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Mansfield Diesel Freezing Problems in the cold this week

Submitted: Sunday, Dec 08, 2002 at 00:00

scotty

Mansfield has no Alpine Diesel to stop freezing fuel lines and injector pumps. This weeks snowfalls and cold temps caught out about 30 staff members at Mt Buller (mostly tradesmen) whos diesels froze up overnight. The Mansfield Shell service station advertises and claims to sell Alpine diesel (contains anti freeze agent) all year however it is untrue. Shell were contacted by unhappy locals who only used Shell fuel when their own cars fuel systems froze up and were told that they only carried anti freeze fuel and they cannot understand why their customers tanks had turned to jell. Eventually the oficial local Shell service station claimed that the refinery had supplied them with "standard diesel by mistake". I reckon it was the local station trying to save 1/2 a cent pr litre. Mansfield fuel is dearer than Mallacoota, Red Cliffs, Warnambool, Woodonga, Corryong and I think all towns with the exception of Mildura. Check them out for yourselves. This town is backwards. In winter they add on another 10cents a litre to "get" the skiing traffic from Toorak.

The local prices in Mansfield are consistantly the highest in the state which is a bit strange considering we are only 2 1/2 hours from the refinery. All 4 of the stations charge the same price for all fuel products as each other and have done since I have lived in the area. Price fixing NO... not much. It is funny that all 4 of the owners of the Mansfield petrol stations are golf club members and drinking buddies. I would like the ACCC to check these guys out.
ThreadID: 2550 Replies: 3
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AnswerID: 9414   Submitted: Sunday, Dec 08, 2002 at 00:00

Lux replied:

G'day Scotty, Spot on mate it's not only the service station who rip you off in Mansfield I can name a few others around town who take pleasure in ripping 4x4 visitors off....I had a holiday house in Gough's bay for many years and the local general store there was the most friendly place one could shop and it's still the same today, When we visit the area now we make sure we are carring all our supplies to make sure we don't have to stop in Mansfield....
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AnswerID: 9420   Submitted: Sunday, Dec 08, 2002 at 00:00

royce replied:

This is a topic close to my heart! The Latrobe Valley in Gippsland Victoria seems to have some of the highest fuel prices in the state or even interstate..... constantly. What price range do you pay for diesel. Ours moves between the 93c and 99c. I work all over and find the fuel to be consistently 14c cheaper an hour towards Melbourne than here. Other places more remote are often cheaper. I'm installing an auxiliary tank to run on the cheaper fuel. I calculate that I might save up to $1000 in the first couple of years! We have heaps of outlets and lots of traffic, but few suppliers and distrubuters. Cheers Royce
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FollowupID: 4801   Submitted: Sunday, Dec 08, 2002 at 00:00

Andy posted:

Our diesel fuel ranged between 94 cents and $1.13 per litre this year. The $$1.13 price was in the busy winter season when fuel in the rest of the state was about 93 cents. They take advantage of the tourist dollar at the locals expense. Does anyone have a reliable solution to the anti freezing problems of diesel in the high country. I now know that I cannot trust the Shell station who lie about them running Alpine diesel all year? Is ther an additive or anything that you can buy on the market?
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FollowupID: 4823   Submitted: Monday, Dec 09, 2002 at 00:00

Member-skippyking posted:

Andy,

just add some kerosene. I can't give you the ratio as I am unsure as to what it is. We had to do this to get some machinery going that ran only in summer, hence was full of "summer" diesel. As we had sold it and it was wintertime, and cold, the machinery dealer added some kero to stop the waxing. At a rough guess it was a litre of kero to about 100 litres in the tank. If anyone has any info to say this is bad or incorrect I'd be happy to know for myself as well. Good luck.

SK
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AnswerID: 9459   Submitted: Monday, Dec 09, 2002 at 00:00

KIM replied:

I worked in the petroleum industry for a number of years and, unless things have changed, you will find that a winter mix is nothing more than deisel and heating oil. The ratio depends on the temperature the fuel will be subject to.

Cheers
Reply 3 of 3

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