Bad Fuel

[AnD3rew]

The only small marring of my recent long trip was a bad tank of Diesel I picked up at the Black Mountain BP Roadhouse outside of Guyra on the New England Highway.

After I filled up, I notices straight away when I pulled back onto the highway that the car wasn't pulling like it normally does, and for the whole of that tank of fuel I'd estimate performance was down 20-30% overtaking became a chore and I had to leave much more distance entering highways etc to account for the slow acceleration.

As soon as I put another good tank of fuel back into it, it was entirely back to normal again.

Anyone else experienced anything like this?

[amaruskanic]

Just wondering was it a cold day?

[AnD3rew]

Just wondering was it a cold day?

Guyra is a very high elevation and it was cloudy so it was definitely a cool day for a summer day but not really cold, it was probably something like 12-15deg C.

But that tank of fuel lasted me until Brisbane and for several days of driving around in Brisbane, and it was definitely hot there, but the performance was consistantly down until the new tank of fuel.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

can you check filters to see if it left anything bad?

[**Discovery300Tdi**]

I alway thought that BP was a good outlet to get diesel from! I only fill my D1 at either BP or shell. I to get the power loss from my rig and pretty much the same symptons as yourself. Not sure if it's diesel related but starting to think it might be. Prob 80% of our problem is from bad fuel but can't really check for anything, like Pedro said might be worth checking the filter to see if it caught anything.

[AnD3rew]

can you check filters to see if it left anything bad?

Going in for a service tomorrow, I might ask them to check the filter, but my suspicion is that this place may well have doctored the diesel with kerosene to increase the margin, that would probably not leave any signs in the filters.

[AnD3rew]

I alway thought that BP was a good outlet to get diesel from! I only fill my D1 at either BP or shell. I to get the power loss from my rig and pretty much the same symptons as yourself. Not sure if it's diesel related but starting to think it might be. Prob 80% of our problem is from bad fuel but can't really check for anything, like Pedro said might be worth checking the filter to see if it caught anything.

This BP was I think an independant contractor and not a company site, I also get my diesel either from Shell or BP, and have never had this problem from either before.

[oldsalt]

"Independents" mix all sorts of things with their fuels to increase their margins, you really are at the mercy of the fuel gods if you use them.
If I get stuck with no other option than an "independent" I just get enough to get me to the next major town and then fill 'er up using Shell or BP.
My info about the "independents" comes from a friend who works at the Tax office (fuel rebate area) and they get chemical tests of various fuels carried out at intervals and you'd be horrified to see what some places mix into regular fuels to get a few more dollars at the till.

[**Discovery300Tdi**]

So these independent contractors with there mixing of fuel are they allowed to do that or is that against the law??? Other thing is how can you tell if they are a contractor or not, i thought BP was just on there own?

[AnD3rew]

So these independent contractors with there mixing of fuel are they allowed to do that or is that against the law??? Other thing is how can you tell if they are a contractor or not, i thought BP was just on there own?

Nope it is illegal on many counts, fair trading, tax etc etc but some of them still do it.

Some of the contractors are fairly obvious due to their dodgy setups (this one is a bit dodgy) others you would never know.

[CaverD3]

Buy mine from an independent. Always been good.

Low turnover is more likely to cause funny things to grow in the diesel especially if it is a dodgy older site. More likely if the price is high.

[Bushwanderer]

If I were you, I'd let BP know. They wouldn't be happy at their brand being compromised.

Best Wishes,
Peter
PS: I use BP diesel whenever I can.