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Baggy
Member Since: 11 Feb 2006
Location: sydney.....in the land of oz
Posts: 183
  
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| Contaminated diesel damage! |
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Three weeks ago I filled the D3 tank with diesel. It didn't take long (about 40 minutes) before the engine began to idle roughly and continually stall. My dealer advised to call LR Assist and have it towed directly to them.
The next day I received the bad news - the diesel was contaminated (with water) and the fuel system required replacement! $14k worth of work!!!
Of course I reacted with a string of expletives, cardiac arrest, followed by more expletives, then mind-numbing shock.....  
There is a bright side......the damage was covered by insurance leaving me with only the excess.
We got the D3 back today and she purrs like a kitten (............or more like a tiger...) 
PERMAGRIN is back!!
The dealer commented to me that contaminated diesel is not as uncommon as you may think....
PS> I didn't fill up from one of the majors.......there's a lesson... '11 TDV6 - Stornoway Grey.... still lovin' it!!
REDUCE GREENHOUSE GASSES.......Eat more BEEF!!
Addendum: Red wine goes REALLY well with BEEF
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 24th Jun 2008 10:02 am |
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Rob Bruce
Member Since: 18 Jun 2006
Location: Canberra
Posts: 687
 
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Water in fuel, then there must have been lots of it as I would assume the fuel filter did not have the capacity to trap it Or is the filter not up to the job and a after market one with a water trap needs to be fitted before the LR filter. This may be more of an issue traveling outback.
What do others think 
Rob
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| 24th Jun 2008 10:13 am |
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ronp
Member Since: 29 Nov 2006
Location: North Yorkshire
Posts: 15235
 
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| Re: Contaminated diesel damage! |
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Baggy wrote:
There is a bright side......the damage was covered by insurance leaving me with only the excess.
But surely your claim should have been against the fuel retailer ???
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| 24th Jun 2008 11:59 am |
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heine
Member Since: 07 Feb 2007
Location: Midrand
Posts: 4054
 
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This is also a huge worry for me - especially when travelling up North. I have bought a fuel filter funnel which works very well , but I would prefer an inline filter somewhere
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| 24th Jun 2008 12:05 pm |
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Baggy
Member Since: 11 Feb 2006
Location: sydney.....in the land of oz
Posts: 183
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It seemed simpler to claim against my own vehicle insurance; I imagine the insurance co will try to recover from the retailer.....
Apparently (according to the dealer), the newer D3's have a water trap on the filter(?) and a warning light on the dash - similar setup to the D2's. The earlier D3's (which includes mine) do not. Not sure of the details here... '11 TDV6 - Stornoway Grey.... still lovin' it!!
REDUCE GREENHOUSE GASSES.......Eat more BEEF!!
Addendum: Red wine goes REALLY well with BEEF
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| 25th Jun 2008 11:29 am |
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jonesy63
Member Since: 17 Oct 2006
Location: Didn't we have a lovely time, the day we went to ...
Posts: 848
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Hi Vic,
Glad there was a happy ending to that story! 
Tell me - how long was she off the road?
It would be kind of unusual for LR to have stocks on hand.
PS. We must have another lunch soon - and cast the net a bit wider for others to join!
Cheers,
Rob
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| 25th Jun 2008 3:02 pm |
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ianv
Member Since: 20 Dec 2007
Location: Bungendore, New South Wales
Posts: 338
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Anyone know if the water trap filter can be retro fitted and the associated water warning loom added/software activated?
I have read another thread recently where an owner had the water warning go off. TDV6
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| 26th Jun 2008 9:28 am |
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Baggy
Member Since: 11 Feb 2006
Location: sydney.....in the land of oz
Posts: 183
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Hey Rob - thanks......she was offline for 3weeks!!!
I must say, the dealer did the job in 2 days plus an extra day to address some warranty issues. Unfortunately it took a little time to get the damage assessed and approved, but the insurance company was good to deal with and I have no complaints. The dealer had organsied the parts in advance and was just waiting for confirmation from the assessor.
Vic
PS: Regarding lunch...............
How's 1st week in August - say Wed 06/08, 12:30pm - Epping Hotel (Sydney) - all welcome!!! '11 TDV6 - Stornoway Grey.... still lovin' it!!
REDUCE GREENHOUSE GASSES.......Eat more BEEF!!
Addendum: Red wine goes REALLY well with BEEF
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| 26th Jun 2008 12:51 pm |
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pandion2
Member Since: 07 Jun 2008
Location: Brogo
Posts: 14
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Hi Ianv,
My local ARB Stockist has a 2 micron diesel filter with a water detection alarm light that can be mounted on the dash. I am proposing to get one fitted up near the battery when I finally get a long ranger fuel tank for the Disco (they have yet to build one for the 08 model) The cost is about $600 but I have yet to get the full details on the filter and some details from landrover about the warranty implicatons of fitting the filter
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| 26th Jun 2008 1:07 pm |
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heine
Member Since: 07 Feb 2007
Location: Midrand
Posts: 4054
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Please let us know when you do - I'll be very interested in fitting one
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| 26th Jun 2008 4:50 pm |
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ianv
Member Since: 20 Dec 2007
Location: Bungendore, New South Wales
Posts: 338
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Thanks Pandion2,
I have about 6 months warranty left so will have a look at the ARB unit to fit in the new year.
Rgds
Ianv TDV6
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| 27th Jun 2008 10:42 am |
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Hopperoo101
Member Since: 19 Dec 2007
Location: Canberra
Posts: 20
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Hi Vic,
What insurance company are you with that covers that type of damage?
Dennis.
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| 27th Jun 2008 2:22 pm |
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pandion2
Member Since: 07 Jun 2008
Location: Brogo
Posts: 14
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Ianv, heine,
There is some info on http://www.thedieselexperts.com that maybe useful although I have no experience with them. Also there is a fair amount of discussion on other Aussie 4x4 web sites including AULRO on diesel filters and the associated issues with using them.
Regards
Pandion2
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| 27th Jun 2008 11:25 pm |
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robertpearse
Member Since: 09 Dec 2007
Location: Woodend
Posts: 31
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On Boxing Day at 2.00pm last year my wife, Jude, and I were in big trouble!
Jude and I had left Melbourne at 6.00am and drove through the day stoping to pick up 20 litres of diesel at a little joint called Bethungra in NSW just to get us to Orange, our planned destination for that night. The car stopped 120 km from where we had picked up the diesel. We were 26 K’s South of Cowra. We subsequently found out that the 20 litres we picked up was about 30% water through chemical analysis that the dealer had done for us for insurance purposes!
Through a fairly tortuous methods and great assistance from a couple of people in Koorawatha, a little town where we broke down, NRMA arranged a tow into Cowra. Dave from Cowra Towing proved to be a life saver. He not only towed us in but arranged a good motel, hired us a car, towed the Disco to Dubbo 3 days later, to the nearest Land Rover Dealer, and took the hire car back to Cowra from Dubbo.
As we were members of Land Rover Assist we rang them and they helped us in Cowra and Dubbo and then Land Rover directly helped us through the next 10 days in Sydney. We had nights of accommodation, various hire cars and moving from Cowra to Dubbo to Sydney to finally get the car fixed in Sydney, after very poor service from the Land Rover Dealer in Dubbo, and on our way again on the 8th of January nearly $17,500 poorer! Costs were approx $13,000 for the repairs, the rest was for 10 days accommodation in Cowra, Dubbo and Sydney, car hire and food. Luckily the combination of a good insurance company and brilliant assistance from Land Rover Australia has left us only several thousand $’s out of pocket. Mainly for food and accommodation not covered by the limits of the insurance policy.
However, we have since had the following repercussions
1. Faulty sender in replacement fuel tank caused us to run out of fuel South of Brisbane the day after getting the car back and picking up on our much delayed journey. Replaced in Melbourne at no cost.
2. 2 Fuel leaks from the fuel return system at the injectors. It appears the initial repair involved reusing a spring clip where the fuel return piping connects to the injectors. It apparently had been damaged and had ‘lost its spring’. One connection was found to be leaking and was ‘fixed’ and it or another one just recently has finally ‘let go’ and caused the fuel return piping system to be completely replaced. The fuel was leaking because the a faulty clip was letting the connection at the injector move back and forward and thus wearing out the O ring. The diesel was vaporising on the hot engine and spraying a lovely mist of diesel fuel all over the engine and back of the car. We are in the middle of trying to get the cost to fix this to picked up by the dealer who did the original repair. They say it's not their problem and have put it back to Land Rover. We are waiting for a response from Land Rover. We wait to see the outcome.
While this latest episode has not, so far, proven to be great from our point of view i cannot comment too highly of the great assistance from Land Rover Australia in helping us and the dealer in Sydney, Trivett getting the first major dram sorted. I just hope that this latest problem is sorted without us having to be out of pocket even more because of a really bad lot of diesel that i am responsible for putting into the Disco in the first place.
Lessons to be learned. Never ever pick up fuel from a back woods independent fuel place. In fact Land Rover and my dealer in Melbourne just flatly say:
1. Never buy cheap diesel from independents.
2. Always buy from large National dealers and at servo’s who are shifting a lot of diesel
3. There are no other fuel filters that you can add to the fuel system in a Disco that filters water out of diesel fuel. I wanted to do this if it were possible when the main repairs were being done.
4. There are no additives to use that will pull water out of diesel in the tank.
5. Make sure that your insurance company covers you for this sort of problem. It costs a lot to fix and not all Land Rover dealers are up to it as was proven by our experience in Dubbo.
By the way our fix required the following:
2 New fuel tanks, Low and high pressure pumps, injectors, part of the injection system and just recently the fuel return system and a whole lot of other stuff that we will never know about.
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| 1st Aug 2009 5:36 am |
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Bushwanderer
Member Since: 27 Nov 2007
Location: Northern Rivers, NSW, Australia
Posts: 2050
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Rob Bruce wrote:SNIP
Or is the filter not up to the job and a after market one with a water trap needs to be fitted before the LR filter. This may be more of an issue traveling outback.
What do others think
Rob
Hi Rob,
I think you are right regarding the possibility of poor fuel quality outback. Last year, I travelled from Adelaide to Tennant Creek on the Stuart Hwy. With the exception of The Alice, the majors were largely absent, with the possible exception of Mobil. The only fuel tankers I saw were by someone called Ausfuel (or something similar).
My fuel consumption increased alarmingly on the stretch to The Alice and the TDV6 ran noticeably rougher.
I filled up with BP a couple of times when travelling around The Alice and consumption and engine smoothness improved. This trend continued at Mt Isa & subsequently as I travelled to the coast.
On the way back to Sydney, on the coastal hwys, I filled up with BP whenever I could and eventually things became better than ever.
I think that extra filters will be helpful, but I also suspect poor fuel quality as the throughput of fuel on the Stuart Hwy should not allow water build up in the fuel.
Best Wishes,
Peter The Bearded Dragon
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| 1st Aug 2009 6:37 am |
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