Thread: Dodgy fuel - busted

Amazing. It astonishes me that there are govt people that check we get the right quantity of fuel, but no one that checks that we get the quality of fuel.

I really only use the big names for this reason as I hope I'm getting what I am paying for.

At least with my two petrol cars I'd only get a few K from the servo before I would know I didn't get ultimate

I filled my bike at a big name yellow servo at Carina in Brissy one time and a few days later found a spot of paint missing near the filler where some had spilt, presumeably from toluene, this was supposed to be top shelf 98 which I always run in the bikes.
That REALLY ****ed me off.

Originally Posted by oldzook

I filled my bike at a big name yellow servo at Carina in Brissy one time and a few days later found a spot of paint missing near the filler where some had spilt, presumeably from toluene, this was supposed to be top shelf 98 which I always run in the bikes.
That REALLY ****ed me off.

Shell? They are supposed to use more volatiles in their fuel to boost octane.

Name names

can't say I'm shocked...

I see what happens over here in the blending industry and you would be amazed...

if it contains carbon chains, it can be used in a blend to reach the specifications for sale - everything from waste solvents to de-watered crude ends up in there as long as it hits the important RON/MON, viscosity and volume.

to say the government doesn't check is a bit harsh, they do - but it's expensive and there are shedloads of petrol stations out there.... much easier to check at the refinery, the distributor or the port isn't it?

A good while ago, one of the major oil terminals in Brisbane had a couple of tanks full of "shandy", a mix of motor spirit and distillate, as a result of pumping errors between the wharf, the refinery, and the tank farm. The management solution was to create an artificial shortage of fuel at the servos by sacking on the flimsiest of reasons, a couple of tanker drivers, a most militant group, and thus a threat of a strike. This caused panic buying by the servos who had been caught empty in past strikes. The operators were told all that was available was the "shandy" and they mostly said "send it". Result, all "shandy" sold at Super petrol price.

Through work we heard of a case in the states where a tanker pulled up to delivery fuel and the petrol station guy took a dip reading before and all was fine.

The fuel was then delivered, truck drove off and the attendant took another dip reading.

Cars started filling up, got to the round-a-bout down the road and were all stopping.

The fuel was in fact water (the tank was being cleaned...not filled) and the attendant didn't put the gel that changes color for water on the dip stick so didn't realise.

As a result of that the petrol station closed down. If they damage their reputation bad enough that's what can happen.

Might change my rangie to straight LPG.. no worries at all then

Camo

Well my horror story is even better (mine's bigger than yours syndrome). A mate of mine - long ago enough now to repeat this one- was an Auditor with - lets say one of the big 3 oil companies.
They actually let a load of power kerosene out of the refinery as Avgas. They filled the Tullamarine storage terminal with it but luckily picked up the anomally in routine quality checks before refuelling any jets.
He said they did thier sums and it would have had enough oomph to get the jet up to speed but not enough for lift-off