What contamination does to your engine and why a clean drain beats hoping it dilutes.
Water in fuel is the most common form of contamination, condensation from temperature swings, leaks past a faulty seal, or a dodgy load from the bowser. Diesel that's sat for months grows microbial sludge. Dirt and rust come out of old steel tanks. All of it gets pulled into the fuel system and ends up in the very components designed to atomise clean fuel, not push grit through fine nozzles.
Symptoms are usually rough idle, hesitation under load, hard starting, black smoke, or a check engine light pointing at fuel trim. The right move is to stop driving on it. The longer the contaminated fuel circulates, the more parts get fouled, injectors first, then the high pressure pump. We diagnose what kind of contamination you have, drain it cleanly, flush the lines and refill with fresh fuel.
We come to you wherever the car is, at home, at work, on the roadside or at a workshop yard. A qualified technician samples the fuel, identifies the contamination, drains the tank, flushes the system and refills cleanly. Old fuel is disposed of legally. You drive away with fresh fuel in the tank and a service report in your email.
A quick word on ethanol blends. E10 is fine in most petrol cars sold in Australia since the mid 2000s, check the fuel flap or handbook if you are not sure. E85 is a different story, it is mostly ethanol and only flex fuel vehicles are built for it. A tank of E85 in a regular petrol car runs terribly and needs draining, the same job as any other wrong fuel.
Water in diesel is the other one we see every month. It gets in through condensation, tired seals and the odd bad batch, and it shows up as surging, hard starting and a motor that dies at idle. Water sinks below the diesel and sits right where the pickup draws from, which is why it bites so quickly. We drain the lot, flush the system and refuel with clean diesel.
For heavier cases we go to full tank drainage for water, dirt, or mixed fuel, a full pump out rather than a polish.
Contaminated fuel is trickier than a straight misfill. There's water sitting in the fuel, or the tank smells like varnish, or the diesel bug has bloomed and the fuel looks like tea. We see it on HiLux, Ranger, LandCruiser and Prado 4WDs pulled out of sheds after a season away, on boat tanks trailered back from Wirrina and Goolwa, on caravan tanks that sat over winter, on farm bowsers that have been drawing air. A recent one: a 1971 Chrysler Valiant at Woodville West, ten years of stale fuel drained out before it went back to the workshop.
Call us and we come to you. Every job's a bit different depending on what's in the tank. Light water or a bit of dirt, we can polish the fuel through our rig on site. Heavier stuff or diesel bug bloomed out, it's a full drain. Either way, the contaminated fuel is collected and disposed of legally under EPA Licence 52359, fresh fuel goes back in and we run a full system scan before we hand you back the keys.
If you kept driving before you realised, stop safely, switch it off and tell us on the call. We handle the fuel side only. Suspected internal damage is referred to a workshop. Any additional check we carry out is priced separately and agreed with you first. Boat tanks we like to do at the ramp so you can run it on the water after. Caravan and motorhome tanks we can do at your place before the next trip. If your car runs rough after filling up at a servo, stop safely and switch it off. The cause needs checking. Cover for contaminated fuel depends on your policy and the source of the contamination. Check with your insurer rather than assuming it is covered.
The one that catches people is servo contamination. A station with a tank issue can knock out a whole convoy of vehicles in a morning. If your car started running rough right after a fuel-up, pull over, ring (08) 7083 9699 and we bring the drain to you.
Real jobs, done recently, close to home and out in the regions.
Ten years of stale fuel cleaned out of a 1971 Chrysler Valiant Regal at Woodville West, before it went to a workshop to be brought back to the road. Tank drained in the owner's shed.
Two litres of AdBlue in the diesel tank of a Ford Transit at Parafield Gardens. Never started, but the ignition had been turned on, so we treated it as contaminated past the tank. Drained and flushed on the kerb.
A diesel Ford Everest misfuelled with 75 litres of petrol at a Murray Bridge servo, never started. We met the customer at home, drained it and had it back on the road for the weekend.
A work Triton driven on 60 litres of unleaded before it started running sluggish. The customer pulled over and rang us. Drained on site at Brighton and back to work the same day.
Straight answers about contaminated and stale fuel. If yours is not here, call and ask.
Every job's a bit different depending on what's in the tank. Light water or bit of dirt, we can polish the fuel through our rig on site. Heavier stuff or diesel bug bloomed out, it's a full drain. Either way, the contaminated fuel is collected and disposed of legally under EPA Licence 52359, we refuel with fresh, run a full system scan and listen to the engine before we hand you back the keys.
Water rusts steel tanks from the inside, kills injectors through corrosion and breeds diesel bug in long sitting tanks. Particulate builds up in the fuel system and eventually chews the pump. In petrol, ethanol phase separation leaves a corrosive layer sitting exactly where the fuel pickup is.
If the car is running rough, stalling or losing power, pull over safely and switch it off. Do not keep driving in the hope it clears. Call (08) 7083 9699, describe what you are seeing (milky fuel, gurgle under load, rough running) and we come to you.
Metro Adelaide callouts are quoted on the phone before we dispatch. Contamination jobs vary more than misfills because tank size and disposal volume drive the price. You get a written invoice on site with EPA Licence 52359 on it.
Yes. Full Adelaide metro, the Hills, Barossa, Fleurieu Peninsula and Victor Harbor. We regularly do boat tanks trailered to Wirrina or Goolwa, bowsers on regional properties and long stored HiLux, LandCruiser and Ranger utes pulled out of sheds in the Hills.
We assess the fuel, drain or polish depending on how bad it is, put fresh fuel back in, then run a full system scan and listen to the engine before we hand you back the keys. You get a full comprehensive report and a written invoice on the spot.
On a diesel (HiLux, Ranger, LandCruiser, Prado, Euro wagons) the giveaway is a milky look in a fuel sample and rough running that comes and goes. On petrol, water sits as a clear layer at the bottom of a sample jar and the car misfires under load. On boats and outboards, it usually starts and idles fine, then bogs down under load at the ramp.
Not as fast as people think. If the car is off, no fresh damage is happening. Real damage starts once you keep restarting and running on contaminated fuel under load. Even then, most cars come right after a proper drain, polish and refuel. If yours is rough, stop, call us, we go from there.
Cover depends on the policy and the source of the contamination. Do not assume that fuel bought from a servo, old fuel from storage or a marine fuel incident is covered. Most standard comprehensive policies treat misfuelling as driver error, so that is often not covered either. Check your product disclosure statement or call your insurer. Our invoice lists EPA Licence 52359, service type and time on site, which is what insurers ask for.
For most petrol cars sold in Australia since the mid 2000s, no, E10 is an approved fuel, check your fuel flap or handbook. The problem child is E85, which is mostly ethanol and only suits flex fuel vehicles. If E85 has gone into a regular petrol car, don't keep driving it, call us and we drain and refuel on the spot.
Condensation in a part empty tank, a worn filler seal, or occasionally a bad batch from a storage tank. Water sinks below the diesel and sits right where the fuel pickup draws from, so the engine surges, starts hard or cuts out at idle. We drain the water and contaminated fuel, flush the lines and refuel with clean diesel. EPA Licence 52359 covers the disposal.