Hello folks,

my RS is off the road again for the second time in 6 weeks.

First time, it wouldn't start and I had to be towed to the garage. I had blocked fuel lines and the Skoda dealers said the fuel was 'pink' in colour, full of 'crap' and asked what I've been using. Well, I only put in Sainsbury's Super Unleaded or Shell Optimax. Anyway, fuel lines cleaned out and away I go, FOC.

We jump to last Saturday, and the same thing happens, car attempts to start, but won't catch. AA man arrives, checks fuel lines and from the fuel pipes comes WATER??!! Towed to dealership, and they're working on it again. I'm sure it won't be free this time though.

So basically, I've got water in the fuel tank and I don't know where from. They say it's a sealed system, so water can't get in unless it's directly from the petrol, i.e. Sainsburys or Shell have water getting into their underground tanks.

Any suggestions kindly appreciated

TIA

Ian

- edited to remove dealer name

It might be worth asking at the petrol pumps and see if they had others reporting problems (but you and I know that's very unlikely). Sounds very much like some leak somewhere. Maybe Dave or big K can hazzard a guess?

Ian

First things first-although it may be too late -- get them to keep a sample of the fuel that is drained out.The first incident does sound like contam fuel -- it is quite common,although more usually associated with smaller / low turnover garages.

The fuel system is sealed -- there are very few entries into it -- the 2 main ones are obviously the fuel filler itself -- the neck & the tank are one - so should not be a problem there.

Next is the fuel guage sender unit location -- this would be removed to fully drain the system(properly anyway!) - but again I can not see anyway that water would gain entry if that wasn;t refitted properly as its right under the floor - not open to easy splash / wash.

Sounds daft -- was the fuel filler cap refitted correctly last time fuel put in......we recently had a TT in exact same fault -- turned out the drain around the filler neck had blocked - which meant everytime the fuel filler cap was removed - it was letting in water,small amounts - but over a period,finally caused it to conk out....

Hope you get it sorted -- if they can give you a sample of the fuel - as has been said go straight to the station - explain the problem - see what they say,we have in the past had to deal with a fuel station -- that had sold contam fuel -- resulted in engine damage that meant new head -- the station coughed up -- and claimed through there insurance.

Originally posted by skodaw in this post

Ian

First things first-although it may be too late -- get them to keep a sample of the fuel that is drained out.The first incident does sound like contam fuel -- it is quite common,although more usually associated with smaller / low turnover garages.

The fuel system is sealed -- there are very few entries into it -- the 2 main ones are obviously the fuel filler itself -- the neck & the tank are one - so should not be a problem there.

Next is the fuel guage sender unit location -- this would be removed to fully drain the system(properly anyway!) - but again I can not see anyway that water would gain entry if that wasn;t refitted properly as its right under the floor - not open to easy splash / wash.

Sounds daft -- was the fuel filler cap refitted correctly last time fuel put in......we recently had a TT in exact same fault -- turned out the drain around the filler neck had blocked - which meant everytime the fuel filler cap was removed - it was letting in water,small amounts - but over a period,finally caused it to conk out....

Hope you get it sorted -- if they can give you a sample of the fuel - as has been said go straight to the station - explain the problem - see what they say,we have in the past had to deal with a fuel station -- that had sold contam fuel -- resulted in engine damage that meant new head -- the station coughed up -- and claimed through there insurance.

Pretty sure the cap was done up properly, but Ill check the neck of the filler cap anyway. Hopefully picking it up today (Tues), I'll ask if they've saved any of the drained fuel, there was virtually half a tankful in there. I can imagine what the garages will say though. I'll tell them what has happened, "Oh no Sir, not us, our petrol's fine"

I guess I'll have to get in touch with trading standards for what it's worth...

Thanks for your replies anyway

I agree that Trading Standards should be advised - they may have had other drivers report problems with contaminated fuel.

Well.....picked car up on Thursday, and asked if they had kept any of the contaminated fuel. Basically, they said no, but the fuel pump has been replaced under warranty. I'm smelling a rat all round here, not sure why, but things just don't add up.

a) Water from fuel hose ? Did the AA guy take off the wrong line? There's a rubber pipe next to the fuel pipes that runs from the radiator header tank. I wasn't watching that closely, he could have taken off the wrong pipe, but then again the car wasn't running and suggests fuel starvation.

The dealer said they had drained the tank and replaced the fuel pump, but when I picked the car up, there was the same amount of fuel as when I left it there. The pump had 'been replaced' under warranty and I wasn't charged for 're-filling the tank'

c) I enquired at both garages and they said they had not had any complaints about contam fuel. Sainsbury's even showed me a print-out relating to temps, pressures etc. in their storage tanks.

I'm summising that there was 'some' water in the fuel and that's why the car wouldn't start. The dealers flushed the pump through, got it running and claimed for a new fuel pump. Either that, or indeed it was safer to fit a new pump.

Anyway, I've got my baby back and she's running fine

:drive1:

PS - have checked fuel cap/neck, looks fine i.e. not blocked at base of cap

Glad it is sorted, but it does leave a bit of a bad taste behind, doesn't it?