Contaminated Fuel

[Johndouglas]

Just been away for a week of caravanning in the New Forest with a mixed bag of weather.   Doing the 100 mile drive down there was good.   A smooth tow at an average fuel consumption of 30.5mpg.   I arrived on Friday, pitched up and then went out to do some shopping.   That was at a Tesco Superstore.   While I was there I filled up with diesel - about 30 litres.   On Saturday I drove out into the forest about six miles and stopped for a cycle ride.   I started the engine for the return to site and immediately the engine management light came on.   Also on the centre display I got fault messages for the Depolution;  the ESP and the Speed Control Systems.   Otherwise the car drove normally.   When I got back to the site I disconnected the battery and at first that cleared the fault messages and EML but they all returned as soon as I drove off.   Fortunately, close to the site was a PSA independent garage so I went the following morning.   The guy plugged in his Lexia and the only thing he could see amiss was that the fuel pressure was reading too high.   He cleared the fault and told me to return if it showed again.   It did - about two miles down the road.   I took the car back to him and left it.   He phoned me two hours later with the news that I had a tank full of contaminated diesel.   He suspected that there was a % of petrol in the mix.   His recommendation was to drop the tank and clean it, flush the fuel lines and change the filter - all in - about four hours work.   I told him to go ahead.   I got the car back just before closing having had to pay £280 plus the value of the fuel I'd lost.   Next day I went back to Tesco and asked about any other complaints but they had received none (which is what you would expect them to say!)

 

 

[paul.h]

It might be worth sending in a written complaint to Tesco and it is unlikely you were the only person affected.

[Randombloke]

It's time for a complaint to Trading Standards.....

[pdjones]

Here is Australia, the only company who gives a written guarantee for their diesel fuel is BP. I am loathe to try any other brands seeing they will not go to the same lengths. The BP guarantee is rock solid in that if you use them as your sole supplier, keep receipts and can prove that your car has been regularly serviced, then they guarantee to fix any fuel system faults attributable to poor fuel quality. It is of course much more detailed but that is the gist of it. I just did a search at each company under fuel guarabtee and BP were the only company I could find who gave one in a written PDF file format.

[paul.h]

In the UK most/all of the recognised petrol companies have sold off their refineries and presumably buy it like all the supermarkets from the nearest refinery. They then add some of their own additives when the contract delivery tankers are filled. Possibly due to all this, it may be impossible for a customer to get a written guarantee but the different businesses in the process will have quality standards/procedures/specifications they will follow and their suppliers should meet. The fuel sold though should be to a certain standard which will be on the internet somewhere (BS EN 590).

 

Hence, if Tesco have been supplied with contaminated fuel, they can make a claim against the tanker company and the fuel supplier - this will be part of their quality procedures. The fuel supplier should have kept records for several years of the production records, fuel quality tests and have retained samples in case of claims against them. The tanker company will have records of the deliveries/products carried/cleaning carried out on the tankers. So if Tesco have petrol in their diesel, it should be possible to trace back to the possible source and who is liable. The following is from an RAC forum posting in March 2012 on fuel quality, the last line of which could imply there is a route for a complaint to Tesco:

 

customer.service@tesco.co.uk

Thank you for your email regarding fuel.
I have spoken to my Business Support Team regarding your query.
They have advised me that, there are minor differences between additives in fuel sold by the different UK retailers. However, I can assure you that it is not correct that Tesco fuel contains inferior additives. In most cases, it will be the same type and dosage of additive that is contained in fuel sold at branded filling stations. I cannot, however, confirm that this would be the same for other supermarket fuels.

I can also confirm that Tesco diesel fuel does not contain less cold flow improver additive in winter compared to branded diesel. Often it will be the same measure and type of additive contained in diesel fuel sold at branded filling stations.

Finally, I would like to reassure you that Tesco has an industry leading and comprehensive programme of quality control testing on all fuel sold at its filling stations.
 

[paul.h]

Out of interest, I had a look at BS EN 590 on Wikipeadia and it does not tell you what the main component is. A Shell SDS (safety data sheet) gives diesel as a mix of C9 to C25 hydrocarbons and petrol as a mix of C4 to C12 hydrocarbons, so a sample test should be able to tell if there is petrol present.

[DaveHerns]

Did you keep a sample of the fuel for analysis ? Do you know why the petrol in the fuel would make the fuel pressure too high? Is it because petrol is more watery and flows through the pump easier?

[Johndouglas]

Did you keep a sample of the fuel for analysis ?

No I didn't.   The guy had the fuel sitting there in a large plastic trough and he asked me if I wanted it, but I declined.    Couldn't handle it when away on holiday.   Did wonder later whether it would have been usable in daughter's XUD Pug 306.   She had her car there with me.  

 

Don't know why the diesel/petrol mix should alter fuel pressure.   When they connected the Lexia, he switched to live data and immediately picked up on the high fuel pressure - something like 700 when it should be 275?.

 

I've sent an email to Tesco so will await the reply.  

[paul.h]

If not already done, it may be worthwhile checking the fuel pressure again now everything is sorted, in case the high pressure is still there. Haynes says the pressure sensor should maintain a constant pressure in the common rail by controlling a pressure control valve in the pump and the pump can generate up to 1800 bar at high revs.

 

Probably just as well the fuel was not put in the 306, imagine the comments if that then needed cleaning out.

[Johndouglas]

 it may be worthwhile checking the fuel pressure again now everything is sorted,

That was the last thing the mechanic did after the tank was refitted and the filter changed.   We went for a drive (and to get some more fuel).   Performance was back to normal.   All the warnings stayed off and on our return he plugged in the Lexia to check the data.