2010 308 RHR auto surging

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kelpiebat

Active member
Fellow Frogger
Joined
Jan 13, 2014
Messages
417
Location
Coffs Harbour, NSW Australia
Morning, Her 212k wagon is troubled by an occasional 3-7 seconds of surging now and again and mostly on an incline, but not necessarily steep. This anomaly began about 3,000 ks ago. The fuel filter when changed about 5,000k ago was completely covered in a fine black unknown substance. Have never, on any of many diesel filters, ever seen anything like it. We are 3rd or 4th owner and I suspect the previous owner may know more. We rarely fill up at a non BP servo, however, as advised by BP management, BP servos can source limited amounts of fuel from elsewhere.
Another, issue or perhaps a clue is that of a miss or momentary loss of power which usually seems to coincide with a gear change (she does not use the tip-tronic mode) on a hill which is climbed on every trip home.

For those interested I came across a very interesting document on the Donaldson diesel filter site that went into a lot of scientific and technical detail about diesel and problems etcetera that can be encountered. It was an American generated paper which dealt a lot with cold climate issues. Highly recommended if you seek more than just a bit of casual knowledge.
 
Would it be worth checking for water in the fuel ? I stopped using BP after having an issue with suspected water (admittedly, it was straight after a bad flood where the tanks had been submerged) but I only use Caltex now and only from servo's in non flood areas.
 
Morning Mickles, I notice in the Sea Foam thread you started a reference to surging, but there is no description that would indicate if your surging and mine are similar. Your success with Sea Foam is very interesting - where do you get it from?
My go to diesel repair shop/supplier of information was insistent that BP was first choice if one did not like issues. As well as accepting his advice I rang BP and had a long chat with one of their top fuel fellows. The saving grace, after hearing that servos can use some non BP fuel, is that if there is a suspected issue BP promptly does sampling so that if there is a problem then BP fixes it and gets compensation from the servo owner. That is what I understood from what I was told.
 
Have you checked the gearbox oil level or had it changed ,if its an aisen warner 6 speed ,from my experience its well overdue for a change ,although supposed to be sealed for life ,do a search on this box ,theres many posts ,ps my son car had an uncertainty on the up change which was eliminated by changing the oil ,im not sure if your car has this box
 
pugwash said:
Have you checked the gearbox oil level or had it changed ,if its an aisen warner 6 speed ,from my experience its well overdue for a change ,although supposed to be sealed for life ,do a search on this box ,theres many posts ,ps my son car had an uncertainty on the up change which was eliminated by changing the oil ,im not sure if your car has this box
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Can I endorse this comment. Except don't just change the gearbox oil, get it flushed. It costs a bit more in fluid and you have to go to a specialist gearbox place which has the pump but it will save the life of your gearbox. Have the techs check the colour of the fluid, pink good, brown very bad.
 
Although I didn't buy the Seafoam from this place originally , I have just ordered another 3.78 litre can from automegastore.com.au as they have some keen pricing.
 
The surging I was referring to is different yours. When cold mine would hesitate like it was in retard then a small amount of throttle extra and it would surge forward
 
It is the 6 speed Aisin auto box. Have read some of the threads about servicing the sealed for life and was waiting for a rainy day. From your collective comments it is now top of the to do list. Is it likely or possible that the short duration engine surging is related to, or actually, a gearbox old oil issue ?
 
This surging problem is in the car that actually stopped on the coldest winter morning last year; there is a thread I began on 27 August about that problem. The fuel filter was replaced in October and has consequently been ignored as far as the surging is concerned. Information I got from a well known and trusted ex-Caltex regional manager yesterday indicates that I am certain to be wrong.
As soon as I mentioned that the old filter was covered entirely by a black, unknown to me coating, he stated that the car's fuel tank had copped a dose of the bug that lives and grows on the interface between the diesel and water in the tank. Besides affirming that the bug will still be in the tank and active he was surprised I had never seen it before. From testing he has been involved in there is only 1 product that will kill it for the long term.
When asked about fuel qualities his reply was that as far as Newcastle NSW goes the system is that a huge supertanker well offshore unloads into smaller vessels that bring it to the various onshore tanks where Caltex add Vortex and BP add Ultimate to the same fuel that all of the others sell.
 
OK if your up this way I can give you something to knock it on he head, its not to be treated with anything but the strictest care, its used in water purification and will kill this stuff dead.

Had diesel bug in my landcruiser, not any more.
 
Matthew, that is a very generous offer for sure. My son is near Mt Ommaney and owes a favour or 2 so I'll send you a PM. Spent a bit of time googling many sites today, and it sure is a big problem. In the UK they have identified over 1400 of the bugs and fungi and etc. To filter them out for testing in labs one needs a 0.75 micron filter. On one site a magnetic device called De Bug is mentioned and the way it works is to actually kill the 'critters' as they pass through the arrangement of magnets, and the dead bits are so small that they will easily go through the regular fuel filter and eventually end up with a trip through Cat converter and on into DPF land.
Many thanks.
 
No trouble, but do not get this on you as it will hyper-sensitise you to it and its in the air, effectively a yeast. Certainly do not drink it or smell it or look at it. Get chemical gloves (dishwashing and toss them after) and a face mask to be safe and you will need a few cc at most in the tank. Mix it in a jerry of fuel and add to tank, dead bug.

Was it you with the wrecked RHR but its going into another car now??
 
Yes Matthew, I do have a stat write off 135K restyle 307 wagon with RHR and 6 speed auto. It was bought as a donor, if needed, for an early 407 with a RHR suffering from a compression issue in #1. It was her car, till the 308 was bought. So, all plans are still 'work in progress.'
 
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