Unleaded in a diesel!

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The first thing you do before picking up the pump is take off the filler cap which has DIESEL in big capital letters. It is surprising how many people still manage to pick up the unleaded pump.
 
A bloke at work did this with a C350 not so long ago. He's not in yet but I'll see if I can find him a bit later and find out what his dealer did and cost of course.

Had a word with this bloke now. His car is a lease job covered by RAC who took him to a local garage rather than MB. It cost him £280 to get the tank drained and system flushed. The garage though did **** up in replacing the seal on top of the tank resulting in diesel fumes getting into car and contaminating his rear seat. Consequently it cost RAC a fortune in car hire costs for an E Class whilst it cost the local garage a fortune to replace the seat.

His advice which is passed on from RAC is don't get taken to the MB dealer, unfortunately too late for you. So best advice as has already been posted is find out what MB's policy is not your dealer. At least you get confirmation then!

Best of luck getting it sorted out! Sorry I can't be of more help or bearer of better news.

Just as an aside if someone does this and takes the cheaper option ie tank drain only which invalidates warranty (allegedly) then part ex's the car for another MB through the dealer network is the car then sold with this information available to prospective purchasers? Is the car sold at a lower price than an equivalent warranted car?
 
Actually there is a device to prevent misfuelling a diesel with petrol (you can't put a diesel nozzle into a modern petrol car as it stands)

The Fuel Angel - The Misfuelling Prevention Device

Audis now have a built device like this in 2011 year diesel cars.

Fuel Angel Blog

Audi has developed a new fuel filler cap to stop owners accidently filling their diesel models with petrol. Audi A4, A5 and Q5 TDI models for the 2011 model year will be the first to benefit from the new system.

The fuel filler neck has been redesigned to incorporate contact points that open an internal fuel flap only when the larger diesel pump nozzle applies pressure on them.
The smaller diameter petrol nozzles do not make contact, ensuring that the filler flap remains closed to prevent access to the reservoir.

Instances of misfuelling have risen significantly in recent years creating inconvenient and potentially expensive consequences.
Audi believes this is due to the increased refinement of diesel models which has seen them run nearly as smoothly and quietly as their petrol counterparts.
 
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The first thing you do before picking up the pump is take off the filler cap which has DIESEL in big capital letters. It is surprising how many people still manage to pick up the unleaded pump.

But as the OP said, when the last thing on your mind is fuelling your car, even when you are, it's all too easy!

It's just one of those awful things that many of us suffer from - not thinking about the job in hand.

I must admit (hope I'm not tempting fate here!) but I have never mis-fuelled any of my vehicles. Maybe it's because I'm very precise (or **** lol ;)) about pulling up at exactly the correct pump and thinking about what I'm doing!!

I know it's difficult in our busy-busy world and mistakes happen. Hoping the OP (or any of us) won't make the same mistake!
 
No good for mine. They don't have one for W212's yet!:doh:

It looks to be the same device for all cars, the list just shows those cars it has been tested on. Unless the fuel filler has been re-designed on the W212 it should fit.
 
A friend of mine gets to fix these mishaps quite often and he said that in reality you can sort it yourself pretty easily whilst still in the petrol station without needing to pay for expensive recovery or anything (as long as you dont start the car).

Just purchase the appropriate number of 5L jerry cans from the petrol station, disconnect the outlet hose of the fuel pump and apply a 12v feed to the pump and pump out until you've emptied your tank into your jerry cans. (careful not to cause any sparks with the 12v feed)

Refill tank with diesel, prime the system and you're sorted - all within the hour with little tools required. 10 Jerry cans is only £50 and you can leave them for the garage to sort out and be your on your way.

The reason why it takes recovery companies 4+ hours to complete the task is that they need to justify the £300 odd charge they levy. If they turned up and did the work in 30 minutes you'd quite rightly question it as excessive.
 
Isn't the problem that the dealer has said that unless all the lines have been changed then the warranty will be invalidated.

That's the bigger issue.

There have been quite a lot of reports of insurance companies paying £5-6K to get the work done and it strikes me that they wouldn't do that unless they were convinced it was necessary.

I have to say though at work we had BMWs and Audis and misfuelling was epdiemic, some people doing it over and over again. And I know there were others that weren't reported, and the cars were often run until they broke down. We never had any problems with the cars in the 3yrs/90K we kept them.
 
A friend of mine gets to fix these mishaps quite often and he said that in reality you can sort it yourself pretty easily whilst still in the petrol station without needing to pay for expensive recovery or anything (as long as you dont start the car).

Just purchase the appropriate number of 5L jerry cans from the petrol station, disconnect the outlet hose of the fuel pump and apply a 12v feed to the pump and pump out until you've emptied your tank into your jerry cans. (careful not to cause any sparks with the 12v feed)

Refill tank with diesel, prime the system and you're sorted - all within the hour with little tools required. 10 Jerry cans is only £50 and you can leave them for the garage to sort out and be your on your way.

I know what I'm doing with cars and electrics but I wouldn't dream of doing that. I can't imagine the filling station staff allowing it anyway.

Getting the car out of park would defeat most people.
 
Getting the car out of park would defeat most people.

Why?

Ignition on(briefly), foot on the brake, then slip it into Neutral. Just don't start the car.
 
His advice which is passed on from RAC is don't get taken to the MB dealer, unfortunately too late for you.

That is not confined to MB dealers: there seems to be an industry wide opportunism at work on misfueling misery.

The key point is that the "voiding" of warranty can only reasonably relate to the fuel system, something that a workmate of mine had a very long exchange with BMW over. Why should misfueling episode mean that the warranty claim on his leaking gearbox was also void? That is precisely what they tried on, and failed.

Advice not to take to main dealers is sad but true: they have just made things worse.

If you do have a very minor misfueling episode then bunging a litre of Ash Free Two Stroke oil in and topping off with diesel will probably resolve matters. 2 Stoke Oil is designed to burn cleanly and will add greatly to the lubricity.
 
My main dealer misfuelling experience (the wife did it - true - honest!) went something along the lines of...

1 Oooh Sir, that will be expensive, injectors blah blah blah...blah...
2 I just TOLD them to drain the tank, purge the fuel lines, connect it up and add 10 litres of diesel. And they DID. So they can be told what to do. Times are hard and they have to be flexible.

And the best part is the car started first time and has been right as rain ever since.
Now this was a 1994 s124 e300d and it was driven after the misfuelling.
If it had been a newer car, it would not have survived.

There are many other little "policies" which can be overcome provided I suggest I will take my 2 mercedes elsewhere to be dealt with. Try it and see.
 
Why?

Ignition on(briefly), foot on the brake, then slip it into Neutral. Just don't start the car.

I didn't know that - I thought it had to be released by prodding the Park release with a pen.
 
MB and other car dealers must love it when they get hold of missfueled cars inside the warranty period.

£500ish pounds for a simple job and am sure they can put the removed fuel to good use, althought am sure they will say disposal of fuel is a problem and hi cost.

£5000 or just make it up price for some other fairly OK jobs to keep warranty valid, plus lots of free spare parts removed from you car.

A poster has mentioned insurance companies hav paid up in the past, I guess they have little choice, if car maker says it must do work to keep warranty valid and car could break down in the future making an unsafe condition for anyone, they will not take the risk/cost of possible unsafe condition/break down etc etc.

Shoe on the other foot, I purchased a new car a few years ago, got it serviced by main dealer, at 2 years and 11 months old, it started to stall pulling away from stand still/junctions/roundabouts etc etc.

Dealer inspected car and said he could find no fault with it, but as a good will, he would replace the EGR valve or similar ? a week to get part.

I then asked if ECU showed a fault, he then said yes, fault confirmed.

I asked him if car was safe to drive with this intermittent condition, he said yes.

I then asked him to write a note/letter confirming car was safe to drive as my wife/childrens will be using car until he gets part.

He then said he would not do a note/lettter as condition could cause an accident, looked a little shy and then gave me a nice new car to use while he was waiting for part to arrive.

New part was fitted and no more problems over the last 4 years or so.

Sorry for the drift, but poss good info for some.......
 
Thanks

Have been away and out of internet access for the weekend. Thanks very much for all the valuable feedback. `still not sure what `i'm going to do. I will speak to Mercedes and also to insurance people and get their views. I'm still sure I'm being shafted but might have to take it like a man!
 
Any update on what happened?
 
Whatever happens with the car (and best of luck getting it resolved ASAP), one thing you can be sure of is never to grace that dealer with your presence again. How can you trust them after a load of c0ck and bull like that? :mad:

People on here probably know I have a 'thing' about dealers, but is it any wonder when this sort of thing happens? B@st@rds.


All main dealers are on the make. OTT hourly rates and replace stuff that doesnt need it. Talking to a bloke who has two 350 SLK's One flashed up a warning light. Summat to do with the engine management. Merc dealer wanted £500 + Local mechanic ex merc did it and charged £100
 
But as the OP said, when the last thing on your mind is fuelling your car, even when you are, it's all too easy!

It's just one of those awful things that many of us suffer from - not thinking about the job in hand.

I must admit (hope I'm not tempting fate here!) but I have never mis-fuelled any of my vehicles. Maybe it's because I'm very precise (or **** lol ;)) about pulling up at exactly the correct pump and thinking about what I'm doing!!

I know it's difficult in our busy-busy world and mistakes happen. Hoping the OP (or any of us) won't make the same mistake!

Ever since my neighbour filled his diesel tank with petrol, I have made a conscious effort to not underestimate the possibility of doing the same thing myself! Whenever I pull up at the pumps, I have made a rule (and stick to it rigidly) about the first thing I do - I say to myself (quietly!): My car is a diesel, I am holding a diesel pump in my hand, aren't I? The hose is black isn't it? It goes into the pump marked VPOWER DIESEL, doesn't it? Go ahead...
Mad? Probably, but it's a sure fire way of making me THINK about what I am doing!:crazy:

(Another rule: never let the wife fill up - she'll love you for it and you'll never get the wrong fuel!)
 
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... I have made a rule (and stick to it rigidly) about the first thing I do - I say to myself (quietly!): My car is a diesel, I am holding a diesel pump in my hand, aren't I?

I put 7p worth of petrol in my car not long after I got it - I got somewhat flustered at a very busy pay-at-the-pump only supermarket filling station and the pump wouldn't take the first card I tried. Thank God I realised straightaway!

My rule is to put the nozzle in the filler neck, then take my hand off it, step back and recheck. I really don't care if it looks or sounds pathetic - the consequences of getting it wrong are much more embarrasing and time-consuming.
 

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