Contaminated petrol

[hyperD]

Retail is highly competitive and very little margins, downstream processing is pretty much the same. Upstream is where the huge moolah is being made.

[Back In Business]

Great minds... etc...

My very thoughts.

Fools etc.

Do you think that Shell/BP are loosing any sleep over cheap fuel. They make more money than everyone else put together.

[gingerjedi]

No no, it was Al Qeada who pi55ed in the tankers and our elustrious leader will take great revenge...

[lfc69]

<conspiracy theory on>

It has been contaminated by BP & Shell and then passed off to supermarkets so now people are afraid to get cheap petrol.

Soon there will be a commercial showing how great your car performs with the Shell & BP Ultimate fuel that is more expensive than normal unleaded.

<conspiracy theory off>

[portseven]

No problems here guv...

I am using biodiesel (chip fat), works great and at 79p a litre saves a few pennies too!

[oraclesmith]

"Ray Holloway, director of the Petrol Retailers' Association, said drivers should consider getting fresh fuel even if their vehicle is not suffering any problems."

Every cloud has a silver lining !!!

[hyperD]

Most of the fuel comes from the same refineries: (formally BP) Coryton in Essex, Exxon Fawley in Hampshire, Grangemouth refinery in Scotland. I think supermarkets Tesco and Morrisons get theirs from Greenergy in Purfleet - they buy on the spot market so it can be cheaper.

The real difference is in the quality of the additive packs: BP's Ultimate, Shells VPower etc

Greenergy add "biofuel" (ethanol) to their fuel to give the 100 octane boost but their "cleaning" additives will not be on par with Shell and BP.

I doubt it's the ethanol that's causing the problems, it's more likely a contaminant in the tankers.

[oraclesmith]

Mine was Tesco's too. It's likely that suppliers with a batch of dodgy fuel will send it to Tesco's because (a) Tesco pay less than anyone else and (b) they have such a high turnover that the dodgy stuff will soon be off their hands.

[Bagpuss]

Strangely enough I overheard a conversation last week where a woman had taken her car to the garage with an engine fault and they told her she had used contaminated fuel. This was before the media storm. She had bought the fuel from Tesco.

[threaded]

Whats a 'carb'?

Short for carbohydrate. It's where your car gets its energy from.

HTH

[gingerjedi]

There's a good reason the petrol is always so cheap at supermarkets... Never heard the permies whining about the cost of lambda sensors before? This has been bubbling under the surface on and off for years, and has now got into the papers, must be a slow news day.

I've found a bottle of carb cleaner with the next tank tends to sort things out. There again, in those cars that have ECUs I have my own switchable maps and a reset button.

Whats a 'carb'?

I've found that shell V power 98 octane works well, it seems to give more mpg which offsets the extra cost... it may be all in my head though as I tend to pay more attention when I use it.

[threaded]

There's a good reason the petrol is always so cheap at supermarkets... Never heard the permies whining about the cost of lambda sensors before? This has been bubbling under the surface on and off for years, and has now got into the papers, must be a slow news day.

I've found a bottle of carb cleaner with the next tank tends to sort things out. There again, in those cars that have ECUs I have my own switchable maps and a reset button.

[oraclesmith]

Not with the current batch, although I'm sure I had this problem a few months ago. I filled up my gas guzzling 4x4 from a supermarket petrol station and it ran like a three-legged pig for the following two weeks.

[BrilloPad]

Anyone been affected?

Any ideas what has caused these problems? - amazing that the supplier seems to have no idea yet.