HELP

[janeygpink]

:(I have just hurt my most favourite car ever. Diesel light on, put half tank of unleaded in (I know, I know), didn't drive it just reversed back into space of garage until Monday to see whats best (and confess to husband). I'm mortified. Advice please

[Geobloke]

:(I have just hurt my most favourite car ever. Diesel light on, put half tank of unleaded in (I know, I know), didn't drive it just reversed back into space of garage until Monday to see whats best (and confess to husband). I'm mortified. Advice please

Drain tank, re-fill with diesel, change fuel filter, prime, done.

You may not have to do the fuel filter change at all if you didn't drive it very far, but I would just in case.

[janeygpink]

Thank you for quick response, the way you put it doesnt sound too bad but still expensive mistake

[disco-duck]

thats a girl thing!! waiting for mine to *** bak one day and say ooops i,ve put petrol in,

[grantc]

Is it a Disco Td5? If so you have to be more careful with them as the Injectors and seals are much more susceptible (sp?) to damage from petrol due to the much higher pressure that they run at. I've done it!:eek: ONCE! Realised my mistake immediately and pushed it off the forecourt and called Landrover Recovery. Apparently if you even just turn on the ignition, the pump runs and you have to get the whole system drained and purged. Unfortunately, the Tank does not have a drain so it requires removal of tank. Along with new filters etc. The recovery people took me to a Main Agent and the bill was nearly £500:( I WON'T DO IT AGAIN;)
I hope it is a tdi as they are a bit more forgiving and (I think!) the tanks have a drain!! If it is, you would probably get away with draining the tank and refilling with Diesel. It wasn't in ASDA by any chance? The design of the pumps is very bad. We spoke to our localstore (where I did the dirty deed!) and they said they were always getting people doing that. It is something to do with the nozzles and labeling. If you look from an angle you can easily pick up the wrong one. Now I always double check before squeezing the trigger.(EVERYONE BE WARNED) Hope you get it sorted out OK, Grant

[Underdog]

Apparently if you even just turn on the ignition, the pump runs and you have to get the whole system drained and purged.


Nah..............only an LR dealership would tell you that and if you've called out an LR dealership......well.........you can probably afford to go with their advice anywhoo!!!!!!!!!


Grant's advice is sound TBH. If it's a TD5, you'll need 95%+ of the fuel out before you fill to the brim ( important ) and it will run a little rough before the good stuff hits the spot.;)

If it's a TDi, they are a lot more forgiving. Get as much out as you can and stick £40's worth of diesel in her. Start up and drive away , safe in the knowledge that your beloved beauty will recover after a few hiccups.

Either way, unless you know a local mechanic or LR chappy, you're going to wave goodbye to a couple of hundred folding ones..............at least.:eek:


Good luck old girl.:rolleyes:



Still don't know why the pump manufacturers don't have square pump nozzles for diesel, round for UL and possibly triangular for whatever else they sell.

[Les Henson]

Petrol in a diesel engine rarely does any damage - except the clouds of smoke to the environment :)

[shten]

Even simpler if they could just colour code them properly.


Green = Unleaded
Red = LRP (Leaded)
Black = Diesel

I have seen Yellow with green stripes and all sorts of other silly colours. Unleaded is supposed to have a narrower nozzle so that unleaded cars could have a narrower filling port thus not allowing other nozzles to fit in. I don’t think there is any such configuration for diesel (as far as I know). I think this is a common problem, a friend of mine who really does know better was greeted with “not another one!” when he told the filler assistants what he had just done a few weeks ago. I think I am going to make up a reminder label to put on my fuel cap.

Is anyone able to shed more light on Les’s comment. I have heard this too in the past.

[cedarland]

Agree with Les. I put 3 gals unleaded into my old diesel citreon. Realised my mistake and continued to fill with diesel until tank full. Started up and drove away. Could'nt tell the difference. Did no damage. Knew a mechanic once who regulary put a gal of petrol into his diesel car to clean it out. Reckoned that all these diesel additves were was petrol.Even simpler if they could just colour code them properly.


Green = Unleaded
Red = LRP (Leaded)
Black = Diesel

I have seen Yellow with green stripes and all sorts of other silly colours. Unleaded is supposed to have a narrower nozzle so that unleaded cars could have a narrower filling port thus not allowing other nozzles to fit in. I don’t think there is any such configuration for diesel (as far as I know). I think this is a common problem, a friend of mine who really does know better was greeted with “not another one!” when he told the filler assistants what he had just done a few weeks ago. I think I am going to make up a reminder label to put on my fuel cap.

Is anyone able to shed more light on Les’s comment. I have heard this too in the past.

[Les Henson]

A diesel engine runs at a higher compression than a petrol, so the combustion would be softer. The problem really is with the effect petrol has on the system, such as non-lubrication of the injector pump, messing with sensors, etc. Potentially - petrol in the fuel system of a diesel engine could be expensive, but wouldn't wreck the the engine itself. The care taken in putting the problem right is generally where the big money comes in - a mechanic after an easy high-earner could say pretty-much what he likes and the customer is caught between a rock and a hard place. If you accidentally put petrol in a diesel engine, then you're not going to get far before there are clouds of white smoke killing sparrows and cute bunnies along the side of the road. You would pull over and switch the engine off and that's pretty-much it. You won't get it to start again, so damage to the injector pump in most cases would be negligable. In reality you need to drain the tank and fuel lines, change the fuel filter, put Gods own fuel back in the tank, crank the engine for a while and put up with the smoke for literally 5-minutes. In 99% of cases, the loss of fuel and cost of some more + fuel filter are the only real costs.

[ahebron]

I did it to a Mitsubishi Canter truck about 20 years ago:eek:. The attendant just told me to drive over to the fill point for the underground tanks and just drained the mix into the diesel tank. Backed the truck to the pump and filled it with diesel. Bloody expensive though one part tank of petrol and a full tank of diesel:(.