Misfueled - oh the shame

I misfuelled my old Passat once, I'd only owned it for 18000miles beforehand :mad:

On the positive side (while at the VW garage having it drained...) the techs said they've never had any misfuelled PD engines have lasting damage and that they don't have problems like the distribution pump diesels can (one of which in a Passat my friend drove to a standstill, drained/refilled and didn't have any other probs with).

My Passat once drained, refuelled and after changing the fuel filter was fine and still is now 15k+ on in the hands of my father :)

I made sure V-Power diesel went in for a good few tanks because of the extra cleaners in it, thought it may help remove and remains of petrol.

It'll be fine :)
 
Dr Fuel have come up with the goods :)

They arrived within the hour and started work. They separated the fuel rail and simultaneously drained the fuel tank and fed in fresh diesel from a jerry can. Once the tank is drained they reconnected the fuel rail and put some diesel in the tank. Job done. It took about 1.5hrs all up as everything is frugal with the A2, even the rate diesel can be sucked out.

For £146 all inclusive I'm happy with their service and it's much cheaper than Green Flag.
 
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Pleased to hear you have got it sorted. I did that to my A2 about 45,000 miles ago.... fortunately I only put about 7 litres in before i realised. having an almost empty tank I filled up with Ultimate and a evry few miles kept filling it up to dilute the petrol and all was well. After all at one time in winter petrol would sometimes be added to deisel to stop it waxing. I think there are a lot of scaremongering stories put about by manufacturers and garages about misfuelling a diesel. .
 
Thanks Adrian. It was a huge relief to hear the car start again. It was also a lesson in humility. I never thought I was the type of person to do such a thing. Whereas with my wife going from a petrol Smart to a diesel A2 I was almost waiting for the inevitable day when she misfueled. I'm now minded to change the fuel filter asap. The poor car it didn't deserve this treatment.
 
Changing the filter might be a good idea. I had been driving diesels for over 20years when it happened to me.....:eek: and yet i worry about the idea of my partner changing to diesel from petrol for exactly this reason...;) The system that Ford now use would be useful if it could be retrofitted to all cars.....
 
Hi Will
Glad it is all sorted. I did the same once, on a Friday evening after a long hard week. I paid £172, over a year ago, so you got a good price and fast call-out.

I had travelled about 2 miles and there seems to be no lasting effects. Garage said a cold car goes less distance than a warm one. Also I added a full tank of petrol - again they said that a part dilute vehicle will travel further and do more damage.

Afterwards I bought Diesel Guard http://www.dieselguard.com/ £8.95 inc. P&P. Worth every penny, though always feel a bit self-conscious using it ;)
 
Thanks Alan. I'll look in to getting one of those. Though having now made the mistake I think I'm traumatised to not ever doing it again.
 
Having done it once I find myself double checking the sticker on the fuel flap every time I fill up and it's now part of the routine.
 
Hi mate, if your worried about mis-fuelling in the future try fuel angel i have one fitted and it stop's a petrol nozzle entering as they are slightly larger so no more worries...
 
Miss B filled our tdi up with unleaded last night! Cue very embarassed, apologetic phone call...
Swift cover breakdown said it wasn't covered and wanted £250 to do a drain, or free recovery home. We opted for the free recovery home and a call to Dr Fuel.
The price has gone up to £178 and they were 50 mins late (time slot 9-10am, arrived at 10:50), but the guy did a good job and we asked for a discount due to them being late and they gave us £10 off so it was £168 inc VAT. The price included the drain down, taking away the contaminated fuel and putting 10 litres of diesel back in. The guy said that they take it to the refinery and they get charged 5p/l for the refinery to take it off them.
The car appears to be running OK this morning, so hopefully no long term damage done. The car was driven for about 200 metres with petrol in, do you think that I should replace the fuel filter?
Cheers
Russ
 
I was rather lazy (due to cold weather) and never changed the fuel filter in the end. The car is due a service in 5k (likely spring/summer)so I will have it done then.

The car's been running fine since.

Pity about the price increase but still cheaper than major recovery services prices.
 
misfuel

I filled up the other week an noticed after i had put 6 litres of ultimate unleaded into my diesel, imediatly brimmed the tank with diesel.

The car ran ok but when stopped and the engine still warm it was harder to start for a week until i had diluted it after topping up with diesel.

I didnt change the fuel filter or do anything other than keep topping up with diesel for a week.

Simon
 
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