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Fuel quality in UAE


Barry

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Did a service on a Bentley this morning and removed this. Check out the dirt inside. 

 

Generally a service here just means an oil change, maybe blow the dust out of the air filter. Fuel filter usually doesn’t get looked at until the car stops working properly. 

Dont forget those fuel filters!

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OMG, that's really bad, I wish every car manufacturer designed fuel filter outside the tank and mark it as a serviceable item. It's not only UAE petrol, but I hear a lot of stories for Oman and Saudi petrol clogging the fuel filter immediately after salalah trip, saudi trips etc. All these countries have different standards and refining from various places in the world to make it difficult to control so why not clean or change the fuel filter once in every 1-2 year or 40-60k km.

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Let's root for each other & watch each other grow.

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I once heard a story about this but was never able to get it confirmed so it could be a myth :) 

* The gas-stations have underground tanks that are being refilled every couple of days. When the underground tank runs empty, the truck will deliver and refill but this happens with high pressure and flow, which throws up all the dirt and debris inside the tank. Because of that, gasstations will keep that tank out of order for a while so the dust and dirt can settle down and sink to the bottom of the tank. Of course smaller gasstations which only have 2-3 underground tanks don't have the luxury or the time to keep that tank out of order and as a result put them immediately available. When you are the unlucky customer to pass by that station when the tank was just refilled you might have dirt going into your tank. 

Similar goes for smaller gasstations that don't clean-out their tanks on a preventive basis. 

Imho the amount of dust or debris from the producer itself will be minimal. It's in the storage that it might go wrong.

In my home country we have underground tanks in our house to store the diesel that we use to heat up the house. After a refill the supplier always tells me to let the diesel "settle" for at least a day before switching on the burner. For the same reason as mentioned above. 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Frederic Nuyttens

"Go as far as you can see; once you get there, you'll be able to see further."

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I strongly believe that in today's day and age every fuel station in UAE must be operating with tons of filters to attend to such issue of sedimentation while filling storage tanks or while dispersing fuel. Especially ADNOC and ENOC have very high standards to meet.

Let's root for each other & watch each other grow.

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Dubai: Drive into any petrol station for a refill and probably the only question the attendant will ask: “Special or Super?”. You will pick one or the other without a moment’s thought and drive away as soon as the payment is done.

There are two types or grades of petrol available in the UAE - Special at 95 octane and Super at 98 octane. Car enthusiasts have long butted heads in debates over which of the two allow their car to deliver a better performance.

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Many argue that petrol with a higher octane value increases power in vehicles, deliver less pollution and help to maintain a cleaner engine. Others counter that there is barely any difference in car performance and that using a higher octane value fuel is actually detrimental to the engine.

Petrol companies say that while all fuels contain cleaning additives, those with high octane levels contain more or better detergents to keep the injectors clean. In addition they also claim that Super fuels are a few percentage points denser which allows slightly more power per litre in the vehicle.

So, should drivers switch to using high octane Super fuels in their cars? According to Bill Carter, head of valuations and research, Autodata, it is only high performance cars that require Super petrols. “There is no advantage in using a higher grade of petrol than is recommended by the car manufacturer,” said Carter. “The additional cost far outweighs any perceived increase in performance.

“In fact, it may end up increasing the carbon deposit build up in the combustion chamber of the engine. This would result in having to have the engine de-coked earlier than one would expect.”

Using a high octane fuel when your car was made to run on a lower octane fuel has been found to be harmful. It should also be noted that using a low octane fuel when your car requires a higher version is just as damaging and will lead to an abnormal combustion of the air-fuel mixture in the cylinder. It will cause a phenomena known as “knocking” to occur.

When a spark initiates combustion in a spark-ignition internal combustion engine, the flame front should fan out from the spark plug and travel across the combustion chamber rapidly and smoothly. Knocking occurs if the last part of the air-fuel mixture ignites spontaneously before the flame front arrives and that leads to a sudden jump in the pressure in the cylinder which creates a “knocking” or “pinging” sound.

How do you know what type of fuel is right? The easiest way to find out is check the owner’s manual. Another way would be by listening carefully to the sound of your engine. If there is no “knocking” sound then you are using the right grade.

It is also advisable to select a good fuel system cleaner for your car. According to Carter, there is a benefit in drivers using a fuel system cleaner, especially if they do not service their cars regularly.

“The fuel system can get a build-up of deposits in fuel lines and injectors; the effect on injectors is the most critical as this will control the fuel spray pattern and quantity of fuel entering the combustion process,” Carter added. “This, in turn, has a detrimental effect on fuel consumption, performance and emissions.”

Popular fuel additives help restore lost power, improve performance and fuel economy. They also keep the engine clean by clearing up deposits. For drivers that have their car serviced, these cleaners are often offered as part of the normal routine.

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3 hours ago, sidhan said:

how do you know, that @Barry specialize in filling carbonized petrol in Bentley fuel filter?

Yeah. I keep a big pile of coal dust to put inside filters when I remove them 😂 seriously, what you see is what you get. I pulled the filter off and the black petrol started running out so I just thought to make a video and share it with you all to see the kind of stuff that is in petrol. 

Ok, let’s dispel a myth, using higher octane fuel than your car is rated for won’t do any harm. Using a lower octane rating though can cause knocking aka pinking. High octane fuel is only for turbo/supercharged and high performance engine. Paying extra for 98 won’t wake your car go faster if it’s supposed to run on 95. Stick to what it says inside the petrol flap unless you have upped the compression ratio or charged it.

Another myth is that all fuel system cleaners work. They don’t, they’re snake oil and the people selling them are on commission and sales targets. @DiamondDallas can back me up on this. I got a load of free fuel system cleaner so I gave it out to my friends to try. We ran 2 tanks through Diamonds Pajero and it had zero effect. The only real way to clean injectors is to remove them and clean them in an ultrasonic bath, or the old school way of removing them, sticking power to them and opening them and flushing them with solvent. 

2 hours ago, Allstar said:

So do you mean fuel filter clogged up due to the wrong grade of fuel? Might be bentley driver must be filling special instead of super?

No. The grade of fuel had nothing to do with it. It was the quality of the fuel. All the little bits of dirt and crap accumulated over a period of time. I can’t say when the fuel filter was last changed as this is the first time I serviced that car. It had around 60k on it. For all I know it was the original filter from the factory but it goes to show that fuel isn’t as clean as you think it is. 

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