Ulsd Fuel

[DIESEL DAZZLER]

Got a tow in today,2000 NB with 253000 km ALH That would not start .The customer had tanked up the previous day at the local gold diesel outlet.Had 42 km on since tanking up.Scanned the ECU and came up with fault for fuel qty adjuster low output.First suspicion was gas in tank,not.Removed some fuel from the fuel filter.The fuel was clear and did'nt look like normal fuel and had less of a diesel smell and feels different between your fingers .At the time I did not know that he had tanked up at the gold diesel store.Got out my Metal Nerd socket and removed the Qty adjuster.There it was one sheared off plunger.Now I am puzzled,was this caused by ULSD fuel ?Raises a lot of questions in my mind.

 

[tditom]

If you are in Canada, your ULSD is properly additized for lubrication of the fuel injection components. I highly doubt ULSD had anything to do with this failure.

is the local gold diesel you refer to from Sunoco?

 

[Joe_Meehan]

If in the US it should not be the fuel. Even those who fear the worse with ULSD have not suggested that it will do any immediate damage. In fact myself and likely most TDI drivers have been using it for some time now and no problems.

It could be the fuel was bad for some other reason, but frankly I think I would be looking elsewhere.

What was the exact error code?

 

[n1das]

The fuel was clear and did'nt look like normal fuel and had less of a diesel smell and feels different between your fingers .At the time I did not know that he had tanked up at the gold diesel store.Got out my Metal Nerd socket and removed the Qty adjuster.There it was one sheared off plunger.Now I am puzzled,was this caused by ULSD fuel ?Raises a lot of questions in my mind.

Did the fuel look and feel like WATER?
It could be pump damage due to severe water contamination in the fuel.

 

[wny_pat]

......Got a tow in today,2000 NB with 253000 km ALH That would not start . Had 42 km on since tanking up.Scanned the ECU and came up with fault for fuel qty adjuster low output.First suspicion was gas in tank,not.Removed some fuel from the fuel filter.The fuel was clear and did'nt look like normal fuel and had less of a diesel smell and feels different between your fingers ............Got out my Metal Nerd socket and removed the Qty adjuster.There it was one sheared off plunger.Now I am puzzled,was this caused by ULSD fuel ?Raises a lot of questions in my mind.

I do not think the problem is ULSD. 23 miles after filling up. My guess is water or gas. Note that I have seen a whole tanker load of "refinery water" delivered as diesel fuel to a truckstop. It can and does happen. Save the fuel filter and a fuel sample for the claim against "Gold Diesel Outlet". If it is water, or if bad product was pumped out of the diesel nozzle, they should be paying repair bill.

Oh, my guess as to DIESEL DAZZLER's location. Canada! Reason: Owning a Metal Nerd socket and using "km" instead of miles. Not saying the Metal Nerd does not have customers on the other side of the pond.

 

[TDIMeister]

Hi, Gerry,

If you still have the car in your possession, you should take a fuel sample and have it analysed, especially for water and lubricity.

I think somewhere in the boxes of stuff I left with you there is an unused oil analysis kit with Oil Analyzers, Inc., but I think sending fuel in the Post is problematic... I'm sure there are qualified places you know of to do this, or maybe one of the members here would pony up to offer some help to get an analysis done.

Clearly if the fuel is found at fault Sunoco needs to be held fully accountable.