Careful where you buy fuel

It is all very nice to be warned about being careful but how to be careful is more important. Any time when filling with diesel OR petrol, don't simply insert the nozzle and fill the tank. You never see the fluid going IN. Best to carefully hold the nozzle out a little so the fuel and it's colour, viscosity and smell can be determined. If at night, use an LED torch to view the fuel. That way, you are unlikely to unwittingly continue with the wrong fuel. If in doubt I do the above.

They said on the news 12 vehicles, all diesel have been affected.

At first they said it was nothing to do with them.....but now...they have sent sample of both petrol and diesel to be tested.

IMHO the following applies.
Contaminated fuel coming out of a pump is most commonly caused by the fuel level in the underground tanks getting very low. The underground tanks will collect water and who knows what other crud which collects at the bottom. The older the tank the more likely the problem. For this reason the pickup for the bowser is not quite to the bottom and so usually its not an issue. The two most common causes of this contaminated fuel reaching the bowser pickup are a sudden ingress of water or a fuel delivery which stirs the new fuel with the old. Given time it will settle and not be a problem but until it does settle contaminated fuel will be dispensed. The steps I take to try and avoid this situation are these;
1. Always try and refuel at high volume outlets like truck stops.
2. Avoid fuel outlets where their tanks are located in areas that may have been flooded at some time. The tanks at Eucla are most definitely not in a flood prone area so this is not the cause in this instant.
3. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, ever fill up if you see a fuel tanker refilling the tanks or even a tanker in the area as I may have just filled the tanks. When tanks are refilled this process stirs up any contaminants in the bottom of the tank and mixes it with the new fuel. Only time will see the contaminants resettle on the bottom of the tank. In most of Europe fuel stations are forbidden from dispensing fuel for an hour after a tank refill. If this is the only fuel station available wait as long as you can and then take a sample of the fuel and examine and smell it. I always have a Mr Funnel strainer for instances where I have any doubt about the fuel quality.
4. In very remote places where fuel contamination is more likely and the consequences of getting bad fuel much more serious, I will use the Mr Funnel for the first AND last 5 litres. It is most important to do the last 5 litres so you are absolutely sure that the whole fuel delivery is not contaminated.
5. Always try and sight and smell the fuel when you first start to fill, if the colour is not right the fuel will not be right.
Fuel outlets should be checking their tanks from time to time and pumping out any contaminants but anyone relying on all fuel outlets to do the right thing are kidding themselves.
When going very remote you should be just as paranoid about the quality of your fuel as you would be about the quantity, your wellbeing may depend on it. Chris

Currently Lockhart River is our local place to buy fuel. The fuel is shipped up in containers on the barge. two weeks ago the barge operators inadvertantly left the fuel containers on the wharf in Cairns. Result no fuel available in the area for a week. The following week fuel was brought in, but the containers were mislabelled & diesel got put into the unleaded tanks (creating a lot of work for the local mechanic for customers with petrol cars). As a result the bowser was shut down for a further week until the underground tank could be drained & refilled after the next barge arrival. On the day the next barge was due, the road into Lockhart was closed due to the collapse of an under road culvert , with no available replacement pipe locally.

3 weeks now without being able to get unleaded & due to a dead diesel generator we have been keeping 8 full fridges & freezers from thawing out using the solar plus two little 2Vva Honda generators, & having to chase around to borrow a few litres here & a few litres there, from folk who also have been unable to replace their supplies.

Hoping we can get into Lockhart this morning!

Just an update from our RAA motor body organisation here in South Australia about this serious problem.

Tests have pointed out that it is not contaminated dirty fuel but more serious......

They can not say how, but the Service Station some how had petrol put into the diesel tanks.

There were over 12 vehicles that had to be put on flat top recovery vehicles with repairs to vehicles going to countless thousands of dollars.

The Eucla Caltex is now looking into how this has happened and wether the fault has been caused by the tanker driver that delivered the fuel, or from the fuel depot that loaded fuel into the fuel tanker.

Thanks for posting this important info Cruza. One of the benefits of using forums like this is getting early news about dramas like this. Might well have saved time and heartache for a few travellers.

Cheers
Jim

Appears it was a stuff up , the delivery for whatever reason was the wrong product in the wrong tank .
That could possibly happen anywhere.
So if you’re going to be paranoid, best be paranoid everywhere , not just remote.

Does anyone actually know what damage ULP will do to a diesel?
Petrol doesn’t ignite on compression does it? A diesel won’t run on petrol.
So drain clear the petrol and all should be fine.
I have seen it before.

Insurance covers the cost of repairs if the garage is at fault.

I was one of the unlucky ones, 1HZ 105 cruiser towing a van, main tank empty before fill up and yep switched back to main before heading off. Got just past Cocklebiddy before she started to play up, turned around and luckily got ourselves into a gravel pit before she died. This was on Monday, we couldn't get a tilt tray till the Thursday as they were so busy, luck we are fully self sufficient.
I think you'll find this has affected far more than 12, I have met a few, I have also heard much larger numbers but all rumors at this stage.
I'm insured with CBA, big mistake as not covered, rang them. I'll have to pay for repairs and claim everything back, lucky ours isn't a common rail otherwise we'd be up poop creek.
I have been in discussions with Eucla Motel Hotel who have been ok but also not saying too much at this stage, lucky we kept our receipt. I'm just worried about the blame game and how long before I get reimbursed.

A bit of blah blah but might be of interest, cheers Bob

We filled up with diesel there the week before these problems, from the pump in the main driveway, and had no issues thankfully!
Was wondering if that was because there was a different tank or if the tank still had plenty of good diesel at the pickup point. They said the fuel delivery was on 31st March.
Maybe petrol, if it was added would float on top?? until the tank volume was reduced??
Cheers
Andy

That's quite unfortunate. How they were able to resolve it?

Given the juice (diesel) at Eucla is usually a good 20c per litre cheaper than Border Village It surprises me that more people havent been affected by the issue.
That said, given the mileage that the issue has aroused what will it take for the fuel at that establishment to be trusted again?