Violent shudder at high revs & warning light

Technical Forum for the Porsche Macan
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Deleted User 4752

Post by Deleted User 4752 »

Macanori wrote: Sat Jul 30, 2022 12:22 pm Anyone got any advice on this one? I keep worrying if it’s contaminated petrol - should I mention to the garage to check this? I spoke directly with the technician and he stated that the hpfp was the fault coming up - would a fault come up for other things if it was fuel contamination?
I’m not immensely technical but I would have fault its possible for fuel contamination to cause an issue with a sensor. If you remember a few years back Tesco had a load of contaminated fuel and it damaged car engines. In my case I had to have 4 injectors replaced ( all on Tesco’s ticket ) but its not something I’ve ever had or heard of outside of that incident so I think its very unlikely. I’d just let them fix it and see what happens.

If it IS contaminated fuel and it happens again there will still be some in the tank and you can sue the petrol station

Macanori
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Post by Macanori »

Hoping so! Just seems like a rare issue - I haven’t seen anyone else having an issue with the fuel pump so is making me slightly nervous!
Deleted User 4752

Post by Deleted User 4752 »

Macanori wrote: Sat Jul 30, 2022 2:39 pm Hoping so! Just seems like a rare issue - I haven’t seen anyone else having an issue with the fuel pump so is making me slightly nervous!
Seems it may not be all that unusual. This is referring to 911’s rather than Macans though:

https://www.porscheclubgb.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1108774

And apparently quite common on the Macan diseaseal:

https://porsche-mania.com/porsche-macan ... -problems/

This one even mentions the N54 BMW HPFP failure, which was what the recall was for on my 335i M sport convertible. But its not looking like this isn’t all that rare on the macan

https://www.macanforum.com/threads/high ... mp.108650/
GTB
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Post by GTB »

Macanori wrote: Sat Jul 30, 2022 12:22 pm Anyone got any advice on this one? I keep worrying if it’s contaminated petrol - should I mention to the garage to check this? I spoke directly with the technician and he stated that the hpfp was the fault coming up - would a fault come up for other things if it was fuel contamination?
Macanori,

Reading this thread, sounds as if you have just been unfortunate and you received that 1:100000 faulty ones. I work with fuel and filling stations. Contaminated fuel does happen, just think where one major supermarket retailer denied all claims despite nearly every car filling up breaking down, fuel in the cars and tank on site analysed and it had been contaminated with silicone at the bulk terminal. The retailers mistake wasnt shutting down the dispensers after the first few breakdowns.

Water contamination can be a culprit now we have Ethanol in the fuel as petrol stations with small sales especially of super unleaded, with old tanks, condensation in the tank, the Ethanol absorbs that water. Im not a mechanic, but depending on any water content there would be some kind of sensor to pick that up.

What would I do? you say you have 3/4 tank left so even with a 75L tank is approx £110 worth of fuel, is it worth taking the risk. You could always top the tank right up to brim with fresh fuel thus diluting any contamination, or perhaps the Porsche Technician can do a quick sample test of the fuel as they should have test kits, or why not for peace of mind just get them to drain the tank and fill up with fresh stuff if you really dont want to take the risk.

GTB
Current Macan GTS Collected July 2022 https://www.porsche.com/microsite/porsc ... =/PNM4GBM0
Deleted User 4752

Post by Deleted User 4752 »

I think thats very good advice. Even if its a faulty part, rather than contaminated fuel, it may be worth asking the OPC to drain and refill the tank just to be on the safe side. For the sake of the labour and a tank of fuel I think that would give you a bit more peace of mind.
Macanori
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Post by Macanori »

Ok thanks, I’ve emailed ahead of the service dept opening on Monday so will let you know what they say.

Are you saying that premium fuel is more prone to being contaminated with water due to slower sales right now? Gulp…it was Esso Supreme+ Unleaded that I filled up with…feel gutted now that maybe I’ve damaged the car/engine…
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Post by GTB »

Super Unleaded should certainly have less water issues as that only contains up to max 5% Ethanol compared to up to 10% for standard 95 RON Unleaded. Just mind some areas of the country there is still no Ethanol in the fuel, so depends where in the UK you filled up as its down to the facilities at the distibution terminal if Ethanol is added.

Now a reasonably busy filling station will see super unleaded but not in the quantities of ordinary stuff, the issue can be the smaller filling stations perhaps with a slower thruput that fuel being dispensed on a daily basis is quite small, so thats where again age of the tank, good housekeeping and maintenance can all have an impact on the fuel you put in your tank.
As THHGTTG has indicated in general fuel quality issues in the UK are rare or do not make National headlines if the damage is only to a dozen or so motorists at a small garage, so may make the local news, but not main stream as the Tesco incident did.

I still think its more likley you just had a faulty pump, but belt and braces to be sure why not just darin the tank and have fresh fuel fitted, it is just a little coincidental issue happened after you filled up. Can you mind how much new fuel you filled up with? if you were nearing empty and put a load of fresh fuel in thats when fuel issues tend to happen, than putting 15L or so in a tank thats already over 50% full.

GTB
Current Macan GTS Collected July 2022 https://www.porsche.com/microsite/porsc ... =/PNM4GBM0
Macanori
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Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2021 9:28 am

Post by Macanori »

Yes I agree, I guess I’m just in shock.

Agree it seems a bit coincidental - it’s a new(ish) Esso which is around 1 to 2 years old so assume the tanks are in good condition?! I had just under a quarter left so filled up a good amount into my 75L tank of around 60L.
Deleted User 4752

Post by Deleted User 4752 »

Just out of curiosity GTB would you recommend not going for a full tank fill-up? Personally I always brim the tank after its down about 1/4 of a tank ( so still 3/4 full ) when possible. I think it’s because I’m old enough that I remember being told not to dredge up all the gubbins at the bottom of the tank, which is probably a lot less relevant now than it was 30 years ago.

Presumably if its got 3/4 of a tank of good fuel its less likely to be a problem if you add 1/4 tank of contaminated fuel ?
GTB
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Location: Scotland

Post by GTB »

T
Last edited by GTB on Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Current Macan GTS Collected July 2022 https://www.porsche.com/microsite/porsc ... =/PNM4GBM0
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