Think I got some bad Diesel

irelandjoe

Myself and my wife have been using the same Fuel station for years. The diesel has never caused any issues and alot of people use this garage as it's owner is known in the area. Last Friday my wife's car wouldn't start and after a local mechanic couldn't figure it out is being sent to Limerick to a Main dealer to get looked at......... Today....... my Car lost power and all manner of alerts came up on my dash, one of which was "Drain Water from Fuel Filter". This is too much of a coincidence to not be a bad batch of fuel.

If it is confirmed that fuel is the issue what are the best steps to take? Who Do I Alert (I have already spoken with the Garage owner who was shocked to hear I am having problems)?

emeldc

It's normal enough for moisture to build up in the fuel filter. It's an easy fix. I wouldn't be jumping to conclusions just yet. Do any of your neighbours or friends use the same garage ?

brian_t

emeldc wrote: »

It's normal enough for moisture to build up in the fuel filter. It's an easy fix. I wouldn't be jumping to conclusions just yet. Do any of your neighbours or friends use the same garage ?

And how long ago was your fuel system last serviced ?

dudara

Contact Customs & Excise

irelandjoe

1 Car was serviced less then a month ago one was due but only has 50k Km.
Avoided getting my wife's car sent to limerick as the other garage looking at my car discovered that diesel in my car was not correct diesel very cloudy and a lot of sediment. My wifes was cloudy but not as dark. both cars were filled on the same day from the same Filling station. They couldn't pin point it from the sample they took so they are draining my car and also my wife's car being drained. It is suspected that it could be home heating oil ........ I am going to call the supplier of the diesel in the morning .... Should I still be calling customs ? Or could this just be an honest mistake ? Will know more tomorrow I guess.

irelandjoe

emeldc wrote: »

Do any of your neighbours or friends use the same garage ?

Asked a few and none I have asked got diesel there since the garage got delivery.
Like I said the owner is an honest guy and he has been very good. Has to be a mistake with with supplier.

irelandjoe

Today's update:
My car is back the the road. Diesel flushed filter changed BUT 1 injector damaged..... Not got bill yet but injector alone is €485

My wife's car is not back yet. being told that this is a bigger problem with the Fuel pump damaged due to bad diesel.

I met the Fuel supplier today at the pump at took a sample at the pump witnessed by him, the filling station owner and have sent it away to be checked by an independent tester.

The Filling station owner is gutted as he has been selling fuel for 15 years in the same station.

He also told me that one other person in the area called him this morning to say that they broke down with fuel issues.

Not much more I can do at this stage until I get the results of the sample. The garage where I had my car fixed is holding a sample of the diesel also. This is what they took from my Filter.

irelandjoe

Waiting for results of the Lab tests. What do I do if the diesel come out clean!!!!!!! Which I don't think it will. I can prove I got diesel from the same pump nearly weekly as far back as my account goes.

joe6pack

This seems to be happening a good bit around the country in my job we have 10 vans all less than 3 years old and most of us tend to use the garage nearest the office alot and and in the last year or so 8 of them vans have been konking out alot and all ended up needing the fuel filter changed and after the pattern was noticed we stopped using this garage and guess what...so did the problem.

irelandjoe

Lab results in.......... Diesel is clean - It conformed to EU standard and is not washed or bad diesel from a chemical point of view. The sample I sent to lab was from the pump 2 days after my car broke down or 6 days after I filled. The Lab now wants to test a sample from the fuel taken from my drained tank which I am going to send them to see what was in it that caused all the damage. All I know is that I always get my diesel from this pump and have records to show this.

I guess this rules out the Supply of diesel. So how did this diesel knock out 2 cars and cause all that damage? I am sending the sample of the diesel in the picture above to get tested. to see exactly what is that dark material.

Another Fact: The Filling station tanks where filled a few hours before both my wife and I fillled our cars. we filled up within an hour of each other. Anyone want to hazard a guess on the cause ?

First invoice for damage to my car €778!!!! Car is under warranty too but because diesel was found to be issue they not covering!
I guess getting a sample from what was in my tank tested would be a good idea or should I be pushing the main dealer to do it !

irelandjoe

joe6pack wrote: »

This seems to be happening a good bit around the country in my job we have 10 vans all less than 3 years old and most of us tend to use the garage nearest the office alot and and in the last year or so 8 of them vans have been konking out alot and all ended up needing the fuel filter changed and after the pattern was noticed we stopped using this garage and guess what...so did the problem.

did you every get the Diesel tested?

irelandjoe

Lab tests back from sample from my car....... in Summary

"This fuel is heavily contaminated with Moisture and Sediment and has also exceeded EN 590 Regulations for Biodiesel content. Very poor Lubricity value recorded. Other Physical Parameters tested are non-compliant with EU 590 Fuel Quality Regulations.
This fuel is of an unacceptable quality."

My Car has broken down again since with the same stuff removed from my Filter the bad Diesel is still in my car's system and now I face a complete overhaul of the fuel system €5K+
just in time for Christmas!
Anyone else have this issue before ?

littleredspot

Sorry to hear about this. I wonder would you get more replies in Motors?

irelandjoe

littleredspot wrote: »

Sorry to hear about this. I wonder would you get more replies in Motors?

thanks not sure how to move I have sent a request to mod

MOVED NOW... Magic !!!!!!
Thanks mods

Ronnie Beck

irelandjoe wrote: »

Another Fact: The Filling station tanks where filled a few hours before both my wife and I fillled our cars. we filled up within an hour of each other. Anyone want to hazard a guess on the cause ?

Two rules I follow are don't fill up if oil tankers are there or pulling out and try and stay away from old petrol station.

Its clear now from the lab results that they stirred up all the sediment in the bottom of the tanks and it settled when you took your sample at the pump. Sorry to hear about your cars.

irelandjoe

Branded ... been getting Fuel from the same place for years.!

Ronnie Beck

irelandjoe wrote: »

Branded ... been getting Fuel from the same place for years.!

That would be my interpretation of it. Sediment and water sitting at the bottom of the tank all mixed up just as you pumped it out. You can see it in the bottle.

Although if it was an old filter it would have alot of stuff in there. A sample from your tank may have been better to send off for testing. I don't think the content of any old filter would pass the tests. See if you can get a sample just after the tankers are in too. It would need to be a large sample to clear the pump system of the good stuff.

irelandjoe

Ronnie Beck wrote: »

That would be my interpretation of it. Sediment and water sitting at the bottom of the tank all mixed up just as you pumped it out. You can see it in the bottle.

Although if it was an old filter it would have alot of stuff in there. A sample from your tank may have been better to send off for testing. I don't think the content of any old filter would pass the tests. See if you can get a sample just after the tankers are in too. It would need to be a large sample to clear the pump system of the good stuff.

New filter put in last week now full of same sediment removed from filter again. Sample from Tank was also sent. I need to send a larger sample for them to verify Biodiesel blend and also to look for Biological "bug".

I think one of two things happened. Bad sediment filled delivery from the supplier of diesel or delivery of diesel caused the churn of the sediment in the existing Filling station tanks. Only issue I have with that theory is that I filled some 2-3 hours after the delivery of Diesel (My wife would have filled 1-2 hours after the delivery) unless the fuel lines on the way to the pump where filled with sediment during previous fills or partial fills.

I think it would be in the interest of the Filling station owner to find out for sure the source of the contamination because until such time that I know where the contamination originated from I will not be buying from him or that Supplier again.

Ronnie Beck

I try to stick to esso and texaco for diesel. Never had a problem.

Could be worth getting your fuel tanks cleaned.

2-3 hours is alot off settling time if it was just sediment. Most stations nowadays have good filter systems too.

irelandjoe

New Filling station am now using is one you just mentioned. Tank need to be removed and either cleaned or replaced is what the Main dealer is saying. Was already flushed and pumped but the way the tanks are they are very difficult to drain fully while still on car.

Ronnie Beck

That's bug looks like nasty stuff reading about it. I heard of it before but thought it was nonsense. Says you have to run treatments through the system to get rid off them. They'd be in the fuel lines and everything.

Whoever's at fault will surely have to pay up some money. Hopefully the tests will give you some answers.

irelandjoe

Ronnie Beck wrote: »

That's bug looks like nasty stuff reading about it. I heard of it before but thought it was nonsense. Says you have to run treatments through the system to get rid off them. They'd be in the fuel lines and everything.

Whoever's at fault will surely have to pay up some money. Hopefully the tests will give you some answers.

In fairness to the filling station owner he is being very cooperative at the moment. Lets see if he come good for me. The total expected bill is going to be close to €6K which a lot more then both I and he expected.

Trojan

You could try having a chat with the guy who runs Forecourt.ie, he's blogged about bad diesel in the past (but the post got deleted unfortunately). http://www.forecourt.ie/web%20pages/contact.html

Best of luck with it.

R.O.R

There seems to be some bad diesel going around at the moment. We've had quite a few instances recently, and I know we aren't the only leasing company who've had the same issues. All fuel bought from branded stations, but not ones mentioned above.

Hopefully the owner of the garage has insurance - it's really down to him to sort out the issues caused by the bad fuel he sold. He may have recourse with the fuel supplier - I'd say you cars aren't the only ones that have had issues.

At least it seems like the filling station owner is being very good about the situation - hope you get sorted soon.

Drummerboy08

Yep, were the same. It seems to be from one particular brand too.....

CJhaughey

Best advice with diesel is to run the tank as low as possible before every fill and to change the fuel filter every second oil change.
The reason for running the tank low is that with the diesel injector pump heating the diesel and a large majority of it being returned to the tank, the fuel tends to warm up on any resonable length journey.
Warm fuel will encourage the growth of bacterial contamination.
Running the tank low means that new fuel is replacing the old stuff more regularly instead of being added to possibly contaminated fuel.
Changing the filter more often is good practice as the filter can also hold bacterial contamination.
Diesel isn't what it used to be before mandatory biofuel percentages.