Bad fuel

mp3guy

bucketybuck wrote: »

Absolutely. Bad fuel can cause ongoing issues with fuel systems.

But what is the suggestion here? That the fuel was fine but that the garage is trying to scam money out of the customer?

If they haven't fixed the fault and are just saying it was fuel anyway, then the fault will just keep happening and they know it will be a serious argument with the customer down the line. They will know their paperwork will be going back to the fuel supplier in the first place, and they know if the car is brought elsewhere and fixed properly then they will be shown up. That has solicitor written all over it and so just wouldn't be worth it if it were my garage.

Is it that they have fixed the fault, have claimed that aspect from warranty but also want to make a bit on the side from the customer by claiming fuel contamination? Its possible, just unlikely because who needs that bloody hassle, I'm a long time in this trade and for various reasons I wouldn't see it done.

Or is it that the fuel was bad, caused a few faults, that flushing the system has done the trick and they are confident enough to give samples and put their name to a report on the repair?

This is a good breakdown of all possible scenarios.

I picked up the car, written diagnostic, fuel sample and bill

Car was in the garage for 10 days, they changed the oxygen sensor twice I think and then did the tank clean / line flush for €360.

What's my next steps? I drive it about 50km a day and the problem showed up at about 40km in the past so I'd imagine I'll encounter it pretty soon if it's still there. And they say they drove it 60km yesterday without issues on fresh fuel.

If it was bad fuel, which is seeming more likely, the car was driven about 100km on it. I asked about my warranty being intact and the mechanic said "I don't know". He said he wasn't going to report to Toyota that it was fuel contamination, but obviously if permanent damage has been done beyond overheating and blowing the sensors in the catalytic converter, there's a big question sitting over the warranty as fundamentally it's my fault. I took it as, if it's fine now you're fine, if it's not you're not.

The fuel sample itself looks and smells alright as he told me when he gave it to me, but he said it's when it burns it leaves a greasy oily residue. Any recommendations on where/how to get it tested? I found this crowd but I'm not sure they're what I want? https://tellab.ie/fuel-enigine-oil/

ohnonotgmail

mp3guy wrote: »

This is a good breakdown of all possible scenarios.

I picked up the car, written diagnostic, fuel sample and bill

Car was in the garage for 10 days, they changed the oxygen sensor twice I think and then did the tank clean / line flush for €360.

What's my next steps? I drive it about 50km a day and the problem showed up at about 40km in the past so I'd imagine I'll encounter it pretty soon if it's still there. And they say they drove it 60km yesterday without issues on fresh fuel.

If it was bad fuel, which is seeming more likely, the car was driven about 100km on it. I asked about my warranty being intact and the mechanic said "I don't know". He said he wasn't going to report to Toyota that it was fuel contamination, but obviously if permanent damage has been done beyond overheating and blowing the sensors in the catalytic converter, there's a big question sitting over the warranty as fundamentally it's my fault. I took it as, if it's fine now you're fine, if it's not you're not.

The fuel sample itself looks and smells alright as he told me when he gave it to me, but he said it's when it burns it leaves a greasy oily residue. Any recommendations on where/how to get it tested? I found this crowd but I'm not sure they're what I want? https://tellab.ie/fuel-enigine-oil/

that is the lab that the IRPA use so they should be able to test it for you. whether they will do it as a one-off is another matter. contact them and ask.

gctest50

http://www.indlab.ie/

too, someone on here uses them

seagull

Have you been back to the petrol station to get a sample?

bucketybuck

gctest50 wrote: »

http://www.indlab.ie/

too, someone on here uses them

We also use them, found them a bit pricy though, €90-120 as I recall.

mp3guy

seagull wrote: »

Have you been back to the petrol station to get a sample?

Literally just collected 4 litres in a can from the same pump, with a receipt.

bucketybuck

mp3guy wrote: »

If it was bad fuel, which is seeming more likely, the car was driven about 100km on it. I asked about my warranty being intact and the mechanic said "I don't know". He said he wasn't going to report to Toyota that it was fuel contamination, but obviously if permanent damage has been done beyond overheating and blowing the sensors in the catalytic converter, there's a big question sitting over the warranty as fundamentally it's my fault. I took it as, if it's fine now you're fine, if it's not you're not.

Thats all they really can say unfortunately. I have seen vehicles with contaminated fuel give a lot of trouble and end up with a lot of parts replaced, and I have seen vehicles get flushed and then hear no more about it. Its very hard to know the extent of any damage and since nobody is just going to replace everything as a preventative measure then the only option is to wait and see. My gut would say that you'll probably be fine now, but it really depends. I think if you are doing 50km a day then you should see a recurrence pretty soon if it is going to happen.

What I would do is go to the fuel station and speak to them now. State your case, give them a sample of your sample and ask them to cover the cost of the repair. Not so much to reclaim the €360, but more so that if the fault does reoccur and you end up with a bill of thousands, that you have a record of reporting this to them at the time, that could be important in any possible future legal action.

harr

Any update OP ...car still running and what way did the forecourt deal with it ?

mp3guy

Car is running perfectly, must have driven 200km on it now. Haven't had a chance to get back to them yet.

mp3guy

I finally have an update for everyone.

After securing the written diagnostic and fuel sample I decided to email the head office of the forecourt chain before wasting my time and money on getting it tested.

They emailed back same day saying they don't manage any stations directly and offered to forward my email to the owner, also saying they hope it gets resolved.

The owner emailed back the next day saying he will deal with it immediately and contact the garage that discovered the problem.

A week later I had heard nothing so emailed him asking for an update and got the following response;

Good morning mp3guy,
Yes I believe we have the possible answer.We received a delivery from <supplier> on that Saturday morning.Having spoken to the supervisor in <garage> that worked on your car ,it appears that there was an excessive amount of Bio-fuel in the sample that they extracted.This Bio-fuel is added to the petrol in the terminal as per govt regulation but judging by the sample it appears not to have been mixed through sufficiently .On a positve note as this is added to all unleaded and diesel sold in Ireland it does not cause any lasting damage once flushed through.Can you confirm that the car is working ok now.Obviously this is an issue that <supplier> will have to take responsiblity for.Therefore I will re-imburse you for any out of pocket expenses that you have and I will take it up with <supplier> thereafter.
I can either leave a cheque for you behind the counter in the garage or post it ,whichever is more convenient.<garage> had disposed of the sample in their garage so if you still have it can I get it off you as the oil company want to see how this error could have happened.I am not in the business of pulling the wool over peoples eyes,the fact that we had just received a delivery before you filled leads me to believe this is the only logical conclusion.Subsequent samples indicate that all is fine since.
Please accept my apologies mp3guy for this unfortunate event.It seems to have been a case of bad timing.
Regards
<owner>

Sure enough I picked up the cheque this morning and dropped off half of the sample I had.

honda boi

Fair play happy days!!

Odyssey 2005

A very honest reply. Great result ,well done OP.

CoBo55

That's great, garage owner sounds like a decent guy.

gonko

Very good garage owner and no messing around. Great outcome.

corks finest

mp3guy wrote:

Sure enough I picked up the cheque this morning and dropped off half of the sample I had.

Well delighted there's an honest business man left and you got sorted

pippip

Have you got any clarification from the garage who repaired the car as to whether this will effect your warranty in the future?

Could it come up as an excuse if you have another issue with the engine in the future. I know the forecourt said it shouldn't cause any damage but have the garage agreed with that. You don't want a situation where they blame this incident on something else and you have to go back to forecourt, they may not be as willing to cough up next time.

If your warranty is effected then you're gonna need a solicitor.