is that you have to drive a diesel in a different way, they want to work at low revs and run out of steam at higher revs.

Avoid heavy throttle and this will avoid the engine producing soot and clogging up filters.

If you drive sympathetically, then it doesn't really matter what fuel you put in. If you drive it unsympathetically, you might find quality fuels will defer problems a bit.

I am a fairly sedate driver in most circumstances with very little in the way of hard acceleration or high revs etc. So I won't need to change too much. That's good advice to think on - thanks.

vikingaero wrote: »

How long do you plan to keep the car? If it's short term then chuck anything in it!

I tend to keep cars a good while. Last one [Volvo S40] I had 10 years and it was nearly 15 years old.

mcpitman wrote: »

I do use Millers, and have had no DPF/EGR or other related issues, so continue to do so.

Do you literally pour a bit in to your fuel filling hole from time to time?

bod1467

I've never used it, but I did read the instructions online. As below as I recall ...

You put a small amount (approx 50ml - the 500ml bottle dispenses one "shot" at a go) into the near-empty tank right before you fill up. The ratio is 1:1000, so 50ml per 50l fill up.

Iceweasel

The problem with Millers and most other additives is the smell of the stuff.

If you get it on your hands, or if a small drip runs down the side of the bottle, then the smell lingers on for hours, despite thorough hand-washing.

I used to use it when I used supermarket diesel and Mrs Iceweasel eventually banned it - :mad: - despite taking great care , having the bottle in the boot tainted everything.

motorguy

EdGasket wrote: »

Bro-in-law's jag was written off by Tesco diesel. Build up of silicon contamination. Would have cost too much to replace tank, all lines, pump, injectors etc.. Samples were analysed and the conclusion was the contamination was clogging the injectors. Cleaned/new injectors would just fail after about 4 hours use. Garage said categorically it was using supermarket fuel over a long period that caused the problem.

If you want the best for your diesel, use branded and the more expensive stuff.

Silicon contamination in supermarket fuel was a specific issue back in 2007 due to contamination in storage tanks.

http://www.petrolprices.com/blog/tesco-apologises-for-contaminated-fuel.html