AAARRHHH! I put unleaded in my diesel - please help an idiot out

[teky]

hope you got it sorted, i have done it so i know what its like

 

[adam1]

Nearly did the same thing on the E Class the other day, wasn't that bothered but know HOW IMPORTANT it is now .... Phew...

Was just thinking of buying a second petrol, manual runabout......I mean PETROL AND MANUAL so i'll be having learning manual and auto every day and messing both cars with wrong fuel.....Ouch....AUTO and Diesel both or none at all.

 

[Tom Greer]

Done the same last night, again at BP, confusion over the ultimate pump, I only put in 2 litres and then filled up with deisel to the top, car taken to MB dealer in Aberdeen, they said this morning as it was so little that I would probably be ok, have since topped up tank twice on way back to Newcastle, but reading these strings now worried I've been given wrong advice.

Car only 2 years old, only bought it in September, no problems with car, except above, but not in the least immpressed with any MB dealers I have had anything to do with so far

 

[Dieselman]

At the very least add some oil to add extra lubrication.

 

[splang]

I heard somewhere that a petrol company was replacing the colour of their pumps and would compensate motorists who filled with diesal instead of petrol or something??

Anyone else hear of this
?

 

[Dieselman]

Yes.

It's for exactly the reason in this story.

Pretty dumb thing to do, colour both the petrol and diesel pumps blue.

 

[JohnC]

I know I'm a tad late - but the same happened to me (about £10pounds-worth went in) I topped the tank with diesel - and for the next couple of fills I kept the revs down and drove like it was icy and this was in a 1999 250TD with 70,000 on the clock - the engine is fine!

 

[Dieselman]

I know I'm a tad late - but the same happened to me (about £10pounds-worth went in) I topped the tank with diesel - and for the next couple of fills I kept the revs down and drove like it was icy and this was in a 1999 250TD with 70,000 on the clock - the engine is fine!

The old Bosch PE pumps as fitted to your car are the strongest pumps fitted to passenger cars and are a LOT more tollerant to abuse than the new range of pumps.
Two reasons for this.
They run at lower pressure so the stresses aren't as high, and they are lubricated by engine oil, not just the diesel in the pump.

 

[Apial]

Now if you had bought yourself a good old reliable G300D type 463 6 cylinder diesel, you could have mixed upto 50% petrol with your diesel, it says so in the handbook, as a measure against waxing.

I know the info is of no use to you and your ML, but it might help owners of older diesels to check their handbooks for guidance before draining their tanks in costly panic.

 

[DC1]

I put 5 litres of unleaded in my 80 litre e320 cdi. Filled up with diesel and kept diluting it every 100 miles or so, with no effect at all.

 

[V12]

I've put £20 of petrol in an old 190D 2.0 only realised, when it started missing at 90 down the motorway, pulled over at the next services, put £25 of diesel in and never missed a beat since...ca't beat that kind of engineering! even stands up to my stupidity!

As dieselman says though, the CDI's especially have very high pressure and high tolerance fuel systems...

Ricky

 

[Pietre]

My mate did this with his Yamaha R1 over the weekend at the BP station. He was in a rush and didnt notice the variation in colouring on the pumps. Is this done with a view to confusing drivers? every other station has a clear demarcation for all of its pumps, with the exception of BP. After quite a few wasted hours we got the bike running properly, but when he remeonstrated with the garage they had a didnt care less attitude and said he should have read the pump correctly. You know which station we wont be using.

 

[glojo]

WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The new high pressure pumps fitted to MB CDi engines are not tollerant to petrol.
There have been many cases of knackered pumps even when the petrol has been diluted. This knackers the whole fuel system due to steel filings.

DRAIN THE TANK!!!!!!

The old adage of diluting the petrol and adding lubricating oil is not sufficient for the close tollerance, high pressure pumps now.

Also add some engine oil or two stroke to your first full tank of diesel as extra lubrication.


I've seen a new Ford Mondeo TDCi knackered on it's first day on the road. Only did something like 10 miles.

I would endorse every word of Dieselman's post. I have also read a member state that his handbook states it is okay to mix a certain amount of petrol with his diesel fuel????

A diesel engine does not have a spark plug. The fuel ignites at the correct moment by the heat from it being compressed.

Petrol is an extremely volitile (I do hope that is spelt right!) liquid and will cause the 'mixture' to ignite whilst the piston is still moving upwards??? Yes the engine will still operate, but just think of the extra stress that you are putting onto it??? (read Dieselman's remarks)

I totally agree with all of Dieselman's observations about other problems but this one has not been mentioned.

Shude !!! Over to you mate to do your usual

To highlight the difference in fuel, you can drop a lighted match into a bowl of diesel and the match will go out. Hold a lighted match 'near' a bowl of petrol and you risk serious injury. (Do not do it)

Sorry to be a pessimist,
John

Just thought I would say that doing the opposite of diesel into a petrol tank is not such a serious problem. Annoying yes, inconvienant yes, but the engine will smoke heavier than 'Puffing Billy' or it will not work, but once the diesel is removed it 'should' be okay'

I have always wondered whether contaminated diesel\petrol could be used on old two stroke petrol engine if the correct mixture can be calculated???

When you have removed this 'additive' nip across to Dieselman's thread on Additives and tick the relevant box. Sorry Dieselman, my silly sense of poor taste.

 

[rsduncan]

petrol mix

Take it out best case.Next best case dilute with max diesel mix.Old 220d used to reccomend a little petrol for cold start.Look for drain plug under diesel tank.Can siphon but its mucky ,you need a pump.Disclaimer engine damage but dont boot at high revs if you are running on pet/diesl mix.If you run all diesel out need to prime to start.Good luck its easily done better not be a near new one.

 

[grasmere]

Guess what

What a total prat I am - 40litres of BP Ultimate unleaded in my C220 diesel today. I cannot type how stupid I feel and how damned annoyed at BP for not making it more obvious. I totally accept it was my own stupid fault but . . . .

Only good point? I knew as soon as the assistant said " 40 litres of unleaded Sir, thats £** ( I forget) thank you" Oh I said and walked to the pump to see what I'd done!!! So I have not started the engine at all. It had slightly less than a quarter tank of diesel in it..

Anyway after I paid for it , I called a mate who came and we siphoned out into old cans - so far so good. Then it stopped. I looked underneath and the C220 D (1996) has two tanks either side of the transmission tunnel I assume they should be linked . . .

Oh there was a couple of other good points. It was midday (ie daylight, it was not raining and my mate was not on holiday :bannana:

At that point he towed me home and its now on the drive. I want to get the other 20 + litres out but anyone know ref drain plugs or access to the left hand tank at all (eg guydewdney

 

[grasmere]

further to my previous post and in response to someone earlier who mention a BP refund is this link to BBC Watchdog in Nov 2003

BBC watchdog


BP Ultimate Petrol

25th November 2003

BP's new Ultimate petrol is colour coded blue, the colour that is normally associated with diesel. Daniel Granger wrote in to say he accidentally filled his diesel car with Ultimate unleaded, costing £160 to drain the tank. BP have refunded Daniel's money and are improving pump signs and information. Customers who have experienced problems with BP Ultimate petrol should contact the number below.

BP Ultimate petrol customer care line: 0800402402

I will be calling them

 

[grasmere]

Called BP Customer services this morning on 0800 402402

Took my details and advised that a rep will be calling me and I will get letter confirming my complaint asap. Once they had confirmed that it was BP Ultimate unleaded in my diesel they would likely pay for 'hardware costs' ie cost of draining and new filter.

Interestingly enough the lady never flinched. All I did was state that after reading about their new fuel I decided to try it but put unleaded in my diesel.

A very common situation methinks . . .

It seems that a different nozzle end for each fuel type would be easy enough, square, triangle, round or big buttons at the pump that you have to press first DIESEL / PETROL

I know - I'm trying to cover up my own stupidity for not checking closer . . .

 

[DITTRICH]

It seems that a different nozzle end for each fuel type would be easy enough, square, triangle, round or big buttons at the pump that you have to press first DIESEL / PETROL

..."will it be the square nozzle, the round nozzle or the arched nozzle today then " - culdn't resist - hope it all works out - Les

 

[grasmere]

..."will it be the square nozzle, the round nozzle or the arched nozzle today then "

exactly dittrich, thats how basic it really is isn't it

Playschool have been doing it for years, you'de think multi billion £ oil companies would learn something . . .

 

[glojo]

exactly dittrich, thats how basic it really is isn't it

Playschool have been doing it for years, you'de think multi billion £ oil companies would learn something . . .

Can you imagine the whole World agreeing on what shape nozzle for what type fuel? Southern Ireland drives on the correct side of the road but now has metric distance measurements. Northern Ireland is still British and measures in miles. If we cannot decide on something as simple as this then what chance have we on getting agreement on nozzle shapes.

There are numerous types of diesel, some of which are not compatible with certain types of diesel engine. Should these be another shape?

I would like to see the diesel pumps completely seperate from the petrol ones. Perhaps now that diesel is getting more popular we could have a complete and utterly seperate row of just diesel pumps? (with readily available disposable gloves)

John