New 2012 SV6 Sportwagon running rough after 4 days

[RayLamp]

A famliy member who used to work at a woolworths(safeway) servo said that they tend to use a lot of water in the servo holding tanks to keep them weighed down when the fuel runs out. Maybe there is something in that.

I've never put a tank of United in my car. Only Shell or Caltex 98. I tried BP Ultimate 98 once but my car seemed to be recalcitrant towards it. Many here swear by it though

 

[morphix]

I've had mixed bag of results from various small and large company servos around Central Coast.

My mother has had both Shell Lake Munmorah/Doyalson and Caltex Morisset servos, within the same 20-30km area both have cracked fuel tanks which have leaked water into the fuel and ended up with half a tank of water and many many car troubles.

Thought, atleast both times the servos have taken responsibility and paid for any damages.

I've been lucky around Newcastle and haven't had any troubles, but i tend to fill up mainly at 7/11 as its at the end of my street or Woolies servo as its near where i go shopping a lot.

 

[Reaper]

A famliy member who used to work at a woolworths(safeway) servo said that they tend to use a lot of water in the servo holding tanks to keep them weighed down when the fuel runs out. Maybe there is something in that.

Woah - U SRS??? I could not imagine that would be correct in any shape or form.

I've never put a tank of United in my car. Only Shell or Caltex 98. I tried BP Ultimate 98 once but my car seemed to be recalcitrant towards it. Many here swear by it though

Caltex supply and operate the Woolworths sites. Some are co-branded but all are Caltex beneath the skin. Interestingly Coles own the Shell (most anyway) sites and lease the Shell brand from the refiner.

I've had mixed bag of results from various small and large company servos around Central Coast.

My mother has had both Shell Lake Munmorah/Doyalson and Caltex Morisset servos, within the same 20-30km area both have cracked fuel tanks which have leaked water into the fuel and ended up with half a tank of water and many many car troubles.

Thought, atleast both times the servos have taken responsibility and paid for any damages.

I've been lucky around Newcastle and haven't had any troubles, but i tend to fill up mainly at 7/11 as its at the end of my street or Woolies servo as its near where i go shopping a lot.

From what I understand your best bet is using a busy site that has a high turnover of fuel. Least likely to have water in the tank and the high octane fuel is still likely to be high octane (it degrades with age). That said I got a dud tank from what would be one of the busiest in Vic a few weeks back. Impossible to tell ahead of time unfortunately .

Reaper

 

[HEXEM]

I have a March 2012 SV6 and on cold startup there is a faint engine imbalance during the first 10 seconds of the warm-up idle. Once the idle drops from 1100rpm its smooth. The SIDI engines are designed to pump a heap of fuel at first start (when cold) in order to bring engine temps up quicker than previous V6 engines.

One thing I did notice in the few months I have had it, the imbalance seemed to be more noticable a different times. I took it to my mate at Holden and while he said that it is normal for the SIDI engines he rechecked the tension of all underbody bolts and nuts etc. He said that the engine mounts were quite loose and rentension. Since that was done last week the imbalance is back to how it use to be (faint).

Just my 2 cents worth... I know how frustrating this brand of car can be and dealing with the factory service techs where I use to go. I now take it elsewhere and I'm lucky that I did. They found the sump plug was loose and dripping oil onto the splash tray, plus a lot of other things that should have been picked up at the 3,000klm check.

 

[vicarious]

Occasionally I get a shudder at the lights, almost feels like it would stall.

 

[RiCeY]

A famliy member who used to work at a woolworths(safeway) servo said that they tend to use a lot of water in the servo holding tanks to keep them weighed down when the fuel runs out. Maybe there is something in that.

Your mate is thinking of concrete swimming pools, why would you need to weigh down a completely buried tank?

 

[RiCeY]

I have a March 2012 SV6 and on cold startup there is a faint engine imbalance during the first 10 seconds of the warm-up idle. Once the idle drops from 1100rpm its smooth. The SIDI engines are designed to pump a heap of fuel at first start (when cold) in order to bring engine temps up quicker than previous V6 engines.

All modern engines run rich on startup to get the catalytic converter up to temp quickly to meet emissions requirements. They must be at operating temp within a certain time.

Checked the latest info from Holden and haven't seen anything on shuddering.

Also it is possible to have issues without the ECU logging any DTCs, this can make diagnosis a little tricky especially if its intermittent.

If it was misfire or vacuum leak I would expect to see an engine light. Sounds like the problem may have to get worse before the source is revealed.

 

[asdfasd]

I appreciate the input guys. Thanks :beer chug:

This morning I put half a tank of BP Ultimate in to see whether that makes a difference. At the very least I'll be able to rule out their "Don't go to United" reason for how the car is running. I figured I'd do this before taking it back to them for another look. I'll let you know how it goes.

Just out of curiosity - if water in the tank is the problem, how is this diagnosed?

 

[RiCeY]

By taking a fuel sample, you can see the water in the fuel as they dont mix.

 

[Reaper]

I appreciate the input guys. Thanks :beer chug:

This morning I put half a tank of BP Ultimate in to see whether that makes a difference. At the very least I'll be able to rule out their "Don't go to United" reason for how the car is running. I figured I'd do this before taking it back to them for another look. I'll let you know how it goes.

Just out of curiosity - if water in the tank is the problem, how is this diagnosed?

The problem is you need to run the tank as low as possible (ideally drain it) to make sure all the water is gone. I have had a few over the years (from all fuel brands) and generally run the tank as low as I can, fill it to the brim and cycle it that way a few times.

You can take a sample and have it tested to test for water as well.

Reaper