I filled up with 98 at the Williams Landing Coles Express, and within 20 minutes my car started pulsing while idling at the lights.
When I got in the car tonight it go to the gym, it stalled twice at the lights (it's auto). Car seems fine, if a little down on power when moving.
I have a feeling I have contaminated fuel. Any suggestions on my next course of action?
https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/motor-cars/maintenance-and-r…
seek written confirmation from your mechanic that problems with the vehicle are the result of contaminated fuel
contact your insurer to investigate whether you can make a claim for the cost of any repairs
report fuel contamination to the Federal Government’s Department of the Environment and Energy for possible investigation. Call 1800 803 772 or use the online contact form on the Department of the Environment and Energy website
send a formal letter to the retailer to report fuel contamination, propose a resolution and demand a response within a set time frame. This correspondence is important and may be required at a later date as a record of your complaint.
You can also seek independent legal advice or apply for a ruling from the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).
For VCAT action to be effective, you may need to:
have the fuel independently tested
be able to prove where the fuel was purchased.
Cheers qwerty, that's great. I feel that I might have jumped the gun a little though, on the drive back from the gym (I made the post at the gym), the car was having an uneven idle, revving about 300rpm (Its a VW 2.0TSI) up and down. This happened at idle (causing a stall) and when I was on throttle. Might be a fuel pump issue (but it happened at high RPM too, and I think the 2.0TSI has both a low pressure and high pressure pump, so its probably not).
If contaminated fuel = change fuel pump (not worth cleaning/slavaging).
OP… did you recall having the Aircon on at the drive back?
My car sometimes behaves like yours when I start it w/o a warmup and have the Aircon blasting.
It idles up and down, and you can feel the engine changing revolutions.
As soon as I turn the AC off, the erratic idling stops.
Or if I keep the AC on, but just drive for 2-5mins, the idling also goes away.
Nah AC was off
When was the last service (oil filter, drain, and new oil) ?
What you're describing is a "struggling" engine.
It could be from a myriad of factors.
It could be from bad fuel (water contamination) causing knocks and stuttering the engine, which in turn revs higher from the ECU to combat this, then revs lower, then revs higher… … …
All I'm saying is that, you could be right.
But it would be a little hard to prove.
And even with proof, you're looking at a headache to deal with (cheap servo complaints).
Best of luck!
Did the check engine light come on?
Nope, no lights, no codes
Got an error code and engine light on the way to work.
PO171- system to lean - bank 1
Temps remained fine, so I continued to drive to work. Will take it to a mechanic tonight.
Definitely take to a mechanic. I've had it with water in the fuel, car only just made it out of the servo driveway when it died and I couldn't restart it. NRMA guy came and cracked a fuel hose off the intake to get a sample and the fuel was 1/3 water. A taxi was also in the servo when I filled up trying to start, turns out he copped the same as me. Shell paid for the fuel bill and all repairs - injector cleaning, fuel line draining, fuel tank removal and draining etc. Cost them about $1500.
Take it to mechanic …