'contaminated' fuel

How can you tell if its contaminated or not?

My car has been juddering a lot more than usual lately but i put it down to the cold/wet weather :confused:
 
take it too a garage. It seems that if you require an o2 sensor then it could be down to the fuel but its hard to prove unless your ** a chemist. lol.
 
I think this has effected me :(

The Skyline was only firing on five cylinders when I came to start it after putting petrol in earlier this week - I've already booked it into Turbo Fit this weekend to have the problem looked at, but I guess I'll drive it (very slowly) to the nearest Shell station and just add another 30 quids worth to see if it fixes the problem!
 
Did they make a statement of who is selling this "contaminated" fuel other than tesco's and morrisons?
 
Aye, Ethanol E85 fuels (85% ethanol, 15% petrol) aren't suitable for 'standard' mapped cars and also are more corrosive (although the long-term effects of this are unknown RE seals and fuel lines). A car running on E85 has to be mapped to run much, much richer than standard.

So if they've bosched some out on the forecourt, they're stuffed. Dave Walker commented on it in PPC this month - Sainsbury's had it out and everyone was leaving on towtrucks, as they'd just seen the cheap price and bought it.
 
I was make a joke before i read the article saying "What did it get contaminated with? ethanol?"


Turns out it was ethanol after all :o

Horrible stuff it is, Tryed killing one of our cars when we tryed it :(

Ethanol FTL :(
 
Lashout_UK said:
No no nooo, Ethanol's a great performance fuel but your car must be mapped and equipped to use it.
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Ive heard some people say that before just because the Octain Rating was higher for some reason but then i see Lots and lots and lots of people say against it and saying you should stick to Optimax.

The ethonal we used was 10%-30% Ethonal i think. Because it was so much cheaper i and it made the car run like an Absolute dog.
As soon as we went back to regualr unleaded it was fine.

The moral of this story is dont by Petrol just because its got the cheapest price :p
 
Yea, Ethanol has an octane rating of ~105 upwards but only a calorific (how big the bang is) value of 70% compared to petrol - this is why you have to dump much more fuel into the engine to keep the mixture correct.

Hence why it doesn't work straight out the pump, the car has to be configured to suit :)
 
Cookies are great :D

Inquiry into 'contaminated' fuel

Ethanol content should be made clear

Trading standards officials have launched an investigation after drivers complained that they had been sold "contaminated" fuel.

Drivers from across south-east England believe they may have been sold petrol containing ethanol, which has damaged their cars.

Their vehicles have been juddering, misfiring and had a loss of power.

But the AA said tests showed ethanol was not to blame and the cause of the problem remained unknown.


AA technical specialist Vanessa Guyll said drivers would notice problems with the running of their cars almost immediately, and providing they sought help quickly it was "unlikely" the contaminated petrol would cause any long-term damage to engines.

'Damaged oxygen sensors'

Ian Hillier, a petroleum spokesman for the Trading Standards Institute, said: "I understand that there have been around 75-100 complaints from people in south-east England.

"Including ethanol in petrol is not really contaminating it, but there has be a clear warning to people who buy petrol as to exactly what is in it."

Dozens of drivers have also been contacting BBC Radio Northampton's consumer programme after filling up their cars with the allegedly contaminated fuel.

Dave Odell works for Tony Brooks' a garage in Northampton. He said the garage had had a number of cars with damaged oxygen sensors.

Some car dealerships say they are trying to repair the damaged cars, which are now off the road, but the parts they need are now in short supply.

'Thousands affected'

Some drivers say they bought "contaminated" fuel from Tesco and Morrisons petrol stations.

Tesco says it rigorously tests its fuel to the highest European standards, and sources from the same suppliers as competitors.

Motorist Darren Ross, 42, has complained to the Department of Trade and Industry about the problem.

He buys petrol for his Saab convertible 1.8T at the Tesco superstore in Waltham Abbey, Essex, close to where he lives, and believes it led to his car breaking down.

His local Saab dealership told him it was a fault with sensors and that they had had 15 other similar problems over the last week.

Mr Ross said the repairs are costing him £200, which is not covered by his warranty because they are linked to a fuel fault.

"I want compensation and reimbursement. I need my car for my work and it has been back to Saab four times in the last two weeks."
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When my car was in the garage in September the woman at the desk was asking a bloke if he used supermarket fuel when he was complaining about the car hesitating, wonder if there is any connection.

Glad I filled up at BP the other day, as I couldn’t be bothered to drive to Morrisons. :)
 
OK people - I think I'm definitely effected here.
I've had all the symptoms described since end of last week and just assumed my car was at fault - I've got it booked in for Monday to be looked at.
I've only bought fuel from Tesco here in the Cambridge area for the past six months.

I need my car to get to work, so I'm forced to carry on using it.
I've got about half a tank of fuel left.
If I fill the car up with another brand am I likely to dillute the contaminent enough to make things a little better?
It looks like I'll need a new sensor anyway which I hope my local dealership will do under warranty - if not then I'm going to have all the hassle of finding out just who will be paying!
 
stoofa said:
OK people - I think I'm definitely effected here.
I've had all the symptoms described since end of last week and just assumed my car was at fault - I've got it booked in for Monday to be looked at.
I've only bought fuel from Tesco here in the Cambridge area for the past six months.

I need my car to get to work, so I'm forced to carry on using it.
I've got about half a tank of fuel left.
If I fill the car up with another brand am I likely to dillute the contaminent enough to make things a little better?
It looks like I'll need a new sensor anyway which I hope my local dealership will do under warranty - if not then I'm going to have all the hassle of finding out just who will be paying!
Click to expand...

If the O2 sensor damage has already taken place then it doesn't matter what fuel you stick in it, tis still going to run the same.

However if the sensor is still alive, i would drain the tank down and stick some other fuel in.
 
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