Chinese gasoline - impurities likely.........

I talked to a guy a while ago who is a part-owner in a fuel filter factory here in Binzhou, Shandong province and originally from the US. According to him nearly all Chinese fuel is not/not properly filtered by the Chinese fuel companies. He recommends that all car or motorcycle owners should use imported Bosch, K&N etc fuel filters to ensure smooth running of their machines, whether fuel injected or running a carburetor, also that any gasoline based machine in China absolutely needs to be using an imported fuel filter. This idea is backed up, I believe, by Chinarider who with BMW Motorrad Germany have already found impurities in Chinese gasoline.

He also suggests that using most Chinese fuel filters would currently be useless as most Chinese manufacturers are unaware about the micron-sized gaps required that should be used in fuel filters to filter particles effectively. This situation will most likely change in a few years as his and other companies' filters develop and improve in effectiveness.

My V-Strom fuel pump was destroyed quite quickly (25,000 kms) by Chinese gas. Since most EFI systems are under very high pressure, it's not so easy to slap in any old fuel filter. I think most EFI motorcycles have the fuel pumps inside the gas tank, so adding a filter is nearly impossible.

Cheers!
ChinaV

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Originally Posted by ChinaV

My V-Strom fuel pump was destroyed quite quickly (25,000 kms) by Chinese gas. Since most EFI systems are under very high pressure, it's not so easy to slap in any old fuel filter. I think most EFI motorcycles have the fuel pumps inside the gas tank, so adding a filter is nearly impossible.

Cheers!
ChinaV

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That could get expensive.

impurities gasoline is a definate issue that widely discuess in chinese community. Car maker has to adapt the inferior fuel quality by reduce compression ratio and modify fuel system for same reason. Direct injection was exposed even greater stress. Luxury car like BMW Mercedes ruined their prestige in their early imported FDI ones (anyone recalls Ox-drawn wreck Mercedes?). Impurities has strangled more advance fuel system, unlucky to all people have to live with another crap.

Am i to understand that it's pointless having a high-tec bike here because the fuel will destroy it, or is it just a minor hassle?

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Originally Posted by China V

My V-Strom fuel pump was destroyed quite quickly (25,000 kms) by Chinese gas. Since most EFI systems are under very high pressure, it's not so easy to slap in any old fuel filter.

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I wasn't aware of that, as I've never owned a fuel injected vehicle anywhere where the fuel was suspicious quality!

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Originally Posted by ChinaV

My V-Strom fuel pump was destroyed quite quickly (25,000 kms) by Chinese gas. Since most EFI systems are under very high pressure, it's not so easy to slap in any old fuel filter. I think most EFI motorcycles have the fuel pumps inside the gas tank, so adding a filter is nearly impossible.

Cheers!
ChinaV

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My R1150GSA has the gasoline filter integrated in the fuel system and I replace it every 2-3 months or 5000km. Every 1000km, she gets a shot (100ml bottle) of BMW labeled additive which helps to maintain the nozzles.

I met a guy from BMW engine development (cars) who gave me a dozen filters once he knew I was riding a lot in Hebei and Inner Mongoila. I changed them quite often and returned him the used ones for analysis. The results were sobering, and among other things, reason to down-tune their high performance car engines.

A guy from VW told me that they have backwash gasoline filters in development - kind of self cleaning.

A technician from Audi said that they are regularly collecting fuel samples from all over China.

Man and Mercedes truck guys say they have massive problems with the quality of Diesel.

Are they detuning the Porsches and Mercs AMG.

What a laugh.

Someone I know bought a new Ferrari.

I said you gotta be kidding if the petrol doesn't stuff it the dust in the air around Xinjiang will.

Not to mention the dust storms that come through in Spring.

I was told to clean/replace my airfilter every two weeks and after every dust storm.

Most new Chinese car owners wouldn't know what a airfilter was.

Seems maybe a carb has more advantages in China than other places in the world. It's pretty easy to strip a carb and clean it with carb cleaner, especially if the bike is a single, but a dirty EFI system could be a major headache, especially when the bike has multiple cylinders.

The JH600 has a very nice fuel system based around a Bosch ECU. I don't know who makes the actual injectors. But this I do know: Bad petrol can really spoil your day with such a fuel-injected bike.

I was riding through Shandong on a nice expressway recently and suddenly started having terrible ignition problems. Sputtering. Wheezing. Coughing. Ignition nearly cutting out. I thought surely this was either a loose spark cable, or a failing bad fuel pump. In my mind, the severity of the problem left only those two possibilities: very bad spark or cessation of fuel supply. I stopped at a service center, and we basically eliminated the spark problem. Then we set to thinking how to test the fuel supply.

Meanwhile I called Jialing for help, and got a return call from a service tech in Hefei, Anhui. His instant analysis: Bad petrol, possibly watered down with ethanol but perhaps just poor quality. He said I should avoid anything but Sinopec (中国石化), and that even Sinopec was bad in some regions. I was skeptical, and had no choice but to soldier on. I was running 93 octane, but couldn't remember which brand. Hebei and Shandong have confusing subbrands under both Petrochina and Sinopec. I should have just dumped that tank of gas, but I was down to just above reserve so I figured I'd just burn through it. For another hour or so my engine wheezed and sputtered and gasped, which is no fun when you are trying to keep pace on an expressway averaging 110kph. Next tank I used was Sinopec 97, and within minutes my bike was running as well as she'd ever run. Smooth, strong, great torque and acceleration, even at 120kph, no coughing or wheezing. Wow.

So I'm a believer. Be really careful what you put in your tank. Sinopec 97 is no guarantee, as some provinces still mix in ethanol and lord knows what else. But damn it's nice when your engine is pulling strong and not acting up!

Lesson learned.

cheers!

I think Sinopec is the lesser of all evils, but the 97 tends to get stale, as most of the locals won't pay the extra bucks for the higher octane and it ends up sitting much longer than the 93 which seems to be a top seller. I would like to replace my fuel filters more often, but the Suzuki ones cost almost $200 USD and there is no aftermarket alternative. I usually pic up some FI cleaner in Hong Kong and soak them every couple months now, seems to make things run a lot better and the fuel pump is much quieter after a good cleaning.

Some pics of a V-Strom pump assembly.

http://www.contactdi.com/2009/strom/CX1_1470.jpg

See how brown and yucky the pre-filter is. That was after soaking and cleaning :eek2:

http://www.contactdi.com/2009/strom/CX1_1534.jpg

All of this sits inside the gas tank, the fuel acts as a coolant for the pump, so it's a good idea to avoid running the bike with a low fuel level when possible.

Cheers!
ChinaV

You could also approach a local station that sells fuel and sell them better filters for their pumps, they could advertise the superior filtering and people would flock to them? The filter are on the pumps aren’t they?
http://www.benfordfueling.com/shop/filters.html
You could also test fuel stations at the pumps and then show them the results of the bad fuel and impurities.
Sounds like there is a huge opportunity for a business….you could also lobby governments for fuel quality standards and testing at the pumps.
I think it’s funny the comment that the Chinese do not understand microns….LOL that’s silly.
If the cost of the filters are too high, then approach the manufactures of the high quality filters and to get them to manufacture those in china, if they do not already.

These people do not know what a micron is….LOL
http://english.sinopec.com/

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Originally Posted by MJH

You could also approach a local station that sells fuel and sell them better filters for their pumps, they could advertise the superior filtering and people would flock to them? The filter are on the pumps aren’t they?
You could also test fuel stations at the pumps and then show them the results of the bad fuel and impurities.
….you could also lobby governments for fuel quality standards and testing at the pumps.
If the cost of the filters are too high, then approach the manufactures of the high quality filters and to get them to manufacture those in china, if they do not already.

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You could do all this, but: They don't care - Why: because TIC. :eekers:

Just had the same problem than euphonius on my little ride around Fujian on my JH600 last weekend. :riding: The last tank fill must have been not clean. When accelerating strong, the engine ran very rough, it felt like the ignition went off/on on higher rpm. Replaced the fuel back at the garage and all was fine.

It seems there are 2 kinds of "contaminations" like impurities like water and also particles.

ChinaV: I got a question. I read somewhere that a kind of "quick-fix", when encountering a clogged fuel pump on the road (on a FI bike) and there is no place to work on the pump - a short change of polarity to make the pump run backwards and blow out the filter - can solve the problem temporarily to get to the next workshop. What do you think?

I have to take a closer look at the fuel pump system of my bike to be prepared for worst case scenario...

Interesting topic - thanks for bringing it up ZMC888.

Cheers, AW.

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Originally Posted by Pfaelzer

ChinaV: I got a question. I read somewhere that a kind of "quick-fix", when encountering a clogged fuel pump on the road (on a FI bike) and there is no place to work on the pump - a short change of polarity to make the pump run backwards and blow out the filter - can solve the problem temporarily to get to the next workshop. What do you think?
Cheers, AW.

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I did reverse polarity while testing my fuel pump flow during its last cleaning and the pump ran in reverse. I guess that could be handy for dislodging spooge out in the wild. Can't wait to see how you fabricate some kind of fancy toggle for running the pump backwards :naughty:

One other thing I do now is run FI cleaner/additive to every third tank of gas. I'm probably being picky, as usual, but I only use the PJ1 motorcycle brand purchased from Hong Kong.

Cheers!
ChinaV

That's what my guys found in the tank:

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Motorcyc...08_DwW6R-M.jpg

Looks like rust, but they also found some metal chips (they say finger nail size).... Too bad I didn't have the chance to see it - always on the run.
AW.