Warning POSSIBLE Tesco 99 Poor fuel problem

[Andyuk911]

MSTRBKR said:

Andyuk911 said:

John,

exactly as I understand it ... your post an enjoyable read ...

Thanks
Andy

But your car tells you to put 95 to 98 in, not 99. So you have what John said is an 'old' car. Your car can't handle it and popped, so it seems.

Words fail me, you clearly have absolutely no understanding of petrol ..... do some research before you post.

[The Wookie]

johnfelstead said:

I think you are downplaying what modern cars have on them to get through the current EU construction regulations. BMW's, even the low spec TDI's have so many programmable tables it's silly, you can even map the performance of the engine mounts!

I would consider BM's to be fairly cutting edge when it comes to engine tech, so it wouldn't surprise me to learn they had a large amount of ECU tartability. It would surprise me to learn that a base model Renault did though.

As for construction regs, I'm not aware of any that would dictate what the manufacturer would do with their ECU, as far as I know they would only bother if not having something was significantly detrimental to a selling point of the car beyond the cost of implementing and calibrating it. Again, happy to be proven wrong.

[The Wookie]

MSTRBKR said:

The way I understand it

Sorry, but you clearly don't. I suggest having a little read up on the subject

[AndrewW-G]

According to Shell, the BIG 95 and the small 98, means that the car should be run on 95 where available, but can run on 98.

Andy, have you got different fuel in it yet and has it made a difference (just to put the argument to bed, if you havent, could you please put Vmax or similar in it)

[The Wookie]

Putting in a higher octane than necessary isn't harmful. All the octane number does is identify the fuel's resistance to pre-ignition, which is where the fuel burns by itself before the spark when the piston is on its way up on the compression stroke.

Putting in lower octane fuel can be damaging to an engine, particularly a turbo/supercharged engine running a lot of boost or high compression ratio, as the increased pressure/temperature increases the fuel's propensity to pre-ignite, increasing combustion chamber temperatures (risking melted pistons and valves), and placing a lot of load on the engine in general.

Putting in a higher octane rating than recommended does nothing. It isn't detrimental to the engine, it's just overspecifying, however plenty of 'high octane' fuels (such as V-Power) have extra detergents in to keep the fuelling system clean and healthy, so it's not a complete waste of money.

In terms of putting 99 into a 98 recommended car, it near enough makes no difference.

[varsas]

I believe there are restrictions on what must be present in an ECU for it's sale in America, cars after '96ish have to have ODB2, for example.

As for petrol...the octane number alone just tells you the fuels resistance to detonation (or 'knock' or 'pinking') Putting a fuel with too low an octane can cause damage (detonation leading too melted pistons etc), it's difficult to imagine a situation where putting too high an octane rating would.

Of course that doesn't mean 99 octane fuel is better then 95 octane fuel, but all other things being equal it is, it allows for more ignition advance, higher cylinder temperatures, more compression (boost in reality)..all of which gives more power (if the car takes advantage of it...)

[UncappedTag]

Interesting read

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating

[Andyuk911]

MSTRBKR said:

Andyuk911 said:

MSTRBKR said:

Andyuk911 said:

John,

exactly as I understand it ... your post an enjoyable read ...

Thanks
Andy

But your car tells you to put 95 to 98 in, not 99. So you have what John said is an 'old' car. Your car can't handle it and popped, so it seems.

Words fail me, you clearly have absolutely no understanding of petrol ..... do some research before you post.

I think you're the last person in this thread that needs to be telling people they don't understand petrol given the current situation

I have however read John's posts that state your car cannot cope with petrol it was not designed for.

johnfelstead said:

When you go up an octane number, you are slowing down the burn speed of the fuel, so if you have an old car that cant actively manage the engine, going up an octane value can make the combustion process slow down, which gives you less power. Thats why on an old points based disy car, to gain a benefit from higher octane fuel you have to alter the distributor timing to advance the ignition more.

The way I understand it, because you car says to put 98 in and you put 99 in, the ECU can't manage it and it now feels underpowered. Wind your neck in too.

You are really showing up how little you understand about fuel.

The car, as an aside, has being using T99 for about a year AND IN ANY EVENT IT MAKES no difference between running 97/98 or 99.

Please explain how running T99 makes an engine ECU not 'manage it' .... I await the bizarre explanation you will provide.

PS

Now I sound rude, so if you pm your number to me I will take the trouble to explain about Fuel, additional cleaning additives and ECUs - hows that ?

Edited by Andyuk911 on Wednesday 2nd December 14:40

[Andyuk911]

AndrewW-G said:

According to Shell, the BIG 95 and the small 98, means that the car should be run on 95 where available, but can run on 98.

Andy, have you got different fuel in it yet and has it made a difference (just to put the argument to bed, if you havent, could you please put Vmax or similar in it)

Still running the tank out ...

Greenenergy confirmed no other complaints from location I filled up from ....

(As an aside the trip computer says 30.2mpg ... down from it's normal 39mpg ...I don't know how accurate the trip computer is ...)

Edited by Andyuk911 on Wednesday 2nd December 14:42

[RobCrezz]

kambites said:

What reason do you have to believe it's the fuel not just the engine being, well, French?

Hmm, French built quality or Dodgy petrol....

IT MUST BE THE PETROL THATS DONE IT!!!

[The Wookie]

MSTRBKR said:

it makes me wonder why it says to use 98 on the filler cap if 99 is apparently perfectly fine to run in it.

It's there so you don't put a lower octane fuel in it, not so you don't put a higher octane in

[ChapppeRS]

I've been running my Focus RS on T99 for almost a year now, no problems. If anything, it runs slightly less power on V-Power.

But, since this is the internet. I'm going to stop using Tesco 99 now because a random guy on the internet told me to.

[The Wookie]

varsas said:

I believe there are restrictions on what must be present in an ECU for it's sale in America, cars after '96ish have to have ODB2, for example.

Fair play, I did forget about OBD

Although it is more about universal diagnostics and therefore accessibility for garages than engine management!

[Andyuk911]

ChapppeRS said:

I'm going to stop using Tesco 99 now because a random guy on the internet told me to.

I can recommend a good English course to help you read more easily ..

[ChapppeRS]

Andyuk911 said:

ChapppeRS said:

I'm going to stop using Tesco 99 now because a random guy on the internet told me to.

I can recommend a good English course to help you read more easily ..

Ooh you flirt!

[TheEnd]

Andyuk911 said:

johnfelstead said:

When you go up an octane number, you are slowing down the burn speed of the fuel, so if you have an old car that cant actively manage the engine, going up an octane value can make the combustion process slow down, which gives you less power. Thats why on an old points based disy car, to gain a benefit from higher octane fuel you have to alter the distributor timing to advance the ignition more.

You are really showing up how little you understand about fuel.

He is correct, higher octane fuels have a slower flame front, which prevents knocking as it delays the pressure build up, it's that pressure that will heat the end gasses and cause detonation.

[snoopstah]

ChapppeRS said:

But, since this is the internet. I'm going to stop using Tesco 99 now because a random guy on the internet told me to.

Don't be silly. He's only 99% sure, remember.

[leon_t]

Alert over E5 problems on Forecourt Trader said:

Rumblings of serious problems with E5 are being echoed around the retail network following a spate of incidents where vehicles are breaking down having just filled up with what is later discovered to be contaminated fuel. The problem seems to have affected retailers primarily supplied by BP, although it is thought to be industry wide.

One retailer suffering from "inexplicable" contamination problems, said their maintenance company reported receiving a lot of call-outs for similar problems. "They say they've never known anything like the number of these incidents from service stations that have never had a problem with water ingress before. Tank and line tests have not shown up any problem. The vast majority of retailers took the oil company advice and recently had all water removed."

A spokesman for BP said: "BP is aware of these issues and is working closely with the petrol stations involved and assisting in their investigations to understand the cause of the isolated incidents that have arisen. All BP products are routinely tested at terminals to ensure that they meet the required quality standards. We are confident the product delivered met the required specification." He added that the oil company had advised retailers to use the Energy Institute 'guidance note for filling station operators on the introduction of E5 petrol and B5 diesel'.

Just picked this up at work, may be of some interest, it seems there 'could' be a little more to the OP's story than previously thought?

Edited by leon_t on Monday 7th December 13:37

[Andyuk911]

Well it was only just filled up about an hour ago .. only completed a mile .. so after 100 or so I'll know ....

Seems a slightly different problem ... but for the few who like their heads in the sand .. good luck ... and if it happens to you(whichever brand) ... I hope the words 'told you so ..' ring in your ears

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/environme...

Edited by Andyuk911 on Monday 7th December 14:22

[ZeeTacoe]

which sad tt puts super unleaded in a poverty spec car?