After driving petrol cars for 30 years, I have made the switched to diesel for fuel efficiency reasons.
A niggling concern that I have is that modern diesel fuel is proned to water/bugs/sediment contamination. When that happens the repair bills could be huge. Problem is of course as a consumer, one has no control over the fuel supply chain and you won't know something is contaminated until it is too late.
Does anyone has any insight/tips to share in order to avoid the problems. Thanks.
kazbanz,
Aug 18, 5:40am
smalltrader--the issue IMO is MUCH worse than that. Modern diesel vehicles are finely tuned and desighned to run on ZERO sulphur diesel.It doesn't matter where in the world they are built --(except maybe the USA) This has an effect on how they run long term in NZ.
intrade,
Aug 18, 5:41am
yes i made noumerous threads , you need to service it on time with correct engine oil and filter and for fuel contarmination the biggest issue is ethanol cross contermination. You add a additive like morreys diesel stop smoke to your diesel. they should rename that additive as its not to stop diesel smoking as the name implys. also flashlube or chemtech or winns edt. all these are additives and you want to use the one whom suites you most in every tank of diesel you fill as you say you wont know what your getting at a pump. Fuelfilters must bechanged on time also in the correct fation, i just prefill filters with clean diesel or draw a vaccume on the filters to prefill them as some modern diesel dont self bleed well. And a dry diesel high pressure pump is deadly to crank over for longer with no fuel as all that lubes it is the diesel fuel. So post exactly what you have for more specific details and things to know. make model engine size and year.
msigg,
Aug 18, 5:43am
Well I know a contractor in BOP that has added an extra filters to their new vehicles as they often get diesel from 200l drums here and there, in the last five years they have never had an issue.
intrade,
Aug 18, 5:47am
on the left type in 101 and select last month and read them threrads
mrfxit,
Aug 18, 6:23am
Yep dual fuel filters are getting to be a popular addition
mrcat1,
Aug 18, 6:48am
You only get bug issues if you have water in the fuel as diesel is an organic fuel, no water then no bug. Really simple.
tweake,
Aug 18, 6:50am
dual filters is best. but it pays to check what injection system it runs and if it runs a lift pump or not. some run lift pump and need to check the filter will handle the pressure. for suction only systems most common rails are ok but earlier injection pumps really need lift pumps added.
its funny how the overseas models often come fitted with a sedimentor or 2nd filter as standard. not in the au/nz market tho.
bwg11,
Aug 18, 6:57am
Yes, makes a lot of sense, like marine installations.
mrcat1,
Aug 18, 7:07am
NZ fuel is not that contaminated out of service stations or fuel stops to warrant dual filters if the manufacturers service recommendations are adhered to, if fuel was coming out of farmers tanks or a questionable supply then yes I could see an advantage, but just adds cost to servicing that most people wouldn't want to pay.
pestri,
Aug 18, 7:10am
You have a measure of control if you use one brand of diesel, and keep the receipts. if you get contaminated fuel it will then be much simpler to trace fault/liability.
kevymtnz,
Aug 18, 7:18am
simple dont buy a crappy smelly diesel
smalltrader2,
Aug 18, 7:49am
This is a Mazda diesel car.
I am wondering is there a difference using brand name diesel vs supermarket diesel. Since a consumer does not have control, there is no way of knowing if the fuel is contaminated or not.
Also not familiar with diesel smell. How do you define smelly diesel?
mrcat1,
Aug 18, 7:59am
Unless the supermarket is importing the fuel, its more than likely coming out of Marsden point refinery, so wont make any difference. If your really worried about fuel contamination, next time you fill up take a sample and send it to the lab to get it tested for contamination.
intrade,
Aug 18, 8:21am
you dont seem to get it contermination is not happening at all times contermination means some batch of fuel got conterminated. so sending a sample of your fuel for analysing , what exact point would that be good for? unless you know its conterminated for sure you add a diesel additive to prevent possible contermination problems you could be lucky and never get conterminated fuel. but if you do get some you will know it with tousends of $$ repair bills way more money in damage caused then adding preventing diesel additives to fight possible contermination. plus the additives improof cetan and lubrication. the fuel is all made to minimum standard and then the resellers add there stuff like techron what ever that is who knows.
mrcat1,
Aug 18, 8:47am
You are more likely to get fuel contamination by filling your fuel filters before you fit them because you are to lazy to pump up the fuel properly so its filtered by the time it reaches your engine, and considering I burn thousands of litres of diesel fuel and have never had a fuel contamination problem I'm a little perplexed at why you keep going on about contamination, I think you will find the contamination is coming from poor maintenance and poor servicing procedures. Unless you sample your fuel for contamination how do you know or not know if its contaminated if your having problems?
tweake,
Aug 18, 11:34pm
nz is fairly good for keeping fuel clean. however there is problems from time to time. one issue i ran into was rain water sitting in the cap area running into the tank when you take the tap off. have known guys who conked out just past the gas station, their fuel tank was completely full of water. had couple of cases of tanker putting the wrong fuel in the tanks. also garages that used to dump fuel from incorrectly fueled cars into the diesel tank. a bit of petrol in diesel is not an issue with old diesel. however a big problem with modern diesel.
in last 10 years i've had diesel bug/water twice, one fuel filter that collapsed and one blocked up completely with some black crap.
brapbrap8,
Aug 18, 11:53pm
I think it is a bit of an exagerated issue. We have over dozen diesel vehicles at the moment ranging from old tractors to a late model, souped up VW Marine TDI engine and plenty of common rail cars and utes in between. Have never been fussy where we get diesel from, and most things are regularly filled up from our rusty old farm tank, the only precaustion I take is to squirt some diesel on the ground before I put it in the tank to make sure there is no water or insects in the nozzle when using the farm tank. I also use plastic fuel containers to fill things up and store diesel in, sometimes for months at a time.
We have never had a single issue with fuel contamination in the last couple of decades. Only even slightly related issue was a faulty fuel filter in a John Deere that partially collapsed and restricted fuel flow and power. We do filters every service and service everything on time and it is pretty rare to see any dirt or anything in them.
321mat,
Aug 19, 12:01am
I have a small piece of advice that may help:
To avoid moisture build-up in your tank, always fill up to the brim when re-fueling.
I know that since I changed to this style of filling up, about 15-odd years ago, I've never had a problem with water contamination.
tweake,
Aug 19, 1:51am
i don't think its to bad these days. talking to tanker drivers they have big penalty for mixing up the fuel. a lot of the water can come from when the truck tanks get welded up and they are not drained properly. but also companies are tough on stations tanks. i know a few stations that had issues with leaking tanks. one ended up in a very very expensive court case. there is some hefty penalties for environment contamination. so they are on to it. the old practice of reusing old tanks in low volume stations has stopped.
so if the source of the problem is greatly reduced, you should not get contamination issues.
but the downside is the cost of replacing the modern injection systems can be more than the value of the vehicle, so it doesn't hurt to add a bit of protection for that rare chance it happens.
tweake,
Aug 19, 1:52am
diesels use the fuel to cool the injection pump. so keeping a decent amount in the tank helps keep fuel temps down.
bwg11,
Aug 19, 4:29am
Bit of a side issue, but I will drive past a service station which has a tanker in filling its tanks. Just imagine how that blast of new fuel going in must stir up all the inevitable crap and water in the bottom of the tanks.
stevo2,
Aug 19, 5:57am
Agreed. I have been known to drive off without diesel if the tanker is hooked up.
mrcat1,
Aug 19, 8:09am
Water can get thru if they are pumping of the ships and they use a slug of water between products, if the guy on the valves isn't quick enough some water may get thru but then its going into bulk storage tanks that's containing hundreds of thousands of litres.
smalltrader2,
Aug 19, 8:35am
Thanks everyone for the hints and tips. Much appreciated !
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