Dave1980

Evening All

Anyone know the symptons of having water in your fuel?. Since i have filled up my car has developed a misfire and is really stuttering. All i can think of is that its something in the fuel as its a bit of a coincidence.

Whats the best course of action?. Run the fuel until it works through?.

Cheers all.

Dedrater

I'm not sure, but i recall this happening with Tescos fuel a few years ago.

Dave1980

funnily enough it is tesco fuel

Dedrater

Here is an article from 2007, it wasn't water in the fuel though, my mistake.

Tesco apologises for contaminated fuel - PetrolPrices.com

Dave1980

ta, appreciated, will give the car a run on idle and see if it improves but not sounding good.

Dave1980

is filling up with a fresh tank likely to help?. only got about 1/3 of a tank of it left at the minute.

Mifo

iTrader: (10)

Id go and fill it up with v power , might dilute it down a bit.

Dave1980

worth a try i guess

scoobyvirgin

Personally I'd drain it and start with fresh stuff. No point contaminating new fuel and getting the same symptoms.

Dedrater

Not sure what I would do tbh, can mechanics do any sort of test for contamination?

Petem95

I'd just run it totally down to empty, then fill a bit and run to empty again and if it's still doing it maybe look at other things like corroded HT leads (would cause misfire, stuttering under acceleration).

Failing that I'd take it to a garage if it's still doing it. Must be fairly common thing to happen?

Dave1980

worth a try, may just try filling it with some injection cleaner then taking a longer route home. seems to get worse as it warms up for some reason which is most odd.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Had it with shell Optimax. Engine just stopped about 15mins into the journey after filling up. Then eventually restarted. Power was intermittant with it surging on and off despite having the accelerator in a fixed position. Symptoms much like with fuel starvation, or air in the fuel lines.

Drained it in the end and replaced with fresh fuel.


Seeing petrol floats on top of water, filling the tank up is not going to fix it - as the water is still at the bottom!

Running the tank until its REALLY empty (i.e ignore the guage - run it until you can hear the fuel pump gurgling as its sucking air, although you may risk getting stranded), or draining it manually is the only fix. IMO.

David Lock

I used to get this at my old local village petrol place (now closed). Usually after heavy rain so I just went elsewhere. Of course it could be a contaminated delivery.

Engine used to misfire quite badly but cleared itself. I'd just top it up with some Shell or whatever from a busy garage.

Of course likelihood is that it is something else entirely such as damp in the electrics.

dl

Dave1980

thanks guys, will check all ht leads etc tonight and give them some wd40 too, hopefully something simple.
got some injection cleaner to put in as well so see what happens.

just seems a conicidence it was immediately after filling up it starts to happen.

scooby1wrx

iTrader: (1)

If you do decide to drain or even just a small bit for inspection do so in to a clear container and if there is water in the petrol you should see it sitting at the bottom as the petrol will sit at the top

Leslie

I would certainly have a go at Tesco quoting Dedrator's prompt from 2 years ago. You might at least get the duff fuel replaced FOC. The excess silicon might cause a problem in your fuel system anyway.

Les

Kiwi

I read on the internet that adding methlated spirits or alcohol can help ? not sure if its urban myth and I have never tried it !

Dave1980

sprayed all the ht leads etc with wd40 and it seems to tick over better now, also seems to be running better but in snow you cant tell as soon as you put the power down in loses grip or the tc cuts in.
hopefully it was a step in the right direction though