Had my 2003 1.4TDI 75bhp for about 15 months now with no problems at all. Just ticked over 82k and all is fine. However, at the weekend I encountered a problem which I can only attribute to one cause.
I normally buy diesel from Shell - not only is it the cheapest in my area, it is also the closest! However, the other day I got caught short and filled up at a supermarket filling station. All was fine until the fuel light came on. The next day, when I was off out to fill it up, I started the car and the engine seemed very lumpy with lots of smoke coming out the exhaust - definitely more than usual anyway. This bad running continued for at least 5 minutes whilst driving the car, but once warmed up it seems to be fine.
I have today driven 300 miles in the car (150mile return trip) and the same problem occurred when starting it. On my way, I stopped by Halfords and bought some redex diesel treatment which currently (touch wood) seems to have sorted the problem - ill try again in the morning once the engine has cooled right down to see how it feels.
So what could it be? As said before, there were more fumes than usual and a strong smell of diesel suggesting it wasnt being combusted properly. Similarly, the starter motor seemed to have very little power and then ran very lumpy until warm. Could the supermarket fuel have had a load of crap in it which got sucked into the fuel system and on to the cylinders and thus effecting the glowplugs? I had wondered if my alternator was on its way out but the battery is showing 12.6 volts and runs fine normally so have effectively ruled this out.
The only thing i can liken it to is when the engine is started before waiting for the glow plug pre-heating light to switch off.
Either way - this redex stuff seems good. I hope it helps the problem!
All thoughts welcome,
Dave
I normally buy diesel from Shell - not only is it the cheapest in my area, it is also the closest! However, the other day I got caught short and filled up at a supermarket filling station. All was fine until the fuel light came on. The next day, when I was off out to fill it up, I started the car and the engine seemed very lumpy with lots of smoke coming out the exhaust - definitely more than usual anyway. This bad running continued for at least 5 minutes whilst driving the car, but once warmed up it seems to be fine.
I have today driven 300 miles in the car (150mile return trip) and the same problem occurred when starting it. On my way, I stopped by Halfords and bought some redex diesel treatment which currently (touch wood) seems to have sorted the problem - ill try again in the morning once the engine has cooled right down to see how it feels.
So what could it be? As said before, there were more fumes than usual and a strong smell of diesel suggesting it wasnt being combusted properly. Similarly, the starter motor seemed to have very little power and then ran very lumpy until warm. Could the supermarket fuel have had a load of crap in it which got sucked into the fuel system and on to the cylinders and thus effecting the glowplugs? I had wondered if my alternator was on its way out but the battery is showing 12.6 volts and runs fine normally so have effectively ruled this out.
The only thing i can liken it to is when the engine is started before waiting for the glow plug pre-heating light to switch off.
Either way - this redex stuff seems good. I hope it helps the problem!
All thoughts welcome,
Dave