Well, I have posted my Getz CRDi issues a while ago, i.e. Turbo loss, Stalling time and again, etc. etc., though nothing major but definitely put me in a spot of bother each time every time.
Well I had this stalling problem well 3 months ago, which used to happen once in a week of sorts, this clubbed with the Turbo loss, led to a premature servicing of my car with fuel filter, & the injectors cleaned and with the turbo indepth check. All izzz Well for a month or so and then I am in Tirupati, an early morning drive to have breakfast, the car stalls again and I struggle to start it
. Now that's crazy and I am at loss now do not know what I am supposed to do. Well, I try to crank the car a few more times with the same result. I remove the keys from the ignition get out of the car, lock and open it and get back to start the car a la MS Windows and guess what the car starts, yipppeeee. Now I have to drive from Tirupati to Chennai to visit the US consulate for my stamping. Hmm the car stalls few more times till I reach Chennai and the same issue continues for all the 3 days I am in Chennai.
I drive back to Bengaluru and car stalls amidst traffic in Chennai just once and with people honking like mad, I am unable to start the car, and here is what I do.. I put the car of first, and with the clutch depressed fully, crank the engine while slowly releasing the clutch, the car fails to start but starts moving with each crank. I continue doing this till I move to the left most side of the road, whew now that ensures I dont have people behind me honking like mad and that too a KA registered vehicle in peak Chennai Traffic, imagine my plight whew. I do the same thing I did i.e. what Bill bro recommends shutdown and restart and voila the car putters to a start, I slowly cruise out of the city taking care not to be in the middle of the road and ensuring I do not depress the clutch without the RPM needle hovering below 1500 RPM I manage to get out of the city.
No issues at all on the highway cruise even at the Toll gates where I had to stop and also to catch up on Lunch at Ambur (famous STAR Biryani - Yummy) now this biryani makes me forget the hassles I had to go through enroute. I reach good ol'd Bengaluru and halt at Bull Temple as my wife and her niece want to visit this temple. I dare not switch off the car and I waited for a good long 10 minutes afraid the car will stall and it happens just when the clouds opened up and what I saw the heaviest rains in BLR for quite sometime now (I've been living in Bangalore all of 30 years out of the 37 years). I manage to start the car and am worried about the traffic in this heavy rains till I get back home to Rajajinagar. Man the car stalls twice again and I use the same technique first gear release the clutch and the car moves to the side of the road near Sirsi circle and guess what I manage to get my left front tyres in a deep sink hole which was hidden by the puddble of water.
The car stalled and no way its starting and the left side of my baby is in this hell hole, I have this good Samaritan Army chap who comes out of nowhere and helps get the car back on road even when he was getting soaked in the heavy rains and his hands dirty from the muck on the road, he manages to give me a lever just behind my left front tyre and I manage to crank start the car and with pedal to metal I get the car to jerk forward with a couple a wheel spins, I thank the army chap who in fact was piss drunk and he denies my continuous request to give him a drop someplace and even when I offered money. He just walked away, I am sure he was god sent whew, reach home and rest for the day getting nightmares thinking of the eventful day I had with my rocket hatch.
next day head out to Advaith SS on Outer Ring road on the way to work drop the car and am told they need to keep the car for two days if not three to assess what was the problem and repair it for good.
Next day I get a call from the SE, he says he was
shocked to see water with the diesel in the tank. the reason given was... this does happen once in a while and this was the second case they had recently the previous was a Verna CRDi filled up Diesel at Shell (imagine that) and found the tank half full of water and the rest of it was sticky fuel. he also told me that shell pump offered to pay for the damage and get the car repaired. Well in my case, they drained the tank found 15 litres of the sticky fuel mixed with water with no Diesel pungent smell emanating from it too. Everything starting from the tank to the injectors are cleaned and the car today is back to normal. My 500 KM drive to and fro Mysore and near by places was fault free and the car moving like a dream and the best mileage I got in the last 1.5 years of ownership, i.e. 16 KMPL.
The SE says this is very rare case and the explanation given was the fuel station have to check for Density every hour before dispensing diesel which they rarely do and when the mositure in the tank comes along with the tank and condenses to water once it reaches the tank this happens. There is no way to prevent this and one has to pray that this doesnt happen.
I have never heard of such a thing ever not even in this forum. I am flabbergasted beyond any damn thing hearing this. Want to hear from all sticky fuel car owners if they have experienced similar situations.
Whew now enough of this long long sob story of my horrid experience in the pocket rocket. Your feedback suggestions welcome shoot away!!!!.