Put the wrong fuel in! Can anyone help?

[grober]

For the benefit of forum members it might be useful to know how much this exercise cost you?-- appart from the loss of the tank of petrol/diesel obviously.

 

[MancMike]

And I'm sure they dispose of this "hazardous waste" it in a very careful manner.

 

[BTB 500]

I always double-check and take a second or two to compare the labels on the filler neck and on the pump nozzle, even if it's my own car and I've done this millions of times before... old habit from the aircraft industry. This is why I have never ever misfuelled a car, in spite of mine being a petrol and the wife's a Diesel (wife 'does not do fuel' - I am in charge of refuelling both cars). Said that... with old age kicking in... I know it's just a question of time...

Same here - I consciously say to myself 'diesel' or 'petrol' and check the nozzle and pump before pressing the trigger. We've always had a mix of vehicles and yes it's me who has to fill them all up! Wife's car changed from diesel to petrol a few years back but we have the Vito anyway. As an additional complication the SL gets V-Power!

 

[GreetMe]

Great result.

 

[a111r]

Hi mate, so they came out in an hour as promised and the guy that arrived seemed to know exactly what he was doing. Surprisingly with in around 20 minutes as i was making the chap a cup of tea i hear my car start up! All was fixed and he stated hardly any petrol made it to the engine, so i was very lucky indeed! :bannana:

I had a quick look at his equipment and he had this huge machine that seemed to do everything automatically. He said i wasn't able to keep any of the fuel removed as they have very strict regulations about what they can and can not do. Apparently once they have removed it and it goes into their machine, it is then classed as a hazardous waste

I took the car for a quick test drive last night and all seems well.
Im just wondering if i should get the filter changed?
He did state that it shouldn't need replacing as it was mainly filled with diesel, but i think i should get it done just to be safe. What would you guys recommend?

Nice one.
I though they would say that ... as they get 30 p/L for what was your property.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

Without wanting to sound in any way condescending, how does this actually happen?

There's several people here who've done it. Are you drivers who regularly have access to a mixture (pardon the pun) of petrol and diesel vehicles and simply get mixed up on which one you're in, or do you consciously conclude the fuel type being correct for that car when reaching for the pump and later realise the blunder?

It's never happened to me so far, so I'm genuinely curious how it happens or what's going through your mind during that fill-up.

In over 50 years of motoring I've never done it either - just lucky I suppose. Even during the ten years I worked for a dealer often driving and fuelling many diesel and petrol cars a day. But I did suffer the result of a wrong fuelling about 20 years ago when I drove a diesel car that had just had a gallon of petrol put in by a colleague. I'd covered about 5 miles when the car spluttered to a halt with not a building in sight nor a mobile phone! I had to walk a long way across fields to phone from a stranger's house. My repentant colleague came out with a can of diesel that we poured in the tank then after lots of turns on the starter it fired up. He followed me to the nearest service station where we filled the car with diesel, then drove it to the auction where it was destined. It ran fine all the way. Someone either thought they had hit the jackpot with a fully fuelled car, or were lumbered with some expensive repairs.

 

[saff]

Er, done it twice! One in a 7.5 ton truck (inexplicable really) which I filled to the brim with 4-star.

Then another time a few years later when I dieselled to the brim a Nissan Maxima.

Fingers crossed for the future.

 

[bluestreak]

Call the AA. Don't mess with the car, don't start it. Sorry to say, if I put 40l of diesel in my e63 I would trust myself to go for a wee without supervision.

The AA fixed the problem for my friend, who's wife made same error. Under £300.

 

[Smart320]

Having followed this thread I will be paying more attention now when I fuel my diesel or my wife's petrol Smart

 

[MancMike]

Now I understand your username.

 

[Rory]

Same here - I consciously say to myself 'diesel' or 'petrol' and check the nozzle and pump before pressing the trigger.

That's what I do now - put the nozzle in the filler neck then let go and stand back and check before squeezing the trigger.

The only time I nearly mis-fueled was in a card only station at Asda (I think) in Bristol. Never used it before and the pump wouldn't take the first card I tried. By the time I'd got it all going there were already 3 or 4 cars behind me. As I squeezed the trigger I realised it was petrol and thank Goodness I'd only put 7p worth in.

Of course stopping the trasaction at that point totally confused the pump and I ended up just driving off to find a proper filling station!

 

[BTB 500]

Of course stopping the trasaction at that point totally confused the pump and I ended up just driving off to find a proper filling station!

As an aside ... I went to fill up the other day and two of the hoses (including the one I wanted) were wrapped round each other. I untangled them, but the pump then wouldn't "arm". The cashier explained that if you have more than one filler nozzle out of its holder at the same time the pump automatically shuts down.

 

[400ixl]

Checking where the pipe goes to is good advice as there is a scam that can happen as well.

If pumps are back to back then someone can swap them side to side. So still a diesel nossle in a diesel holder, just from the other side. The person on the other side then mimics you and gets the fuel whilst yours delivers nothing.

Very rare but worth watching out for. Actually spotted it happening once in the US where it is more common, but apparently has been reported in the UK as well now.

 

[markjay]

Help needed, my wife has filled our XC90 (D5) with petrol, anybody know how to fix this

me thinks it's going to be loads of money!.

Thanks in advance

Sorry to hear this.

If she started the engine and drove the car, then sadly it won't be cheap.

If you are lucky, then draining the fuel tank and flushing the system will be sufficient.

However, there may also be damage to the high pressure Diesel fuel pump and other components of the fuel delivery system, in which case more parts will need replacing.

My advice is not to start the engine and not to drive the car any further, but to call roadside assistance instead, who will recover the car to a garage of your choice. Just make sure that the garage is a Volvo independent specialist.

There are companies who offer mobile fuel draining services, however personally I would only call them if the car is still parked at the pumps and the engine has not been started. If the car was driven after the petrol was added to the fuel tank, then I'd take it straight to the garage to have it drained there and thoroughly checked before starting the engine again.

Hope this helps.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Help needed, my wife has filled our XC90 (D5) with petrol, anybody know how to fix this

me thinks it's going to be loads of money!.

Thanks in advance

Sorry to hear your news. Nothing to add beyond what @markjay has already said. I hope it all gets sorted quickly and easily.

 

[colinallcars]

Help needed, my wife has filled our XC90 (D5) with petrol, anybody know how to fix this

me thinks it's going to be loads of money!.

Thanks in advance

Have you read the thread? It answers your question.