Dirty Fuel??

spartacus93

Hi guys,

Bit of a long one, but please bear with me! Love to here yer opinions...

I drive a 1.4 Octavia (petrol). An 05 model bought privately from a Skoda mechanic whom I know. Very well maintained, and got a good seeing too before he passed it on. I was driving down the road, must be a few months ago at this stage, doing about 50mph. The speedo and the rev counter dropped to zero and the whole car cut out. Luckily I was on a quite road and I was able to pull in safely... Gave it a minute and the car started fine. No problems since. Skoda dealership said it might have been an engine coil. Hooked it up to the computer. No problems reported.

Driving back to cork last sunday evening. Same thing happened my buddys car (i was in the car). Heard a funny noise over the radio. Pulled in, started to slow down. Then the same thing happened that had happened me. Car died. Car still dead! Wouldn't start. Battery's ticking over i think but the car wont kick in.

My brother, (03 Focus), exact same thing Monday morning, driving back to Dublin. This time in the fast lane of a dual carridgeway...:eek: Car still dead, waiting for it to be towed back to waterford to be checked out. Initial reaction from whatever garage up the country it was brought to was that it was a huge job. They said "the controller's gone" and that i'd be a good bit over 1K to fix.

Also i just heard that my bros girlfriends car is also out of action. Out cold, konked out on her. Can't get it back running... *although i don't know the full story here, i'll contact her in the morning*

Does this all seem a bit weird? A short distance from my house a new petrol station has opened (i say new, i suppose a good number of months). All the cars mentioned would have been filled up here often. Could it be dirty fuel... The petrol is cheap, although the garage is new and not too busy. Busy all the same, but not busy enough to justify the low prices IMO. It's not a big name like Statiol or Shell btw.

The owner wouldn't exactly have the best reputation either... But I suppose there's stories about everyone... Could all these problems be related to the fuel, or is it all a coincidence. Has anyone any experience of this? Any way of testing the fuel? The guards came to help my brother because of the dangerous place he ended up breaking down in, it was the first thing the guard suggested. When he heard the name of the garage he raised an eyebrow. He didn't go into it but my brother got the impression that he knew the company name...

Hopefully the focus will be back home tomorrow and I can get it to the garage etc. But is it likely that all these cars suddenly get electrical problems. Everyone seems to be saying it's electrical or fuel.

Thanks a million guys

Owen

spartacus93 wrote: »

Hi guys,

Bit of a long one, but please bear with me! Love to here yer opinions...

I drive a 1.4 Octavia.

Okay ... I guess you're going to flesh out this post with details, but if your question is if dirty fuel has damaged your car, it's unlikely, and nearly every car on the market has a fuel filter to prevent that from happening.

cantdecide

Not so quick.

I posted a thread about how myself and my brother sorted a clogged filter. The spluttering came back and he sent it off to the garage. The mechanic said the new filter was clogged again and he couldn't believe how much sludge and water was in the tank. He said it was definitely a bad fill of petrol.

spartacus93

ned78 wrote: »

Okay ... I guess you're going to flesh out this post with details, but if your question is if dirty fuel has damaged your car, it's unlikely, and nearly every car on the market has a fuel filter to prevent that from happening.

yup! all up now buddy, didn't mean to post that first bit first! That's exactly my question. Could it all have built up on the fuel filter?? It makes sense. Fuel supply cut. Car stops suddenly...

Owen

A fuel issue wouldn't cause your electrics to die. I'd say there's electrical gremlins at work in your own car by the sounds of it. The other cars also seem to have electrical issues. You say your Buddy's Focus' battery was ticking over? As in a ticking noise when you try to start it? If that's the case, that's the solenoid from the starter motor, and it's indicative of a low charge on the battery.

spartacus93

ned78 wrote: »

A fuel issue wouldn't cause your electrics to die. I'd say there's electrical gremlins at work in your own car by the sounds of it. The other cars also seem to have electrical issues. You say your Buddy's Focus' battery was ticking over? As in a ticking noise when you try to start it? If that's the case, that's the solenoid from the starter motor, and it's indicative of a low charge on the battery.

Hmmm, maybe that's what it is. But all them cars (3 maybe 4) suffering from electrical problems over the space of a few days. Seems a bit suspect to me. Maybe that's it.