Fuel Stabilizer

I use fuel stabilizer in fuel containers for garden equipment, portable generator etc and fuel always looks good and works fine even after a year or more.

80% of my PHEV usage is within 20km from home so I WILL get into the following predicament.

PHEV has to use 20L every 6 months otherwise ICE will run until you add another 20L. Is there any way around this? Does it come up as a DTC using a OBD2 tool? Can it be cleared? If not is there any way to siphon off 20L from the tank? Is there a siphon break in the line to prevent this? This way I can use the old PHEV fuel for my other equipment.

I'm in the same situation as you, but it really is a good idea to run the engine from time to time...

So in my case, I make a point of doing a country drive once per month, to keep the fuel cycling.

AndyInOz said:

I'm in the same situation as you, but it really is a good idea to run the engine from time to time...

So in my case, I make a point of doing a country drive once per month, to keep the fuel cycling.

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I know, but it seems like a waste of petrol. I don't see the need to use 20L because Mitsi says so. I will always run the engine for 10-15 mins once a month and it will also get a good run on trips away. I would rather put the 'stale' petrol in my mower and top of the PHEV with 20L fresh stuff so I don't get the warnings.

After some googling (gastapper.com) I tried doing what gastapper says but I could not get into the petrol. Maybe there is some special valve in there for safety, with the battery and tank been in such close proximity?

They probably have an anti-syphon gizmo in the filler neck, to stop fuel theft; not so common now but in the bad old days of petrol shortages (and when it cost £5 to completely fill your tank) ...... :lol:

Unless the latest model is different, my 2014 car has had the message twice so far this year - i.e. every 3 months not 6 :?

I've had mine for a year and I've seen the message twice so far.

I assume it's based on a time period and the amount of petrol used during the time period. So results will probably vary a bit between Use Cases.

(Just noticed that it's a cheerful 12 degrees C out there, and raining, at the moment, and I'm about to go out, so engine + heater + air-con aka demister for me today)

:shock:

greendwarf said:

Unless the latest model is different, my 2014 car has had the message twice so far this year - i.e. every 3 months not 6 :?

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In the manual our 2016 model (Aus/NZ) is 20L every 6 months.

I read somewhere if you disconnect the aux battery for approx. 5 minutes it will reset the timer/gauge/calibration back to 6 months or 20l (2016 model)
Anyone know if this works?

Be aware that many parameters in the car are logged and read out at each service. Fiddling around with the engine/petrol maintenance will certainly invalidate the guaranty on the engine.

vs2 said:

I read somewhere if you disconnect the aux battery for approx. 5 minutes it will reset the timer/gauge/calibration back to 6 months or 20l (2016 model)
Anyone know if this works?

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I rather doubt this. Such data are usually stored in Flash memory, which does not need to be kept powered up.

jaapv said:

vs2 said:

I read somewhere if you disconnect the aux battery for approx. 5 minutes it will reset the timer/gauge/calibration back to 6 months or 20l (2016 model)
Anyone know if this works?

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I rather doubt this. Such data are usually stored in Flash memory, which does not need to be kept powered up.

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Well it does say 'may be' reset.

Whilst disconnecting the aux battery may do all sorts of things to the car "invalidating the guarantee" is not one of them

Ha Ha, we needed a spammer to get some proper info to this question.
I agree about the battery removal, which would be similar to leaving the lights on over night or something, that it can never invalidate warranty.

I know it took 6 months after I tried the Lynquist method (leaving AUX battery disconnected for 6 hours) before I got the forced petrol routine and like a good boy I used up as much as I could to empty the tank and fill in fresh 20l.
So it seems this actually does reset the fuel counter. 5 minutes may be too short though.

The OP asked if any fuel conditioner can be used to extend that period, but nobody responded.

MadTechNutter said:

The OP asked if any fuel conditioner can be used to extend that period, but nobody responded.

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The period is the period, counted by an electronic clock. It knows nothing about the fuel quality so fuel stabilisers will do nothing to extend the warning period, but may give you peace of mind to use one of the methods already mentioned to circumvent it (at your own risk).

On my UK 2016 PHEV 5H - after 3 months I get the "Consuming Old Fuel" message. I need to add 15 litres (NOT 20l every 6 months as detailed by others) to cause a reset, you could disconnect the Aux battery, BUT there is an easier way which was detailed somewhere else on this forum and which i have used.

Open the bonnet. Remove the cover from the main fuse block. There is a green 30 amp fuse with a yellow remover on it. This fuse is identified as IOD. This stands for Igniton Off Draw, it supplies those things that remain live when the car is...Off. Pull it out. Wait several seconds, put it back. The counter is then reset.