SLROC Forum

My Disco Td5 is a bit sluggish, turbo appears to be ok, I have been told using supermarket fuel can cause sludge in system. Has anyone had any problems with this fuel.

Not I.
Supermarket fuel may contain (and probably does) a percentage of alternative fuels..
These other fuels if ept for long periods can sludge up as bacteria grows. A problem in the marine trade as yachts tend to fill only a few times a year, and ten leave the fuel lying for 6 months.
I wouldn't have thought it to be a proble with the car as the diesel soon needs topping up. Maybe I sould fit sails to the bus

Don't know about slushing but it's certainly nowhere near as good as the big brands - mainly bp.

The borrowed van I have smokes like a chimney on tesco but was considerably better on normal bp and nearly
Gone on bp ultimate

supermarket fuel does cause problems on average recovering 3 cars a week for this problem when changing filter after emptying fuel tank filters are always black used to fill my recovery truck at morrisons all the time performance dropped then one day it cut out had to be towed in took filter off was black inside filters had only been on truck 5 weeks changed them 5 weeks later same fault changed filters again only use bp or shell now and have had no problems

Our work vans have been filling up at Sainsburys for over a year now, and we've had absolutely zero problems with supermarket fuel, milage has been consistent, nothing picked up at servicing, filters etc. So I wonder if location could be an issue, or the supermarket chain involved perhaps?

i think its brand dependant and to do with the ammount of bioethanol in.

end user would notice if thy kept detailed MPG figures.

my non landrover vehicle does 550miles  motorway driving at 70mph if filled at anywhere bar tesco or esso consistantly off a brimmed tank

fill up at tesco/esso and it gives me about 80 miles less  for the same driving brim to brim so i think the penny or 2 a litre is worth the extra mpg

ill purposly avoid tesco fuel now as it seems to be garbage - was recovered from a tescos once after i filled up - started moved away from the pump to the air pump went in and paid - came out and it just would not start , turn over but just not fire , checked lines for holes , checked air filter for blockage , checked fuel filter - as your man above says - BLACK - changed that and it roared into life.

i always try to put shell fuel in the landy just because ive never had an issue with it - i do realise this is probably placebo effect but its best to try and eliminate most variables  when dealing with old landys even if it will run on anything combustable.....

The Fuel Tankers in Scotland pull into the Refinery or Depot & collect the 'To meet the required standard fuel'
Some retailers might have their Additives or detergents added.
(during the shortage some fuel arrived in sea going tankers & went to depots, but it will also have been at least meeting minimum standards'

Then there is Scotlands winter Diesel thats going to the filling station tanks from about November till March each year. South might have different times for 'anti waxing winter diesel' and it differs across Europe which months on location'

Its only diesel with the Government Duties and taxes added & its going into vehicles that will pretty much run on anything.
To do 3 gallons less per tankful than a Branded Diesel is amazing.

Those diesel engines in more basic Diesels will run  on many things as we know, many kinds of oils.
Now fancier ones might require something different, but 10-15 % less from one regular diesel to another needs serious looking at!

george

I do well over 30,000 miles a year between the Golf and the 90. The only difference I've noticed between supermarket fuel and Shell/BP/Esso is the price. 

my miles were not in the 90.....

modern PSA diesel engine.

Are we talking Peugeot, Citroen, Ford & HDi, ?
they were modern once right enough.

george

modern enough when most of us have on here  200/300tdis .....and to be too fussy for veg oil  

Supermarket fuel does seem to be worse I agree.

I personally believe the problems all relate to the new low sulphur diesel fuels and there associated bio fuel content. The black stuff you see in filters is known in the marine trade as Diesel Bug, a bacterial growth which lives and grows in the interface between diesel and water; all diesel contains a small amount of water, we are talking parts per million here. Now I am guessing cheaper fuels contain more water, and following lots of research by marine trade bodies we know that add bio fuel to the mix and bacteria growth goes into overdrive!

The marine trade after much legal fighting with the goverments and the EU can still supply old style high sulphur no bio fuel red diesel after the safety implications of diesel bug were highlighted. 

I know from a mate who works in a large HGV servicing outfit that even lorries now have issues with diesel bug so at some point the problem will occur in cars and landrovers irrespective of mileage. Location may be an issue as well, quiter stations with stagnent fuel in the tanks or old tanks may well have the bacteria growing in the storage tanks and be contaminating fuel which arrives clean.

Personally I add fuel a marine fuel treatment to the diesel which goes into our car and the landie, after using 3 tanks in the zafira the MPG climbed by 7% using the same fuel station so it does make a difference

I do well over 30,000 miles a year between the Golf and the 90. The only difference I've noticed between supermarket fuel and Shell/BP/Esso is the price.

I've done about 36k in my Volkswagen Passat CC (funnily enough a company car) in the last year, I tend to fill up at Tesco and get the club-card points unless I get caught short somewhere and it's usually Esso.  Regularly get 50-55 mpg which is roughly 700-800 on a tank between fills depending on when the light comes on.

I agree with Gene - the only difference I see is the price.

I never usually use anything but Shell in my Disco 300Tdi.
However with Morrisons giving a 6p a litre discount i don't mind filling with half a tank onto my Shell.
I also stick some 2 stroke oil in every time I fill up at approx 200 to 1.
This helps lubrication and i have convinced my self that there is a difference,
Going on a trip up North for 10 days or so and will record accurately my MPG and will advise on my return

cheers

Jim A
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1996 Disco 300Tdi auto(Jap reimport)

hi i do not use supermarket fuel as my diesel engines.. It contains too mucn cerosine..heating oil. It is not as clean as the big brands. Heating oil has No lubricant and will cause friction in your pump and it will need replaced or rebuilt. I also found that it give me 3mpg less. It is a big brother scamm.