'Eco-friendly diesel'

[philthehill]

According to a report in todays Daily Telegraph millions of motorists have been warned they could face unexpected breakdowns this winter due to problems with diesel.
"Under EU regulations, fuel suppliers must blend conventional diesel with increasing amounts of environmentally friendly biofuels. Experts believe this could behind breakdowns caused by a build up of thick gel in the engine"............................. "Suggesting that thousands of Britain's 9.4 million drivers of diesel vehicles could soon be affected"
I am glad I run petrol powered cars but there again bio petrol is not without its problems for older cars.

[TFM150K]

Am I missing something here? It is (supposedly) eco-friendly governments that are asking us to run our cars/vans/lorries/buses/ambulances/gritting lorries/etc on fuels with supposedly eco-friendly additives in them. Governments that depend on taxes. Like taxes on fuel. But if the additives are going to cause us all to grind to a halt, then the income from the taxes on fuel are going to grind to a halt too.
Silly me. The VAT on repairs will make up for that loss. Those governments have got it all thought out.

[bmcecosse]

Where is this 'thick gel in the engine' Phil? Does the story tell us where to look? Or what to do on finding the thick gel?? Add a gallon of petrol maybe to loosen things up ? As ever - I think this story can be taken with a BIG pinch of salt.....

[irmscher]

I remember some years ago having to add a liquid to thin the diesel in bad freezing weather in my jeep

[philthehill]

Bmc
Further info from the report in The Daily Telegraph:-
"Apparently the breakdown services had seen an increase in call-outs last month from drivers whose filters had become blocked (by the thick gel) in the cold weather. RAC teams attended 600 such incidents - more than doubling the 280 in November 2012. Suggesting that thousands of Britain's drivers of diesel vehicles could soon be affected"
Whether you consider it should be taken with a pinch of salt is debatable but I am glad that I do not run a diesel car!

Phil

[bmcecosse]

Pretty sure the suppliers of diesel will have it formulated to deal with reasonable cold weather - and it hasn't been cold this winter - yet... perhaps these people hadn't changed the filter for a while. I'll let you know if my diesel car gives any trouble ! Meantime - it's 12 degrees up here last few days -absolutely amazing for mid december...and no sign of thick gel so far.

[MarkyB]

I heard a suggestion that it's caused by algae but it seems unlikely unless the additive is a better habitat.
It will grow in diesel tanks if there is water in them, it grows on the surface where the two meet.

[Matt]

What they are suggesting is that the biodiesel content of modern diesel (5% minimum - started this year) is gelling when the weather gets cold - because suitable addatives haven't been put in place.

Having run Biodiesel and filtered waste veg oil in cars, and from the experience of others I know, its unlikely to cause a problem! As BMC suggests I would think its more likely that it happening to people who haven't changed the filter as part of routine servicing.

If you are worried buy a spare filter, learn how to change it and keep it in the car. Diesel filters are normally easy to get too and change (with a few exceptions!). If you have a filter the RAC/AA/etc would be able to fit it at the roadside to get you movinh again rather than towing you to a garage...

[bmcecosse]

I suspect that moisture perhaps collects in the filter - and freezes to 'mush' in cold weather. The plan to carry a spare filter does sound wise. But also perhaps worth working the tank down really low in fair weather - and then refilling with fresh diesel which will be formulated for winter use.

[Matt]

I fill my car up twice a week anyway BMC so im pretty confident im running on the winter blend! (and yes, I am using it...) between Thursday and sunday I bought 120L of diesel (ok, over 2 vehicles), and im going to put some more in tonight/tomorrow!

[smithskids]

The problem with diesel in very cold weather is usually wax which bungs the filters up, another cause is water as if the diesel filter is constructed with felt in it, the felt swells up and shuts the fuel off.( this happened to me taking a ship down the Humber when we got some water in the fuel from a lighter barge!!)

[Matt]

Automotive fuel filters don't normally have felt in...

[hanvyj]

Is this not referring to dreaded DPF filters? Modern diesels have to be taken on long runs to clean it out, but it's in the exhaust not the engine.

[rayofleamington]

The dreaded dpf issue doesn't cause many RAC call outs as the average eurobox may go into a limp mode eventually but not stop all together unless you ignore the warning light for many months on end!

As for blaming 'Eco' content of fuel this is the usual tabloid bandwagon and very light on facts.
Saying that all 10 million diesel drivers are due to breakdown soon is just pure fantasy.
If anyone had proven a link between the 2 unrelated issues it would be stated in the headline not just speculated based on a symptom of poor servicing.
Many parts of the world use much higher bio content in fuels than Europe and funnily enough their cars haven't all suddenly stopped. Whatever is clogging diesel filters might be that the cost of motoring is so high that people are skimping on servicing!?!? I don't have any proven facts to base that on so maybe it'll get quoted as breaking news.

Personally I am usually careful about changing filters having had many old and/or high mileage cars (and know that using waste veg oil causes filter sludge issues and got the tee shirt)but now realise I have forgotten to do it on my current car. Rather like tens of millions of car owners in UK , mine also hasn't apparently been affected by a small amount of bio content and is also overdue for a filter change

and still cheaper to run than a petrol!