Interesting Experience.....

[Duncan]

I picked up my car from being tuned last night, the fuel tank was basically empty.

filled up at the first servo I came too, continued down the road and turned onto the M2.

I booted it coming onto the M2 and it pinged like crazy! Power FC recorded maxknock of 255 which I think is the maximum it reads. Only for a very short time thankfully and there seems to be no permanent damage.

I rang up the workshop, pretty unhappy and said it was pinging like crazy....they said no way we have had it on the dyno all day no problems....I said guess again it is pinging like mad.

Took it back to the workshop this morning, they put it on the dyno, ran the car up and sure enough it pinged like crazy.

They had a think about it, decided fuel was probably the issue, drained it and put in new fuel from another servo.

Ran it up on the dyno and it was fine......it was indeed the fuel causing the pinging, and not just a little, it was a hge difference.

Anyway....a couple of things out of this:

1. Don't buy Vpower from the Shell on Windsor Rd at Baulkham hills (near the shops and KFC) for a while. I went back there today to tell them there was an issue....they helpfully suggested I call a 1300 number on Tuesday but did not stop selling the fuel. DON'T BUY IT!

2. Huge thanks to Hills Motorsport for taking my call, opening early on sat morning and pushing aside other work to look into an issue that turned out not to be their fault.

3. Will be interesting to see what Shell say and do about the issue. They are getting the workshop bill for time troubleshooting, draining and refilling the tank and dyno. Lucky for them I noticed the knock and backed off or they would be up for $10k for a forged rb30 motor.

[GTR-N1]

warning heeded

i hate being in the wrong place @ the wrong time

[GoldZilla]

Ouch, Duncan!

I've had issues with Shell V-power as well, but nothing that bad - I think I registered about 60 on the PFC, can't remember exactly since it was a long time ago.

Never had problems with running United Boost98 - it's what my car was tuned on by Mark, and the servo is just down the road from me, so it's handy. Sydneykid started using it early on in his Stagea and other cars and never had problems, so I started using it too.

[Duncan]

I should clarify - I don't think it was some "off" vpower or something like that. 99% I think it was the wrong fuel in the bowser ie 91 octane.

I told them they should stop selling it until they test it but old mate at the counter didn't seem interested.

I normally run 98 octane from absolutely anyone without any problems (eg put in mobil 98 after draining the tank, then filled with caltex 98 for the blue mountains cruise). I firmly beleive if your tune is high strung enough to notice variation in 98 rated petrol it is too aggressive.

[08r3308]

well i noticed my v power seems to disappear from tank especially when they had that sale on Sunday with 14 cents off (i filled up then)

they seem to keep their prices low for few days, so i guess they had a bad batch of fuel that they need to get rid off quick

car also seems sluggish and run rough than usual , dont have power fc so couldn't measure knock but i was driving like a granny last week lol

this was shell in liverpool

time to try bp next time round

[RB25PWR]

There's a BP on Seven Hills rd, not far at all from where that shell is.

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=-33.76111...,227.56,,0,7.11

I'd suggest filling up there instead!

[Duncan]

yeah the second fuel I put in was mobil 8000 from the one in Kellyville.

I'm now running vpower from the shell on vic rd at west ryde with no problems.

[N1GTR]

Did you keep the fuel to send to them?

The fuel could be tested to see what it actually is, good to see you're sticking it to them, they're accountable to provide 98 if the bowser says 98, simple as that.

Which car was this in? You've got too many to keep track of

[Duncan]

yeah this was in the stagea. fresh from it's full boost tune which was what surprised me about the whole thing.

I've kept a small sample of fuel in a clean container but have 60l of the stuff sitting around the mechanic's

will update after we have a chance to "chat" with shell.

[gtr_scottie]

wow its lucky that you noticed the problem there is alot of stupid people that just keep driving. The issue with fuel is not just in sydney up here in newcastle i swear to god there are some days i have put 98 and i reckon i got 91 the car used to run like shit sluggish and drink the fuel to like it would get like 50km less to a tank without changing my driving style. I honestly thing fuel providers are crooks and will do anything to make more money even diluting fuel or deliberately misleading people by say saying it is 98 and it is 95 or something since there is extremely few people that will go to the trouble of testing it and hitting them up and complaining or even be prepared to take them to court for damage to a cars engine

[The Bogan]

Ive had suspect fuel from Shell, I say suspect as with a top line synthetic 2 stock oil and 98 I get 60 kph from the scoota and when I got some 98 from Shell it wouldn't get past 55kph and was running rough from 50 kph, I replaced the plug with no change, I then drained the 5 ltrs of Shell 98 from it and put in some Caltex 98 and back to 60 kph we went.

This probably happens often but you need something which needs the octane for performance to be able to tell.

Ive also had fuel which has blocked my filters and needed to remove the tank to get all the sludge out, I though they had bloody filter system at the servo, apparently when it gets blocked it bypasses the filter to keep the flow (read dollars) going.

I call shenanigans, Bastards.

[Duncan]

update from today. spoke to Shell head office (sorry...."coles express"!) who took the complaint and passed it on to their investigators.

spoke to the investigators this arvo and registered the complaint, explained the situation. They have asked for copy of the receipt for fuel + invoice from workshop. No doubt they will test the fuel before paying up. so far so good.

Really hope there is no permanent damage considering it was a brand new forged motor running 18psi...but there's no way to tell really. It is running smooth so its hard to tell if there is any det damage. I won't be signing a release as part of any settlement because I can't guarantee no damage has been done.

As far as I know they are still selling the fuel there, 5 days later.

[N1GTR]

Might be worth going back with a jerry can and getting $10 worth just incase.

You know who would love this? Current affair shows. They love having a go at fuel prices

[Kujotk]

over the years ive had similar experience with Vpower, even made a thread about it last month

[GTR-N1]

So Duncan, do you believe now that the pinging was due to low octane rather than contaminants?

If so, do you think that toluene (methylbenzene) is a good temporary measure for someone in the same boat in the future?

I'm wondering if the commercial 'octane boost' contains the same.

I'm also aware that methylbenzene is highly carcinogenic (-thus having to be handled with care and without spillage on skin or inhaling).

But it was something I recall my father using in his new 1962 Fiat 2300 to prevent pinging. He used to buy the stuff from a Shell buddy.

[pbk1776]

interesting read like it +1

[Duncan]

Terry....I've got no educated opinion on the cause, except to say it was nothing like right.....will update if they ever admit to anything, but my guess is they will just pay the bill I send and leave it at that.

Toulene is still used by a lot of people and is the best way to actually up an octane rating....you might as well pour coke in your fuel tank as those "octane boosters" that add 0.1 rating per bottle. I would have needed about 70 bottles to increase it from 91 to 98 octane

Speaking of which, sent them a $600 bill for fuel and workshop today.

[N1GTR]

Any chance of posting up the letter you sent please?

[God_speed]

Interested to read the outcome of this Duncan as I've just started experiencing problems with the GTR after filling up with a full tank of BP ultimate. Used a servo location I have used plenty of times before with no problem. I've got the car booked in with the workshop next Monday to sort it out; they say I'm looking at a few hundred $ just to put it on the dyno to start investigating / diagnosing...

[Duncan]

Any chance of posting up the letter you sent please?

it was literally 2 lines, had already spoken to shell "customer service" and the fuel testers by phone.

all I did was send the workshop invoice 4.5hrs @110/h and my receipt for $70.

haven't got a response yet but I won't let it slide long, and will keep everyone updated.

God_speed....same here, the workshop bill is $500ish as per above. glad it was a fuel problem - but in my case I was literally driving home from the workshop tuning it so there was no question about taking it straight back.