angel24

We've had a couple of calls today regarding this at our dealership, might be useful to know.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6405051.stm

sedan man

we allways fill up at tescos and its been juddering the last two days and not wanting to start...tesco fookers.......

wont be going there again

Fil

see this on the news , use tescos fuel, didnt have any issues filled up 3 days ago,

-J-

Getting a shed load of calls about this at work (Renault UK) Its destroying O2 sensors right left and centre

And we are not paying out under warranty even though the Garages are not admitting any liability

Rossco

I heard of this happening a few years ago and the garage selling the fuel agreed to pay damages only if you had a receipt to prove you bought the fuel

AlexF

If they mean Tesco 99 its ALWAYS had ethanol in it ON PURPOSE!

Alex

D4nny8oy

We've had a load of Fiats (and now Alfa's) with this fault since Monday.
Whatever's contaminating the petrol is clogging the Lambda (HEGO) sensors for the Cat, causing them to either respond too slowly to the mixture or not at all, and won't always put the management lamp on.

The symptoms are severe flat spots (especially when pulling away at junctions) and poor idle. We've had an Alfa 156 GTA today and the fault has even damaged the Cat (it was glowing at idle! )

To get around the hesitation and allow you to drive around you can disconnect the lambda sensor (before the Cat) so the ECU switches to limp home mode, although this will obviously cause the management lamp to flash up and need resetting eventually.

Hopefully running through a few tankfulls of decent fuel ( ie Shell/ BP) may clean up the sensor over time and avoid any hefty bills for anyone affected.

We've always advised our customers to stay away from supermarket fuel as it's crap for modern engines, and lacks the detergents to clean and lubricate the top-end.

Hope this helps

pete mcrash

iTrader: (1)

i've always said....supermarkets are for shopping....

Fil

ive not had any issues with tescos / supermarket fuel?

obviously theres at problem at the mo, but could of happened to any of them

D4nny8oy

The emission regulations for modern motors are ridiculously strict.

Everytime the E.U brings out new rules the CO limit is lowered and manufacturers have to tweak less fuel into the cylinders to the point where you're surprised it even runs- the knock sensors are working flat-out! I've lost count on the number of ECU updates we've been given to work around flatspots/ revs hanging between gearchanges/ lumpy idle etc.

Believe me mate, give it a tankfull of the decent stuff and you'll notice less hesitation and better throttle response, aside from the extra octane allowing more ignition advance (and more power!)


And no, I don't work for Shell!

dave_si

I work for Bp and fuck me we've been busy

bigchez

I never understand why people fill up @ supermarkets anyway. Round here shell are cheaper than supermarkets and it is better fuel. Convenience I guess. Still feel sorry for anyone that now has a damaged car because of it.

phil4x4saph

Whenever we get a customer complaining of running problems, we ask "where do you fill up?" the answer is always Tesco

Usually its a bloke who says "My mrs. fills up there even though i told her not to, *cos i get the points*!"


Silly moos!


Their fuel is shite - it is NOT all the same!

L33 BYT

Rovers alway had issues with Tesco's fuel. Used to give the fookers sticky valves until they modified them.

craig todd

was going to go thier earlier, but there was a big que so went to shell instead, lucky i did then.

Damo V

Land Rover knew about this a couple of weeks back, have had a few superchargers flagging up engine management lights due to faulty sensors

Rossco

Hope Tescos end up having their pants pulled down about!!

Steven_RW

I put a tank ( my first ever tank ) of Tescos 99 into my M3. It instantly started to lack power. Everything is going okay with it other than its lacking power. I'm not sure if I should go back to Tescos and ask for my money back. I was thinking this when I first filled it up ( last weekend ) but I have just been driving it slowly to burn it away

RW

Rossco

See what they say, if you bought just about anything else and it did not work like it was susposed to you would take it back, so why not give it a go with petrol.

Dicko&Vacant

iTrader: (3)

ive just done nearly 1500 miles in the last 3 days in sarah's escort gti on tesco fuel and had no probs at all

essex_jamie

ill stick with shell

Graham S1

theres a LOT of people on here who've had problems.

http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thre...20070301063523

Is it likely to affect non cat cars?

RS500/364

Had runnig problem the 2 weeks ago seems to have gone now
dont think it was tesco but have to look at recipts IF IT WAS I WAS LOW AND DESPERATE !!

ASDA SAISBURYS TESCO AND MORRISONS all have problems !!

WHAT A KNOB on bbc beakfast time QUOTE " cars from Y reg to moden day are afected " ok if it is the lamba how do you work that out !!

ECU Monitor Enthusiast

iTrader: (1)

I can understand lambda sensors being damaged with faulty fuel but
the sensors being damaged should NOT stop the cars from driving.
This would at worst case go into limp home mode but still be drivable.

There is MORE to this saga than is being made public..

James

If the sensor is going down and the cat being damaged resulting it it breaking up and causing a blockage prehaps?

ECU Monitor Enthusiast

iTrader: (1)

James,
That is a possible scenario but the engine would have fallen back onto
its default maps and cat damage may occur but would have taken a fair
bit of time depending on driving style and running time and as all these
cars seem to be failing about the same time probably unlikely.

RS500/364

Agreed with that

why the hell dont they save what is meant to be wrong not
MEETS THE REQUIRED SPEC !!

Rhys

Will be a big claim going to supermarkets if they car prove its them

Paulo P

My wife's mark 3 golf gti 16v has been playing up this week and broke down this morning but she last filled it up at BP I hope it's just a coincidence.

Adam_BlackRS

Petrol firms say fuel not faulty

dojj

iTrader: (3)

you mean "petrol stations invovled wriggle out of coughing up some compo"

cozmeister

iTrader: (1)

Haven't used Tesco fuel for ages, I only use the bio ethanol '99 anyway when I do go there

Sainsburys Super's my weapon of choice

STFUN

report on Five News states that one women in Milton Keynes is facing a Ł1000 bill for engine management module replacement ! This on a Ford Galaxy. Methinks soemone is pulling a fast one. Quite a few Focus drivers in the SE and Home Counties now having O2 error codes, P0131 or P0133.
Quite a few topics on the FFOC about this. Lambda sensors in short supply and are having to be imported directly from Germany.

James

do you work for ford technical or something?

AlexF

Thats a very blinker view of the Emissions regs...

but your right that the better fuels are not sold at supermarkets!

Graham S1

Surely not a... conspiracy!

Might be a good time to put 2 bosch lamda sensors I've had lying around for ages on fleabay.

D4nny8oy

Whatever is happening is clogging the Lambda probes, leaving them with a grey/white coating. The diagnostic equipment we have for Fiat's allows us to scope out the signal directly off the ECU, and whereas a healthy sensor switches from rich to lean around 7 times a sec, the damaged units are only switching twice every 30 sec or not at all.

Because the sensors are still giving a reading, the ECU believes it and doesn't switch to limp mode. This is only causing a problem on part throttle under closed-loop, full throttle is unaffected as the ECU switches to open-loop and relies on the preset map. If the sensor is disconnected, the engine will run fine as it won't be getting misleading info, albeit with the EFI lamp on.

The first cars we had with running faults ( before the rumours of bad fuel were floating about) had really weird air pressure readings (around 100mbar) above normal and they wouldn't rev at all unless under 100% throttle- none of which really point to a faulty Lambda, but after disconnecting it the engine ran fine.

Non-cat vehicles won't be affected much as they won't have the Lambda sensor to get confused. We're recommending people disconnect their sensors and use up the fuel if possible if only a small amount is present as there is a chance the sensor will recover once some good fuel has gone through the system and burnt off the deposits ( we've heard of Vauxhall Techs heating up the probes with a gas torch and refitting them with no further problems once the fuel was changed).

AlexF

lead does exactly what you are describing

ECU Monitor Enthusiast

iTrader: (1)

So does excess water vapour


But it isnt that, the news says it excess silicone additive used for
prevention of foaming.


I bet theres loads of car owners foaming at the mouth

dojj

iTrader: (3)

i heard the silicon theory too

what do they say officially?