STICKY FUEL WARNING

Over the past year, emergency assistance and breakdown firm, River Canal Rescue, says it has witnessed an uncharacteristic peak in fuel-related component breakdowns not linked to diesel bug.

RCR describes the problem as sticky fuel, and with its marine engineers now responding to two to three cases per week on the inland waterways, managing director, Stephanie Horton, is keen to alert the wider sailing community to the issue.

Stephanie explained: “We first became aware of sticky fuel when we had two identical jobs where fuel injectors were diagnosed as needing an overhaul, yet their replacements stopped working within a week, and the injection pumps (pictured) were found to have failed even though the diesel was clear and bright.

“Our engineers found in both cases, the injector pump racks had seized solid and the nozzles were blocked, and when replacing the plunger filter head, they found the fuel had a sticky, syrup-like substance. Alongside stuck injection pump racks, injectors and filter head plunger failures, we also had cases of fuel filters blocking with wax inside them.