Water can fark your day

Had an interesting 2 days, started with the missus ringing me yesterday morning when she couldn't start her car, so I did an emergency school drop off & got the missus to work on time but stuffed my morning of catching up on work so at lunch time I went home to see what the problem was... it starts but cuts out..... its an auto 03 Subaru liberty definitely a fuel problem, so I call old mate the towie & get the subee down to my local mechanic for some fixing.
The missus had mentioned fueling up the previous day after 20KM with the fuel light on so I thought she has got some dud fuel or ingested some crap from the tank so that was the first avenue for diagnosis, well fark me all the filters were stuffed including one paper one that was brown (should be white) & my mechanic said straight away that there was water in the fuel so he has ended up spending 4 hours working on the subee including draining the tank replacing all the filters cleaning the injectors & replacing the Map sensor it was rooted too ....the total ended up being $1100
so anyway we have the receipt for the dud fuel & we have contacted the servo management & head office about putting in a claim.... they will investigate next week. just goes to show you really don't know what you are putting into your car or bike.
For locals this was a relatively new Coles / Shell servo on James Ruse Drive at Northmead.
Will keep you posted on the claim.... according to my mechanic there are usually a few claims when it happens so they don't have a leg to stand on.

Water costs more than Petrol at a Servo so keep quiet about it or they'll want to charge you extra!

What a pain in the arse! And a huge cost to fix it too!
Definitely keep us updated on how it goes mate

Ouch Rob, Scarey I had no idea.

Will know what to look out for now if the car won't start in similar circumstances.

Bugger I think water sit's on the top of petrol so it is only when they are extremely low that they have these Drama's......

I'dy and make the Prick's pay for every cent....

Bugger I think water sit's on the top of petrol so it is only when they are extremely low that they have these Drama's......

I'dy and make the Prick's pay for every cent....

Fuel is lighter than water!

So I wonder if they pump from the bottom? or from a float?

Just a thought but I seem to remember an old trick of adding a cup of metho to the fuel tank to allow the water to mix (disappear / dissolve / leave the planet) with the petrol and be burned during combustion? I seem to remember my dad always saying that it you fill up on a wet day, add the metho to avoid this problem.

Bit late if it's stuffed the filters tho.

Good luck with the claim.

Cheers,
Wayne

Bloody expensive tank of fuel Rob. Hope the claim works out for ya mate. Did the mechanic save a sample of the fuel, this could come in handy.

Not sure but I will ask today, good thinking Rod

Had the same problem in my BA . Was a nightmare to resolve and had no idea where I had picked up the water from . The subbie may have sucked up the water when running the car with a nearly empty tank , so the water could have been there from a previous fill . After my dramas , I try and keep the tank topped up as much as possible . Water can form in the tank from condensation so a full tank helps stop this happening , particularly if the car is left standing for long periods .
Good luck with the claim .

Last edited by the kid on Sat Mar 28, 2009 7:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

Just asked my mehanic & they have a jar of the fuel just in case, but I am not offering it ...... its there as a last resort & I have been told we probably wont need it.

yer metho does help with getting water, sludge outa your tank but sounds like u picked up alot rob
you have to watch out with new servos, when i put their tanks in the fill them with water! so when the ground sets the pressure doesnt callopse the fuck the tanks
how new is this servo?

how new is this servo?

About 8 months I think

Normaly you aspect that kind of thing to happen with one of the lesser branded or independant servo's.
At least up on the Central Coast.. (NSW)

Good luck with the claim Rob