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Frans Schellingerhout points out the engine type, model 6HK1-TC displayed here on the Isuzu stand at Auto Africa, which was damaged by watercontaminated diesel. Ironical is that Isuzu displayed its line-up of products at Auto Africa under the banner ‘Trucks for Life’. After filling up at a Caltex fuel station in Durban, Isuzu had its slogan shattered when the truck Schellingerhout was driving lasted a couple of minutes over 350 metres before spluttering to a sorry halt. The 6HK1-TC turbo intercooler engine incorporates the latest common rail technology from Isuzu and FleetWatch has to ask: What’s the point of bringing in the latest high-tech engines if our filling stations can’t supply clean diesel? Truck and engine manufacturers are doing their bit in bringing the market up to speed with modern, fuel efficient and emission friendly trucks. MAN Truck & Bus, for example, also used Auto Africa to launch its range of common rail engines. Given these advances, the oil companies must come to the party through better control of the quality of fuel being dispensed into these trucks via their filling stations. There’s too much at stake here to allow the oil companies to blow it through lack of proper controls at their filling stations. Come on board guys. For goodness sake, we’re heading for Euro 3. Europe is already on Euro 5, and that’s three years ahead of the actual Euro 5 implementation date. Stay with the programme!

FleetWatch has stated often in the past that the blame for fuel contamination lies primarily with the lack of quality controls along the distribution network - right up to final fuel pump point. The experience of Frans Schellingerhout, Isuzu Truck Engineer, General Motors South Africa proves this. What should have been a pleasant experience with a unique truck ended up as an expensive nightmare and an experience not to be forgotten. Here is his story, put forward as a lesson for other FleetWatch readers. 

On Monday September 4th, I flew to Durban to fetch a special imported truck and drive it back to Port Elizabeth. Since the vehicle is equipped with the latest state of the art common rail technology, the idea was to get some first-hand experience of the capabilities of this new machine. The fun, however, became a nightmare when, only 350 meters after filling the tank at the Caltex filling station nearest to the Mobeni storage facility, the vehicle came to a grinding halt. 

"Fortunately, I had some tools with me and when the fuel supply line on the fuel filter before the common rail system was loosened and the system primed, the surprise on my face would have spelled it all out: What came out was, basically, pure water. A substantial amount of priming did not alleviate the condition and when the water separator also did not seem to be transferring good fuel to the rest of the system, my suspicions rose to panic level. 

"With a drain plug in the fuel tank, I was fortunately able to expedite the process of getting rid of the water. However, it was only after draining out about 25 liters of water that the liquid began to resemble anything near to diesel. More priming of the system ensured that an attempt could be made to start the truck. Eventually it fired up and the white smoke/steam revealed the definite presence of water in the system. Yeah! As if I wasn’t 100% sure by then! 

"Once mobile, I made a U-turn and found my R1 087 pump reading still on the pump. Thank goodness no other victims had been caught! The gentleman who seemed to be in charge did not want to know about my dilemma or about the fact that the tank was below three-quarters full after the draining process. What he did do was pump two litres of fluid from the same bowser in an attempt to prove to me that there was no water in the underground tank. 

"While the yellow fluid did not appear to me as the diesel fuel that I know, I obviously could not prove/disprove his supposed assertion from the pumped sample. It quickly became obvious to me that I was not going to get any sympathy – or replenishment - from  him. Maybe that was a good thing because I wouldn’t even let the two 2 litres of sample fuel be put into my truck’s tank. 

"The pump attendant was then instructed to put the two litres back into the underground tank and I was subsequently reimbursed the full amount paid for the fuel. In my opinion, that action itself was an admission of guilt. 

"I got on the road again and initially the truck performed well. However, after about 200 to 300 km, I was again faced with a nightmare. The truck misfired and lost power to such an extent that every small uphill became a major struggle. I eventually struggled into East London where the local dealer changed the filters and drained all the fuel – a yellow mixture, quite evidently still not pure diesel. 

"Fresh/clean fuel was put into the tank but the damage was done. Common rail engine systems are totally allergic to watery fuel mixtures and I knew the injection system would have to undergo a major and expensive overhaul. 

"Having suffered this experience, I wish to warn all truckers against a few things: 

1) Water in diesel fuel, specifically in modern engines, is a killer. Do not allow it into the system. 

2) Beware of unscrupulous filling station outlets which do not care a hoot about a trucker’s fate. Choose your filling station outlets carefully and be particularly careful after rain storms as underground tanks often become reservoirs of excess water. 

"At the time of writing this, the issue had been raised with Caltex and I am in contact with them to address the issue - hopefully to a reasonable conclusion. I do feel that the refineries need to take some responsibility to protect their (good?) names. Happy trucking, but be aware!" 

Editor’s Comment: The experience of Frans Schellingerhout begs a number of answers from Caltex which, in fact, apply to all petro companies. 

1) Are filling stations owners/operators compelled via some or other company policy to conduct regular checks on their underground tanks specifically for contaminants like water? What control measures are in place to ensure incidences such as happened to Schellingerhout do not occur on a regular basis to other operators? On this point, operators who have experienced engine problems might do themselves a favour by checking their fueling points. 

2) What recourse does an operator have in the event of it being proved that his vehicle was damaged by contaminated diesel obtained from a proprietary filling station? This is a vitally important point considering that in this case, the engine’s diesel pump as well as all the injectors had to be replaced at a cost of around R20 000. And that’s not taking into account the cost of the downtime a normal operator would incur from such an incident. 

3) What other dangers lurk beneath the ground at filling stations for trucking operators in terms of diesel contamination and what is being done by the oil companies to control unwanted contamination – not just water?