Fuel System problems hopefully final chapter

ralph pastore

Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2003
Location
allentown, Pa
The saga continues - I took a sample of the contaminated fuel to a company named Fuel Injection. The owner was very very helpful!! Bottom line there was a lot of water in my fuel. He said that the high pressure of the pump causes the water to be broken down into extremely small particles so it would take a long time for the water to settle out of the sample that I had. I did not expect water because I thought it would lay on the bottom of the jar. He poured some FPPF conditioner in a small sample and WALA the sample looked like diesel! He also mixed a sample with alcohol and again WALA the water looked like a white cloud at the bottom of the jar. My appologies for blaming the dealer on bad work three weeks ago. I ask myself the question, could this have been the reason the car shut down before three weeks ago? They claim thet they checked the fuel tank and it looked OK. SO ,I do have a black cloud over my head with this TDI. I obviously got fuel mixed with water. I only filled up twice since the injection pump was replaced three weeks ago. I took samples from both locations and asked each manager if anyone else had problems and guess what no water in samples and no problems reported. Tanks could have been refilled by now. On top of all of this VW now voided my warranty on my entire fuel system!!! How nice!!
 
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SkyPup

Guest
Change fueling stations ASAP, whereever you have been purchasing fuel has contaminated cruddy tanks, water is fuel is a no-no bigtime.
 

Boundless

BANNED
Joined
Jan 3, 2001
Ralph,

Your diesel engine powered car is equipped from the factory with an OEM water separator. The water separator is intended to protect to the fuel system in the event of water in the fuel. You have no control over water in the fuel you buy. It is unreasonable to hold you responsible for the maintenance of every fuel station's storage tanks and the cleanliness of the entire diesel fuel distribution system which affects every diesel station you may purchase fuel from.

If water made it past the VW OEM water separator, tell them the VW water separator was deficient since it obviously let water past the separator and into the pump & injectors. Voiding the fuel system warrranty because the water separator didn't work doesn't sound right.
 
S

SkyPup

Guest
Water in diesel fuel is the Final Chapter for any diesel fuel injection system.
 

ralph pastore

Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2003
Location
allentown, Pa
I used to buy fuel at a truck stop with texaco fuel and three weeks ago when my injection pump failled the service guy said that it was because anyone knows that truck stop fuel is dirty fuel, Well B.S. I say!! I had asked them to avoid any more issues where should I buy fuel. They recommeneded places like hess. I got three tamk fulls. Two at Hess on Lehigh street in Allentown and the last fill up in Phillipsburg N.J at Hess. I took samples at both a few days after I found out that I had water in the fuel but each sample was clean and none of the stations said that they had complaints. I would not have expected them to admit to anything.
 

RiceEater

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2001
Location
96595
TDI
gray 2k2 Jetta GLS
Ralph, Has the fuel filter been checked for water at the 5k and 10k service? Was water ever found? On this forum members are telling each other that they never encountered any evidence of water so therefore don't bother. You extend this mentality to the stealership and its charge the customer but don't bother. The other thing that is confusing is which car did this happen on and how often? Did you buy the 2001 used? It would help if you could confine a single problem to a single thread.

Once the problem was determined to be fuel related it technically was no longer the stealerships problem and burdened you to determine which fuel supplier sold you the fuel. You started out well enough using one supplier only. The rule is to find a reliable fuel supplier and stick with him. I would suggest that you get samples of fuel you purchase. That should determine which fuel supplier is responsible enough to sell dry fuel and which to stay away from.

My suspicion is that somehow emulsifier attached to the oleophilic plastic of your tank (tanks? You're not very clear in this regard). This is evidenced by the swollen float that you mentioned and the repetitivetiness (Could you also clarify the time intervals which this happened?). It shouldn't be surprising to find all the interior surfaces of the tank to be just like the float/pickup. I'm not sure how thorough a cleanup can be attempted. You probably need to replace the tank. Did you rub any of the bad samples between your fingers? Did it feel like water or did it feel like oil? Did they all look alike? You may have a fungial bloom in a Pennslyvannian winter of all things.

This is probably a good warning to NEVER ever add emulsifier to our fuel!
 

ralph pastore

Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2003
Location
allentown, Pa
Riceater thanks for the reply. The entire fuel system was drained three weeks ago with a new filter installed. This whatever happened happened in three tank fulls without any additive to the fuel by me. I did get samples of where the fuel was purchased and they were clean. This is a 2002 Jetta which was brand new. It has 32K miles on it.What do you mean by emulsifier?
 

RiceEater

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2001
Location
96595
TDI
gray 2k2 Jetta GLS
Its very confusing (at least to me) to read all your different threads and understand what is going on.

I think during a warmer time there was a fungi bloom in your tank, maybe during the shipment from Puebla. I think this fungi now coats all surfaces of the tank. As long as you were pumping the fuel from top your car ran fine. Once your fuel pickup dipped into the water in the bottom of the tank you got problems. I think the tank and rubber hoses needs replacing. I don't know how clean you can clean the tank.

You haven't been adding any additives, right? Fungi enzymes are the most common culprit that can produce that inverted emulsion that the owner of Fuel Injection demonstrated for you.
 
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