A Mis-Fueling Saga that may help all !

[travelininstyle]

Do not be quick to pass judgement here,because I can tell you,it takes about 3 seconds to mis-fuel a car - and there by the grace of God go all.I think this is the worst of experiences,so if I share it on the forum,hopefully,it will spare others the angst ridden weekend I had - so setting of to have my winter tyres put on around 8.00am - went to fuel up on route,half asleep after a stressful week at work - picked up the petrol pump,intead of the diesel,I put in about 8 litres in a 1/4 of a tank - oh ****.Goes to the forecourt shop,they were really helpful - so first call to MB Assistance - they took all my details and arranged a local recovery,that seemed to take an age,but in reality was about 1 1/2 hours.Then,MB Assistance organized a replacement vehicle - a very nice E- Class that turned up about 3 hours later at my home address.The car had to be recovered to the nearest MB Dealership at Blackburn,10 miles away. As it was the weekend and a Saturday lunch,by the time it got there,they could not look at it until Monday morning - this meant I had an agonising weekend of waiting.I had read all sorts of horror stories on the internet about possible repercussions - Possible Engine replacement - as although I had not turned the key to a point of ignition,I was concerned that even turning the key to check the fuel guage,could prime the fuel pump - it was truely a horrifying and angst ridden experience.Anyway,Monday was the day of reakoning and I was almost relieved to have to pay MB dealership £340 for the work to remove fuel from the tank and replace the fuel filter - yes,I know this was robbery at gun point and yes,I have learned that it not as bad as you think it is when you are in the eye of a storm - and yes,I thought the £150 - that a company called fuel doctor was steep,who had left a card at the petrol station - but its all a steep learning curve - I hope you never have my experience,it was horrible and an unwelcome bill at Christmas,but 400 poeple a day in the UK do it ! - but I was lucky,it could have been far worse,especially as mine is a two year old modern diesel - hope my experience helps.

 

[renault12ts]

Oh dear when this happened last year to a friend with an A5, we filled with diesel and no more consequences came of it.

 

[stwat]

I'm happy you managed to get it sorted. I just hope it doesn't come back to bite you should you find need to claim for warranty work on the fuel and engine side further down the line !!

They now know you have miss-fueled and can use that against any claims you may put in

 

[trapperjohn]

I'm happy you managed to get it sorted. I just hope it doesn't come back to bite you should you find need to claim for warranty work on the fuel and engine side further down the line !!

They now know you have miss-fueled and can use that against any claims you may put in

Always looks on the bright side eh stwat

Lets just hope I remain focused when I'm fueling up. Well 10 squids worth anyway.

 

[wemorgan]

Been there, done that, paid the price.

Glad you got yours sorted.

 

[blue gnome123]

Owning a petrol and a diesel, I put a fuel saver device on the merc (cdi) to try and stop putting the wrong fuel in. It's a very small pain to use and you have to wear the plastic gloves to stop getting diesel on yourself, but it really seems worthwhile.

 

[MicB]

Good result.....have a good Christmas.

Mic

 

[Beno]

I've been in the motor industry for 30 years spending the last 10 as a Diesel test engineer, and I still put petrol in a diesel don't feel too bad it can happen to anyone

At least you got it sorted.

 

[Stratman]

After filling up an empty tank with petrol, I bought one of these. It hasn't been tested in anger yet, so to speak, but it is simplicity itself to use. You don't even need to remove the cap, just put in the nozzle and squeeze. There is a tube which holds open the car's sprung flap on the filler tube and the new cap has a sprung flap which is opened by the nozzle. It works by having sprung fingers which are shaped so a diesel nozzle will open them and allow passage, but a narrower petrol nozzle will not open them and will be caught by the hooks on the ends of the fingers.

Recommended.

 

[oldcro]

My RRS diesel has a mis-fueling device buit into the filler, haven't tested it yet though due to an unexpected amount of diligence on my part. Not sure how it works but there is a plastic tool in the toolbox for resetting it after a mishap.

Not much use to you I know but nice to see some makers cater for such situations.:bannana:

 

[BTB 500]

After filling up an empty tank with petrol, I bought one of these.

Interestingly not available for ther 639 Vito or Viano before 2008 models

 

[Stratman]

^^^ Interesting. When I bought mine, my car wasn't listed on the UK website but it was on the Euro one. I emailed them and received a prompt reply which sorted things out.

If you want to buy one, send them an email.

 

[travelininstyle]

Been there, done that, paid the price.

Glad you got yours sorted.

Thanks,solidarity is always appreciated - but as the work was organized and carried out by MB and car remained stationary at the pumps - I think my warranty will remain intact,as per previous comments.

 

[travelininstyle]

After filling up an empty tank with petrol, I bought one of these. It hasn't been tested in anger yet, so to speak, but it is simplicity itself to use. You don't even need to remove the cap, just put in the nozzle and squeeze. There is a tube which holds open the car's sprung flap on the filler tube and the new cap has a sprung flap which is opened by the nozzle. It works by having sprung fingers which are shaped so a diesel nozzle will open them and allow passage, but a narrower petrol nozzle will not open them and will be caught by the hooks on the ends of the fingers.

Recommended.

I like the look of this and will find out more and try - not saying it runs in the family,but my brother mis-fuelled his merc twice.

 

[300E]

If an MB dealer has 'repaired' the car then surely any warranty will be valid?

I know someone who put 60 litres of petrol in his 2 year old BMW 530d. Pulling off the motorway 100 miles later he noticed it wanted to idle at 2000rpm, firm foot required on the brake to get it to stop at the bottom of the slip road!

It was still running smoothly so he continued the remaining 2 miles home and called the breakdown people.

After being stopped it wouldn't re-start but the recovery driver said if it were an older car he'd just have drained the petrol out and filled it with diesel and taken it from there.

As it was, the car was dispatched to a BMW dealer for the official warranty preserving 'cure' for mis-fuelling - drain and flush tank and fuel lines, new injectors, new diesel pump, remove head to check for valve and piston damage and check the turbo too. Total cost in excess of £5000..............

I think in many cases simply draining and refilling with the correct fuel would be enough even if the car has been driven some distance. Friends put petrol in their diesel Vectra and drove 50 miles before realising the error. Drained, refilled with diesel some 50,000 miles later it's still going strong.

I have a little BMW 1 series diesel which has an anti mis-fuelling filler neck. Even so, when I collected the car the dealer said not to rely on the filler neck.

Concentration needed as I had to fill both the BMW and Merc today. Both seem to be running well so I must have got it right!

 

[Mercy1]

How anyone can make this mistake is beyond comprehension...!

After all, you are fully aware that you drive a diesel car. The correct pump is clearly marked black instead of green. Why is it that the wrong one is picked so often. Do the same people pick up jam instead of marmalade at the weekly shop??

Is it like the trick question, which jungle animal can collect bananas quickest from a coconut tree?? Nine out of ten people fall for it...

Believe me, I am not belittling anyone who has made this mistake. Indeed, I am terrified of doing it myself, and always do a double check on the pump when I fill up.

Doesn't alter the fact I can't understand how perfectly sensible and intelligent people are capable of making such a dozy mistake.... Any theories?

 

[wemorgan]

Have you made someone a coffee and added milk when they asked for none? It's a simple mistake, like so many others people make everyday. The only difference with misfueling is that costs serious money to rectify.

So is it really beyond comprehension? Come on! It's just a mistake, nothing more, nothing less.

 

[trapperjohn]

Sometimes you look but you do not see.

 

[renault12ts]

Sometimes you look but you do not see.

So true Steve.

 

[jay1983]

It can be done as most people fuel on "auto pilot" so just follow their routine.
I have both petrol and diesel cars and if it wasn't for the fact of the diesel car bein black, and the fuel caps bein on different sides I could have easily done the same on my way in2 work at 6am.

Just glad it was a cheapish repair compared to the BMW story above.
I personally would have had MB do the repair work, may cost a bit more but it's done properly and shouldn't invalidate your warranty.