Total Petroleum S.A fuel contamination

Date. 02 November 2020 Time. 11h45 Vehicle. Silver/grey polo 1.9tdi Registration. NUR 55134

R236.05 of petrol filled into diesel vehicle.

Vehicle had a little above a quarter tank of diesel when filling.

Fuel drained from vehicle 1 x 25 litre gallon full 1 x 25 litre gallon above half

Approximate quantity of contaminated fuel drained 37litres.

10 litres of fuel was compensated for the existing diesel in the vehicle even though 37 litres less 16 litres equals 21 litres.

After the contaminated fuel was removed by myself at the fuel station due to the fact that the garage staff had minimal knowledge on fuel removal and tried to connect a fuel pump to the fuel rail pipe to drain the tank (this would not work as the vehicle has a lift pump in the tank), a new fuel filter was supp**** to me by the garage and i installed that afterwards.

The vehicle was then primed and started. The result was a huge cloud of white and black smoke, the engine developed a heavy knock Immediately and had a bad missfire. I was told by the manager 'Basil' to drive the car and it will come right. The engine siezed and the car cut off before i got home. I then got the vehicle towed by Lacoste Towlines to my home.

A vehicle diagnostics report was carried out and the results where as follows,

1. Fuel temp sensor 2. Miss fire cylinder 1 3. Miss fire cylinder 4 4. Cylinder 1 Injector 5. Cylinder 4 Injector 6. Low rail pressure

Upon stripping the vehicles engine the damaged components were as follows,

1. Detonation on pistons 1 and 4 2. Bore damage on cylinders 1 and 4 due to detonated pistons. 3. Injectors 1 and 4 seized due to petrol running through them.

To get the vehicle up and running again the following was done,

1. 20 thou rebore due to scratched bore. 2. 4 x new 20 thou pistons 3. 2 x second hand injectors 4. 1 x set rings 5. 1 x set big end bearings only 6. 1 x victor reinz headset 7. 1 x set victor reinz head bolts 8. 1 x second hand mechanical pump 9. 1 x new fuel temp sensor

The above items came to R16300 Engineers costs, Head overhaul R1950 Rebore 950 Fit new pistons on old rods 250

After assembling the engine and trying to start the car no fuel was coming to the head. Upon removal of the in tank pump, it was stained white and siezed possibly due to petrol running through it instead of diesel. A new pump was bought from Pump rite pinetown @ R950.

After installing the new pump the vehicle started immediately and is now in perfect running condition.

The Labour and service kit that was supp**** by the mechanic for the work carried out was taken on account as i did not have enough funds to pay for everything.

I have all old parts on hand including every single receipt/invoice for all purchased items and work carried out by engineers, except the fuel pump from pumprite as it flew out the window while i was driving. I have submitted all the documents to 'Basil' but he has not resolved anything nor has he given me any sort of progress report.

It has been 4 months and 1 week and i have gotten zero feedback regarding compensation from the fuel station. I have contacted the manager Basil multiple times but he uses covid as an excuse for the delay. I have spent over 30k fixing up this mess, if there's anyone that can assist me with getting this issue resolved please contact me on *** or WhatsApp me on 081,,735,,7468