hi folks, newbie here with a very long post - sorry but if you could read to the end and offer assistance id be grateful.

back in dec last year my beloved 240gl saloon, born '91, suffered a running prob, so severe that it *died*! the long and the short of it is that its been vandalised, my OH, before he walked out, did *summat* to it - in the past he was known for putting sugar in the fuel tank of cars belonging to folk he didnt like! unfortunately the ins co isnt having it , not no way, not no how!

history-wise it went like this ........ car smeared in bumper *enhancer*, nails put under tyres etc, police called, ins co advised. police advised moving car to safe location, did that! 2 days later car refused to start, police and ins co updated. ins co were going to collect car but didnt - turned out OH phoned them and told them i was making a fraudulent claim! OH got car towed away and *repaired* - leads changed, car running again but guzzling fuel like its going out of fashion (was getting around 30mpg, now getting about 15!), my mechanic (good volvo trained chap) found that a lead to i think summat to do with the air intake? (sorry, not tech person!) had been tampered with! car being right PITA, loads coughing, spluttering and still drinking fuel like crazy, mechanic runs diags which are inconclusive, replaces plugs and flushes fuel system. car eventually dies after expelling huge clouds black stinking fumes from exhaust.

ins co still not having anything to do with it saying its maintenance prob - yeah right - it dies AFTER the leads, plugs etc been changed! car then sits on my driveway for ten months whilst i argue with ins co!

inc so at long last (after being kicked sharply by the financial ombudsman service) decide to investigate fuel filter. car removed, fuel filter removed and taken away for testing, car returned with new fuel filter on (car towed not driven).

test results ........... bloke took fresh fuel added sugar and left it for a week, then ran it through a filter and sugar residue seen on filter. looked at my fuel filter, no sugar residue therefore no contaminant in my fuel tank. bear in mind that timewise here they looked at fuel filter 10 months after the original incident! .... so ins co still not having it no way no how!

what im looking for is a way of conclusively proving to the ins co that my poor volvo WAS vandalised, trouble is i have no tech knowledge and absolutely NO £££££££! (OH did loads other things that have left me penniless - but thats another very long story i wont bore you to death with!)

so if there is anyone on here who can lend a lady a helping hand id be extremely grateful

and if youve got this far, you deserve a medal for keeping on reading! lol

thanks folks!

 

Do you know if they also took a sample from the tank?

Alot of times from what I hear you will find cloggs in the fuel system/engine from sugar in the tank.
The injectors would clog up.

From what I hear when sugar mixes with gas it turns into crystals.

 

If your ex was known for putting sugar in people's car petrol tanks, maybe he decided to change his M.O. slightly to avoid being detected too easily? Could he have added anything else, such as diesel?

If your post is in correct chronological order, then the fuel system was flushed before your insurers had the fuel filter tested. Flushing the fuel system should have removed sugar or diesel anyway. I'm not an expert on this, but I think that refineries put unique chemical "markers" in their different fuels. If these aren't removed by flushing then maybe there is some residue in the fuel tank?

Did the chemist acting for your insurer run the same flushing agent through the deliberately sugared "test" fuel filter, to see whether your mechanic's previous flushing exercise could have removed sugar residue from the original fuel filter? If not then he is not comparing like-for-like, is he? Did he also check for diesel residue?

Might be worth changing the oil & oil filter as well - sand, sawdust etc. could have been added to that too.

Hope you reach a satisfactory conclusion.

BB

 

Check your fuel pressure it sounds to me like your pressure regulator is clogged and is at too high a pressure.

 

I think and I dont know crap about it, but if the sugar you are speaking of was in the tank you might what to take the engine apart and check the cylinder heads to see if there is a build up of a carmel like substance on them of the injectors, valves. Deisel in you gas tank wont cause your car to die. Will run like crap and you would have to get system flushed but will work again. I had this happen to a work truck once.