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Old 11th May 2018, 10:13   #16
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re: Water in Petrol from HPCL Bunk, Panakudi. Issues & inconvenience (Corolla Altis)

I don't know what's with HPCL and water contamination. There are 2 HPCL outlets in radius of 3kms from my house and both are notorious for water contamination and this is not limited to Petrol. A friend's Scorpio stalled twice due to the same issue and he had just filled from these places. I avoid HPCL outlets and have never used them so far
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Old 11th May 2018, 10:37   #17
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re: Water in Petrol from HPCL Bunk, Panakudi. Issues & inconvenience (Corolla Altis)

Quote:
Originally Posted by shrk_18 View Post
I don't know what's with HPCL and water contamination. There are 2 HPCL outlets in radius of 3kms from my house and both are notorious for water contamination and this is not limited to Petrol. A friend's Scorpio stalled twice due to the same issue and he had just filled from these places. I avoid HPCL outlets and have never used them so far
This has nothing to do with HPCL/IOC/BPCL. Any company's outlet can dispense contaminated fuel if they do not maintain or clean their underground tanks regularly.

Make sure the diesel vehicle's water separator/filter is drained or replaced at regular intervals and avoid patronising such petrol stations
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Old 11th May 2018, 11:39   #18
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re: Water in Petrol from HPCL Bunk, Panakudi. Issues & inconvenience (Corolla Altis)

I faced a similar issue with an IOC bunk about 20 years ago. I returned from Lucknow tanked up and lost my engine a km or so down the line. I coasted to another bunk, emptied out the tank and carb, and then filled in fresh fuel. Was Ok. The apparent reason was due to rain water seepage into the tank and then was filled into my car.

All very well, but when I talked to the bunk owner he gave the explanation, but did not even apologize. He offered me a fresh tankful??

Last edited by Gannu_1 : 13th May 2018 at 12:17. Reason: Typo corrected. Thanks!
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Old 11th May 2018, 12:19   #19
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re: Water in Petrol from HPCL Bunk, Panakudi. Issues & inconvenience (Corolla Altis)

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Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao View Post
Two, why do all manufacturers threaten voiding warranty for fuel adulteration issues? Refusing coverage for intentional tampering with the car is understandable, but fuel adulteration is neither intentional not easily detectable at source. What is a user supposed to do? Perform quality checks while refueling every single time?
See from a manufacturer's point of view its correct. How can any manufacturer cover against adulteration, given it's such a broad area.

Adulteration will cause damages, and someone or the other will have to pay to fix the damages. When someone sells a product, he is clear how it works and how it will not work and what can cause damage. Why should the manufacturer pay for someone else's devilish schemes to make more money. And yes adulteration is intentional and also easily detectable, it's just a matter of adding more fault detecting techniques at the bunk.

Yes its not practical for the common man to perform tests every time he fills up. But its possible for him to demand stringent checks at the bunk.
And when cases like these comes up, a decent compensation should be sought but not settle. And I will tell you why...

Let's take 2 scenarios for the adulteration.
Case 1. Water seeped in accidentally.
Case 2. Intentional adulteration.

If water seeps in accidentally, it means that his bunk equipment or storage tanks needs some kind of repair. Which the owner has avoided, it also means he is avoiding timely maintenance of the same. Again to save money, even though he can clearly afford the repairs.

If the adulteration was intentional, hey he owes you damages anyways.

Now in both the cases why is the manufacturer expected to pay for the damages, when he sold you a very good car in the first place. Isn't the damage caused by the bunk owner. Clearly not the fuel company, because fuel never leaves adulterated from the refinery.

Now let's look at the car itself. The car's engine is working for now, but there is a very slight change that some component can fail in the future and might cost a bomb. And if the expense is high, then the cost will have to borne by the owner.

@Rajeevraj Sir taking a compensation is not profit making, its a way of making people follow procedures and not letting them off the hook for what they are responsible for. If a higher compensation money feels wrong, give it away for charity. Their email is testimony to the fact that they are brushing the issue under the carpet. And they will continue doing this to other people. If you are letting them go, make them acknowledge that the issue happened and they will try and get it fixed. Or escalate, that's the right thing to do here.
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Old 11th May 2018, 20:47   #20
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re: Water in Petrol from HPCL Bunk, Panakudi. Issues & inconvenience (Corolla Altis)

Thanks for all the comments and inputs.

His primary intention of sharing here was to objectively share out what happened so that other travelers especially in this route can be vigilant. Apart from this, the way the written response was given dismissing the complaint definitely bothered him.

As mentioned by several folks, water contamination is not purposefully done. But, looking at the response, maybe something did go wrong that day unintentionally. To him, a proper acceptance of the issue, what caused it and the steps taken would have been a ideal closure. The compensation part is not really relevant to him.

He did open a grievance in the oil Ministry portal. Been in open state since then with no updates. Maybe at some point there will be a follow up.
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Old 13th May 2018, 11:21   #21
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re: Water in Petrol from HPCL Bunk, Panakudi. Issues & inconvenience (Corolla Altis)

Water and Oil does not mix well, and the water always forms a layer on the bottom of the underground tank. So you can rule out any intentions of adulteration with water. It is always accidental or poor maintenance. All petrol pumps will have some amount of water in thier underground tanks and they follow some practices so that the water isnt pumped into any vehicles’ fuel tank.

1) Fix the intake end of the dispenser pump at a height well above the normal recorded water dip. For example, If the tank always have approximately 4cm of water, fix the intake at 15cm. This results in 11 cms volume of fuel that cannot be sold. dead stock. Hence delicately balanced.
2) Check water dip daily and atleast twice during monsoon.
3) Keep the truck unloading end well above ground water level.
4) Have a proper canopy over dispensers so that water does not go in when refuelling cap is opened.
5) Pump out water from the UG tanks at regular intervals.

Even with all these precautions accidents happen if one of the underground tanks, pipes, vapour venting mechanisms or many joints buried in earth develops a leak and water seep in.
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Old 14th May 2018, 09:58   #22
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re: Water in Petrol from HPCL Bunk, Panakudi. Issues & inconvenience (Corolla Altis)

Quote:
Originally Posted by VEA View Post
...the water always forms a layer on the bottom of the underground tank. ....

1) Fix the intake end of the dispenser pump at a height well above the normal recorded water dip. .....
2) Check water dip daily and atleast twice during monsoon.
...
Given that water seepage is expected at underground fuel tanks, wont it be easier to have some simple sensor that triggers an alarm if the water level is closer to the intake end of the dispenser pump.

Since water is heavier and always at the bottom, I am thinking some kind of flotation based or density based sensor? Or maybe there are such products readily available. Any fuel pump owners here? or people working in that line?
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Old 14th May 2018, 21:22   #23
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re: Water in Petrol from HPCL Bunk, Panakudi. Issues & inconvenience (Corolla Altis)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rajeevraj View Post

As mentioned by several folks, water contamination is not purposefully done. But, looking at the response, maybe something did go wrong that day unintentionally.
It is for this reason one should always fill regular petrol from small towns - preferably from a fuel station that has a lot of bikes (they are likely to be more sensitive to fuel economy more than anything else). Power and other high end fuels are likely to be very old stock.

For diesel cars, I always look out for stations with a hoard of trucks - again, for the same reasons.
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Old 15th May 2018, 09:11   #24
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re: Water in Petrol from HPCL Bunk, Panakudi. Issues & inconvenience (Corolla Altis)

Thanks to you and your friend for sharing, Rajeevraj

I have taken this route umpteen times, but never stopped at this pump for refueling. While going from Bangalore, I use this pump as a landmark as the deviation towards Nagercoil is few meters after this pump.

Good Pumps around this area?

Due to some reason, I always prefer BP. However when it comes to refueling in Nagercoil or places nearby towards bangalore, I prefer S Asirvatham Nadar Sons HPCL pump and never faced any issues here, https://goo.gl/maps/uuUVREJSYZm.

This is just after you exit Nagercoil(towards Bangalore/Chennai). I prefer this because, this is a very well-known pump for quality and I have not faced any issues during the last 10+ years. These guys also have a tyre shop and WA/WB facility along with it. Interestingly, WA/WB machines are from Madhus
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Old 20th May 2018, 14:05   #25
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Re: Water in Petrol from HPCL Bunk, Panakudi. Issues & inconvenience (Corolla Altis)

Water in petrol tank is a problem that is getting bigger, now that 10% ethanol is being mixed. Ethanol draws moisture from air, so you may get water in tank even if the pump supply is dry -- if you fill up and drive seldom, as it happens to me from time to time. Engine stutters and stops, and refuses to start. Luckily the ethanol is only 10%, so its mischief-making capability is also low -- the little water that comes into the fuel line usually burns off.
Draining water & accumulated dirt from the bottom was easier with older cars with fuel tank drain plugs, but modern cars have mostly done away with this feature, as modern fuel is supposed to be cleaner ! Vehicle manufacturers seem to be unaware of ground realities !

My YEZDI petrol tank never used to rust on the inside as 2T is mixed with petrol. Recently I found that happening, too, and have started using 'petrol fixer' from AMAZON.IN which is expensive. These chemical additives were developed after ethanol mixtures caused moisture problems in other countries, starting with Brazil.
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