Over the past three months I've picked up contaminated diesel from two servos...one in Kempsey NSW and the other in Nowra NSW. The first was water contamination and thankfully the expensive fuel filter on my D40 pick it up early and allowed me to deal with it. The second contamination was water and lots of brown goop that looked awfully like 'diesel bug'. Again the fuel filter did its job and alerted me before any engine damage could be done. Drained and fulshed the tanks and all points aft of the filter.
This is getting to be a bit of an expensive excercise - $184 for new filter each time (yep that's right folks this filter comes with all the electrics in a sealed unit), $150-$200 of diesel (I have a 160 ltr tank), one hour labour and disposal cost of about $120. And, apart from these cost I want to protect my engine from incurring any serious damage.
Done a bit of a search on other forums eg Prado, NewHilux etc, where the vehicles come with common rail engines and thus far haven't found a solution. That's notwithstanding that quite a number of these engines have cost their owners from $7000 to $12000 for fuel system repairs (pumps, injectors, common rail etc) following ingestion of contaminated fuel.
Now I know we should expect to be getting clean fuel each time we refule but it is quite obvious that this is not the case and it is equally obvious that the oil companies won't fess up in a hurry to dispensing contaminated fuel. I figure if we can't rely on clean storage/dispensing systems then we have to do something to ensure we protect ourselves.
So, I've been doing a bit of research and have decided that in future that I will run the first 10-20 ltrs from any bowser though a
funnel to
check for contamination and then if all is clear fill the tank directly from the bowser. I found a filter (on the advice of a friend who is into flying light aircraft and ultralights) that seems to be ideally suited to the task. I have bought a
Mr Funnel filter that is capable of handling 45 ltrs/min and intend using this on each fill from now on.
Just in case anyone is interested you can read about the
Mr Funnel at
this link. I also bought a carry bag for the
funnel from a country Victoria supplier
Punkinhead Airsports. The
funnel can be bought at any reputable diesel centre. Also BCF stocks them here in
Canberra.
I realise that it is best to fill at the same servo all the time and I do this when
home but I do a lot of travelling and figure that this thing will pay for itself....after all it is cheaper than just one of my OEM fuel filters.
Been thinking that the first time I get dirty fuel in this filter I will take the evidence into the servo immediately and depending on the response I get....maybe even tip the contents on the counter.......but then again I'm a bit of a softy so probably couldn't do that to the poor unsuspecting counter staff.
Sorry for the length of this post but thought others might be interested in my solution to this problem. I would be interested in finding out how others protect themselves from the possibility of taking on contaminated fuel.
Disclaimer: I'm a shiny bum public servant nearing retirement and have no commercial interest in either
Mr Funnel or Punkinhead Air Sports just a strong desire to try and save myself from the problems of taking on contaminated diesel.