Dirty Fuel in Melbourne

[hademall]

Image of the Fuel after evaporation

I often notice how much crap is in the petrol tank on my lawn mower, obviously because it’s only a small tank and you can see it as the fuel gets lower. I’m pretty careful when filling the lawn mower so as not to get crap in the tank and often wonder how it gets there. Now I know, it’s in the fecking petrol!

 

[krusing]

Just to confirm my comment on the Discrepincy of the Pump,

Attached are the images I took -

[In image 02 at the pencil mark, you can just see the level of fuel in the container]

These were take a little while ago, but it doesnt change the fact they are 10% out at the time,
And how long have they been like that since they hadn’t been checked/tested/corrected, or are weights and measures in on it ?.

 

[Fu Manchu]

I too suspect there’s some junk fuel around. I filled up at BP (a new station) and the car has been running a bit rough on this tank.
Bumping the price.
Diluting the fuel
Profits are up

 

[J_D 2.0]

Not because of the Pump, becuase of the Fuel Gauge sender, was failing,
because it would get to 3/4 and 1/4 of a tank and it would drop to empty,
Then the Dash would display " X Contact Dealer"
Then in a few K/M's further on, it would go back to normal.

This happens from not ever filling your car up as well. I had this happen on my SV6 quite a while ago because I would only ever throw a few bucks of fuel in it. When I had to go on a long trip and filled the tank up I got multiple “Contact dealer” messages with the fuel gauge dropping to zero intermittently.

If you never fill the tank the sender resistor is never being “wiped” from actually going to the top of the tank and it gets corroded and open circuits on the way back down when you fill it up. If you run a few full tanks through it letting it go all the way back to a quarter it wipes the resistor clean and the fuel gauge works fine again.

 

[Wats_in_a_name]

Someone in this thread mentioned the fuel quality from United and I have heard other reports too regarding this. Those reports were enough to stop me using them. Fwiw I use BP. I have only had one fuel related issue back in 2014 with an injector failing possibly due to dodgy fuel but nothing since them. (Got the "Check Drivetrain" warning). Not sure if anyone else has recommendations regarding who to buy from.

 

[trel]

I fill at Costco they are constantly busy I see a tanker there everytime I go. Always fresh fuel never had a problem.

 

[Skylarking]

I fill at Costco they are constantly busy I see a tanker there everytime I go. Always fresh fuel never had a problem.

I don’t believe most fuel contamination is caused by old fuel sitting in the tank for a long time. It’s caused by heavy rain resulting in water, crushed leaves and dirt somehow enters the underground tank. Then the stuff enters your vehicle if the servo’s pump filters aren’t maintained correctly.

Another cause, possibly the biggest cause, is half asleep refuellers who connect up to the wrong underground tank so the wrong fuel goes into the wrong underground tank. Diesel into petrol or petrol into diesel doesn’t go well and gets picked up quickly as cars die quickly after refuel. Putting 95 into a 98 tank will cause issues but it depending on ratio of the resulting mix and may be rather difficult to relate back to the refuelling event.

But my view, false or correct I don’t know, is that having a tanker refuelling the underground tanks will stir up any sediment, if it exists. Such would exacerbate the issue of shite getting into my vehicles if the pump filters are poorly maintained. Unfortunately there is no real way to know when the tanker was last refuelling and how long it takes for the contamination to settle again so it’s a crap shoot in one respect.

The sad part is that it seems our vehicles welfare is in the hands of people who don’t see a problem with short changing customers 2.3 lires out of a supposed 20 litres dispensed. Guess we have to trust their pumps are not only accurate but their shitfuckery doesn’t extend to scrimping on pump filters and pump & tank maintenance

 

[J_D 2.0]

I don’t believe most fuel contamination is caused by old fuel sitting in the tank for a long time. It’s caused by heavy rain resulting in water, crushed leaves and dirt somehow enters the underground tank. Then the stuff enters your vehicle if the servo’s pump filters aren’t maintained correctly.

Another cause, possibly the biggest cause, is half asleep refuellers who connect up to the wrong underground tank so the wrong fuel goes into the wrong underground tank. Diesel into petrol or petrol into diesel doesn’t go well and gets picked up quickly as cars die quickly after refuel. Putting 95 into a 98 tank will cause issues but it depending on ratio of the resulting mix and may be rather difficult to relate back to the refuelling event.

But my view, false or correct I don’t know, is that having a tanker refuelling the underground tanks will stir up any sediment, if it exists. Such would exacerbate the issue of shite getting into my vehicles if the pump filters are poorly maintained. Unfortunately there is no real way to know when the tanker was last refuelling and how long it takes for the contamination to settle again so it’s a crap shoot in one respect.

The sad part is that it seems our vehicles welfare is in the hands of people who don’t see a problem with short changing customers 2.3 lires out of a supposed 20 litres dispensed. Guess we have to trust their pumps are not only accurate but their shitfuckery doesn’t extend to scrimping on pump filters and pump & tank maintenance

That’s one reason why I like LPG, they cant contaminate it or mix it with inferior fuel and water can’t get in the storage tank. About all they can do is rig the pump to make you pay more and you’ve got no way to check if it’s out.

 

[Skylarking]

That’s one reason why I like LPG, they cant contaminate it or mix it with inferior fuel and water can’t get in the storage tank. About all they can do is rig the pump to make you pay more and you’ve got no way to check if it’s out.

But the industry does play with the mix of butane and propane that make up LPG during the seasons Too much butane and performance suffers

 

[chrisp]

I fill at Costco they are constantly busy I see a tanker there everytime I go. Always fresh fuel never had a problem.

I recall reading somewhere (and long ago) recommending not to buy fuel when the tank is filling the tanks as the refilling process stirs up the sediments and contaminates in the underground tank. I’m not sure if there is an validity in that recommendation or not?