I have got my self into deep **** with my fabia VRS. Basically i have destroyed the fuel injection system due to red diesel being put into the car by mistake. (And it was done in error)

The car refused to start and was towed to a dealer who quickly found the pump in the tank had stopped working. With this changed the car started again but broke down 1 mile later. After more investigation the main pump was found not to be working which would make sense i guess. Anyway after changing this pump and replacing the fuel the car still refuses to start and the dealer as consulted Skoda technical and they have told them to change the injectors.

Now im not about to say that they are wrong but i at least thought the car would have started and ran badly or smoked if this was the case? I can

I just sold a set on Ebay for £103. :(

I would do as I said in my PM to you.

And it strikes me as WELL ODD for red diesel to be the cause.... Its just a dye, and why do agricultural machines run ok on it? :confused: Might be something more deep than just red diesel.

Red diesel is quite low grade fuel with none of the additives that normal stuff has.

That will be fine in tractors but not ideal for modern sophisticated diesels.

Still I'd be surprised that it would manage to kill a car so completely and quickly

unless there was a lot of crap/water in the red diesel i wouldn't of thought there would be a problem , at the end of the day it is still only diesel with a dye in it , have they checked the obvious like the fuel filter ?

yep thats been changed as well. I was told today that we now have fuel comming out the pump for the first time and the next stage is the injectors at

yep thats been changed as well. I was told today that we now have fuel comming out the pump for the first time and the next stage is the injectors at

I think you are being stitched up fella!

Find a local garage, and ask him for his opinion.it may cost you a couple of hours labour to look at it, but you will get an impartial and honest opinion.

yes i think so. They wont fit 2nd hand injectors but if i take the car away and get them fitted and then find something else is wrong i cant go back to them with it as they wont take resposibility

Is the car at the dealers still?

I am surprised as I know quite a few vehicles run on red diesel (some legally and some not), however they tend to be older vehicles so may be less tolerance in modern (fabia) engines. But from the symptons it would seem it killed the pump and the injectors. As the pump would normally run for 100000 miles plus it wuld seem common sense that the injectors blocked and the pressure in turn killed the pump. However I am amazed a tank of red diesel did this.

So am i. I just cant get my head around the fact that all the injectors failed at the same time as the pump during a road test. Is there anythnig else you can think of that will stop the car from starting and then i can accept the injectors are knackered if it runs poor.

I can't believe its not a warranty claim to be honest. :( After all it wasn't something OTHER than diesel put in.... If it had happened due to you filling up with unleaded, then fair enogh....

I asked this and they said that due to the fact the parts were contaminated with red dye it wouldnt be covered under warrenty and they couldnt send them back as skoda would reject them

i thought you could get a whole engine for less than the price of 4 injectors from the dealers , i know thats the case with the galaxy engine (PD130) also i don't understand how the injectors get blocked , the filter would surely stop the crap from getting to the injectors . this fuel system is also difficult to bleed if you've ever changed a filter or ran out so maybe thats why they're having difficulties getting fuel to the injectors

Whole thing stinks really - I'd take the car away, get it fixed with second hand genuine parts, and stuff 'em.

They say the dye has damaged the injectors not crap getting past the fuel filter.

Never heared of it but out of intrest does red diesel meet the recomended standard for fuel as set by skoda because it could be legal to run a fabia on red diesel (for example an on site car only) and hence if the fuel quality is up too scratch and it does not say do not use red diesel in the fabia documentation I would have though they would be obliged to repair it.

this fuel system is also difficult to bleed if you've ever changed a filter or ran out so maybe thats why they're having difficulties getting fuel to the injectors

With over three bar coming out of the tandem pump and over 2000 bar in the injectors bleeding aint a problem, it does it itself.

With over three bar coming out of the tandem pump and over 2000 bar in the injectors bleeding aint a problem, it does it itself.

yeah i know that but sometimes they do take a bit of cranking to get the fuel up to get them going , but i'm only basing my experience on working on ford galaxy so i always put fuel in the filter when i renew it , but even then they still cut out before finally staying running

Have you though of going through your local yellow pages & finding the number of a Diesel specialist, then ring them for independant advice. I personaly think you are being stitched up big time. You will probably find they can source injectors somewhat cheaper if it comes to that.

Also as you know where the fuel came from get a sample asap just in case it needs anaylising in the future for contaminants. Then find out who supplied it & contact them to find out what the spec is of the fuel & what the difference is between their diesel & normal diesel.

As Simonsheil said, if it complies with the min spec Skoda have in the owners manual then its tough, no matter what colour it is it still complies. If Skoda say that they have any other paperwork or reports that say you should not use other fuels thats irelivant. If its not in the Owners manual that you were given when you bought the car how were you supposed to know, you will have complied with whatever you were told to do.

The fact that its a wrong colour is purely a duty thing & between you & the vehicle excise people. Even if its reported to them it appears to be a genuine mistake, you didnt drive any distance on it & they will have no real reason to take the matter further. If in the unlikely event anyone threatens to report you ring the excise first & explain what happened, that way its obvious to the excise you were not trying to pull a fast one

The red diesel is not the cause. There are tractors, ships, genertors etc etc with more sophisticated engines than Skodas PD's running for 10,000s hours with red diesel. In fact red is better due to it's higher sulphur content, the lubricant. BTW the basic PD system has been around for 30 odd years, Cummins had first I think.

Get the injectors checked by a independant diesel specialist, better to checked they're actually shagged before spending £420 each!!! Should cost you around £180 - £200 for the four.

I rang my insurance today and told then what id done. Anyway they think i am covered under my insurance and intend to send an engineer to see the car on tuesday. Depending on what the outcome is ill decide what to do.

Watch this space and ill keep you all informed.

Best of luck

Good luck fella.

I must say I'm struggling to get my head around these circumstances and the problems. Hope you get it sorted.