PDA

View Full Version : Thousands of drivers 'sold suspect petrol'



sticky
28-02-2007, 07:37 PM
Thousands of cars in south east England have broken down after being filled with what is feared to be suspect fuel.

Thousands of cars 'sold suspect fuel'
It was feared that a complete batch of fuel could be suspect

The vehicles failed in many cases after filling up at Tesco supermarket forecourts as well as a number of other smaller retailers.

It was feared that a complete batch of fuel ? sufficient to fill an estimated 400,000 cars ? could be suspect.

A number of tests are under way to discover the source of the fault which has led to the cars breaking down.

So far tests by the supermarket and Greenergy, the wholesale suppliers, have failed to identify the problem. The fuel appears to meet industry standards.

?We are not denying anything is wrong,? a Greenergy spokesman.

?But we just cannot identify the source of the problem.?

Tesco said its investigations had discovered no fault and a spokesman said it would continue selling fuel.

Other tests were being performed by trading standards officers and car retailers.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers said it was convinced that the fault was due to a contaminated batch of fuel.

?There is a huge range of models affected and it seems to be in a cluster around the south east,? a spokesman said.

?It would be very difficult for it to be anything else.?

A number of motorists reported that their engine warning lights came on without warning.

The early indications were that the problem related to engines getting the wrong mix of oxygen, which was being picked up by internal sensors.

This in turn led to the cars? engine management systems making the vehicles run on what is described as ?limp home? mode ? in order to protect both the car and the catalytic converter.

An AA technical specialist said affected drivers would quickly find the car struggling to reach normal revs, slowing down and running badly.

It is understood that older cars ? especially those more than around eight years old ? have not reported the same problems.

Initially it was suggested that the petrol may have had too much ethanol. But the AA discounted the possibility that the batch had exceeded the five per cent legal maximum.

Darren Ross, 42, an operations manager for a finance company was one of the motorists to encounter difficulty, shortly after refueling his Saab 1.8T at a Tesco superstore in Waltham Abbey in Essex.

?I was told today they had had 15 Saabs come in with the same problem in the space of the last week,? he said.

?I was also told Renault in Ilford have ordered in 1,000 sensors because they want to be ready for customers having similar problems.?

A Tesco spokesman said: "We have had a number of reports from motorists who claim to be experiencing problems after filling up with fuel at Tesco forecourts and we are aware that customers of other supermarkets have also reported difficulties.

"As soon as we were alerted to a potential problem we carried out extensive tests on current and past batches of unleaded fuel, including from some of the affected vehicles, and so far have not discovered any abnormalities or contamination whatsoever.

"Whilst we cannot currently trace any problem back to Tesco fuel we will of course continue to urgently work with our supplier to identify what might be behind it.

"If we discover any problem with our fuel we will inform customers immediately and act quickly to put it right.?

kamrez224
02-03-2007, 03:54 PM
office of fair trading have just concluded,that there was nothing wrong with the patrol,and that it meets the british standard,so what went wrong

sticky
02-03-2007, 07:17 PM
Tests on fuel that motorists say damaged their vehicles have not ruled out possible contamination and further inquiries are needed, trading standards officials said on Friday.

Hundreds of motorists across the country have said their vehicles broke down or suffered serious problems after leaving the forecourts of filling stations.

The Trading Standards Institute, which began an inquiry after complaints from motorists in southeast England, said initial tests on a sample of petrol confirmed that it complied with British and European standards.

But the organisation said compliance with those standards did not rule out the presence of a contaminant that would not normally be found in unleaded petrol.

"Tests are continuing for the possible presence of such a contaminant," the institute said in a statement.

Several motorists have blamed petrol they bought from supermarkets Tesco, Morrisons and Wal-Mart's Asda.

The supermarkets said on Thursday they had carried out tests and found no evidence of problems with the fuel they sold.

Most of the fuel sold by supermarkets in the southeast comes from suppliers Greenergy and Harvest Energy, which also both said checks had turned up no abnormalities.

Energy company BP, which is not involved in the investigation, said it had offered its technical resources to help the trading standards probe.

Spinifex
03-03-2007, 10:52 PM
The contaminent was Silicone.

Spinifex.

notanotherone
03-03-2007, 11:25 PM
The contaminent was Silicone.

Spinifex.
its used in diesel to stop it foaming

Spinifex
04-03-2007, 12:04 PM
its used in diesel to stop it foaming


so that means somebodys mixed it wrong like a dick? how on earth u manage that i dont know.. diesel loos and smells different than unleaded!?

unless it was done on purpose or a joke or even an accident..
someones gonna get rollocked on this one.

Spin.