'Help, I´ve put petrol in a diesel engine' - Frequently Asked Questions
Author: Robin Brown
Published: 20 November 2007
As of October 2007 figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed that diesel models comprise 44.1% of all new-car sales.
Efficiency of the newest diesel engines are making them competitive with hybrid engines for fuel efficiency. In light of fuel costs that are threatening to top £1 per litre nationwide, with that figure already passed in many rural areas, diesels are becoming more popular than ever.
New ´clean diesel´ engines such as those from Volkswagen´s BlueMotion range and diesels equipped with BMW´s EfficientDynamics programme hugely reduce fuel consumption, sooty particulate matter and carbon dioxide emissions.
The Polo BlueMotion returns around 70mpg and emits just over 100g/km of CO2 while the MINI Cooper D returns 64.2mpg and emits 118g/km. Both models also feature Diesel Particulate Filters, making the new diesel a popular choice among those looking to purchase a ´green´ car.
But with the increasing number of diesel-engined cars on the road there´s a resulting rise in the number of incidents of misfuelling - filling diesel cars with unleaded petrol.
It´s thought to be happening more than 400 times a day with repair charges ranging from a few hundred to several thousand pounds.
So what do you do if you´ve made this mistake? Read on, and we´ll try to advise.
How does this happen?
Modern diesel engines can be hard to differentiate for drivers with an untrained eye, or ear. Where traditionally diesel engines were clattery, dirty and slow to warm up, modern diesels drive and sound very similar to petrol engines. People simply forget they are driving a diesel as the associated audio and visual clues are simply not there.
In light of the dash for diesel manufacturers are turning their attention towards the problem of misfuelling. Ford has been the first manufacturer to develop technology designed to prevent a misfuelling mishap, with its Easyfuel system, which prevents drivers filling up their diesel models with petrol.
An unleaded petrol pump nozzle cannot enter a diesel tank on Mondeo and Focus models equipped with the system. Typically diesel nozzles are too wide to fit into any petrol tank, so the problem rarely crops up.
To make matters more confusing the increasing uniformity of petrol pump colours does not provide motorists with a visual cue as to the fuel type.
Whereas diesel pumps were traditionally black, unleaded petrol green and four-star leaded petrol red, modern-day diesel pumps are often green to enhance fuel suppliers´ eco credentials, with BP being the most notable culprit.
With the massive rise in popularity of diesels misfuelling is an inevitable and growing problem which is only just starting to be addressed by manufacturers.
How does the wrong fuel type affect engines?
Petrol in a diesel engineBreakdown organisations put the figure of petrol misfuelling at around 150,000 cars a year, with repair bills totalling hundreds of millions of pounds.
Petrol will strip your diesel engine of the lubricant used to keep it ticking over and cause metal components to grate against each other and disintegrate.
This runs the risk of damaging the fuel pump and fuel-injection systems, or wrecking an engine completely if used for a significant amount of time.
To make matters worse pre-ignition systems start fuel pumps in new diesel models when car doors are unlocked. This cuts out the time it takes for new diesel engines to warm up, but means that diesel engines can be ruined by petrol by simply unlocking doors.
The fuel pump and injection systems and filters will likely need to be replaced on new models, while an entire engine could be wrecked beyond repair if it has been run for long enough. Regardless of the extent of the damage, the repair bill could potentially run into thousands of pounds.
Avoiding turning the engine over or stopping as soon as possible is vital to prevent more damage to the engine in these circumstances. A fuel-tank drain could be sufficient in such cases to prevent damage.
Diesel in a petrol engine
Theoretically it should be hard to fill a petrol tank with diesel, as diesel nozzles are too wide to fit into the tank. However using diesel in a petrol engine may destroy the engine´s catalytic converter, necessitating a costly replacement.
How much will this cost?
If you´ve avoided turning on the engine or stopped quickly after turning on the engine a fuel-tank drain may be sufficient. This should cost between £100-£200.
If you´ve driven the car for several miles and your car has a common-rail injection system you may be looking at a bill that runs into quadruple figures.
Am I covered on my breakdown cover?
Misfuelling is not covered by your manufacturer, though they make tow your car to a dealer or garage.
Am I covered on my insurance?
Misfuelling is generally excluded from insurance policies, even those offering comprehensive protection.
Anyone with third-party insurance is looking at stumping up for repairs themselves.
What if my car´s on contract hire?
You´ll have to meet the cost of any repairs yourself if your car´s on PCP or contract hire.
Will my warranty be invalidated?
That probably depends on the amount of damage. Your manufacturer may threaten to invalidate your warranty on your fuel system and related parts unless you let them do the repair work, but there may be room for negotiation.
Can I dilute the petrol with diesel?
Diluting contaminated fuel may be possible on older cars that lack the fine, high-pressure diesel injection systems of modern diesels. However, this is a high-risk move which could result in the destruction of your engine.
It may be possible to dilute a proportion of petrol to diesel under 10% in such cars, though there´s no guarantee this will work. Your car may run roughly for a while and you may risk long-term damage that is not immediately apparent.
We don´t recommend you try this but if you do risk it you need to be completely sure about your car´s fuel tank and engine system - try this on a common-rail diesel and you´ll simply wreck your engine.
How much biodiesel/ethanol can I safely put in my car?
If you´ve accidentally filled your tank with biodiesel or ethanol the likelihood is you´ll need to drain your tank, unless your car is correctly modified to receive these fuels.
To read up on alternative fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol go to our Jargon section.
What can I do to prevent this?
Aside from buying a Ford model with the Easyfuel system the best thing you can do is to clearly label your vehicle with a sticker above the petrol tank, as car-hire companies generally do. This is particularly important if your car is used by a number of drivers.
Until manufacturers or fuel suppliers address the issue it´s simply a case of having your wits about you and bearing those astronomical repair costs in mind.
Recent moves to introduce such a system by BMW across its model range suggest that manufacturers are intent on tackling the problem.
Here´s a checklist:
• Have you checked if the car you´re driving is a petrol or diesel model? This is particularly important if using a hire car or company car.
• Is everyone who drives your car aware of the fuel-type it uses?
• Have you labelled your fuel tank with a ´Diesel Only´ sticker?
• Do you double-check fuel pumps at petrol stations? Green may not mean unleaded, black may not mean diesel.
• Think you might have filled up with unleaded? Your receipt should tell you.
• Remember NOT to start your engine if you think you´ve filled up with unleaded. If possible do not unlock doors. If you have misfuelled the amount of your repair costs could depend on this.
• If you are attempting to dilute unleaded petrol with diesel ensure your car is not a modern common-rail diesel. If it is do not even consider diluting.
• It should only be possible to dilute 10% of unleaded or under. Make sure you know the capacity of your fuel tank and make a judgement about whether it´s worth the risk.
• You may be able to drain a fuel tank yourself but if in doubt seek expert help. There are specialist companies that will come to your house and drain your fuel tank.
Have you filled up your diesel engine with unleaded? Share your experiences and tips with us below.
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Filled up with £15 of unleaded in my new citroen c2 when my car strted to shudder and kangaroo jump! my husband just looked at me and said ”you just bloody put petrol in didnt you?” the amount of times my dad has warned me about putting petrol in my diesel. the car is in the garage now so will keep you posted!!!!
My husband filled up our Honda CRV with unleaded fuel. Luckily he realised just as he put the nozzle back in the pump! We pushed the car off the forecourt and waited for the AA to recover it. They quoted £200 to drain the tank. Instead we got them to transport us to a Honda main dealer who drained the tank for £73, which included 1/3 tank of fuel! And it was a Saturday morning!
I put £35 worth of unleaded in my Volvo V70 two days before we drove it to Belgium on holiday. To say that the main dealers were unsympathetic would be putting it mildly, and would neither pick it up or undertake to look at it for a week (Stratstone Nottingham). The local garage made a tool to help drain the tank, but I lost an extra day´s work and it cost me £375 there, plus an extra £60 at the main dealer to reset the computer. That was without even switching on the engine.
If you put petrol in a diesel engine you can get away with putting an equal amount of vegitable cooking oil (rapeseed or sunflower oil) providing you don´t start up the engine first. Shake the car to mix the liquids in the tank. This increases the viscosity of the mixture to a manageable degree. I did this to my Seat Alhambra diesel.
Has anyone with a common-rail system had any experience of this? I´ve just done it in my newish Clio and don´t know what to do.
I have a 2006 Honda Accord 2.2CDI Common Rail Diesel with a 65 Litre Capacity Fuel Tank. I accidentally put 5.19 Litres of Unleaded into it (7.9%)Topped it up immediately with 47 Litres of Highest Grade Shell Diesel, drove it, slight pinking for 2 Seconds, reported it to the AA who came out and let me drive it 1/3 Mile to my local Garrage, who also advised topping it up and driving it. Drove it again the following day for 70 Miles, topped it up with BP Ultimate Diesel.I am still concerned that the % of Solvent in the Unleaded will have impacted the lubricant provided by the Diesel. I am very worried that there has been damage to the linings, Filters and Jets in the Injection System. Please advise.The Car is driving well and with no signs of irregular injection or idle. I gather from investigation and questions that the CRD is too technical for the run of the mill mechanics and punters, a bit of a black science.
Many thanks Richard (PS - Probably too late to drain it now anyway).
Richard - without closer inspection it´s impossible to tell what damage may be done. There´s a possibility that the unleaded may have damaged fuel pumps and the injection system, or damage may result after time. As a result I can only suggest you get the car checked over. I´m afraid beyond that I can´t advise further.
Thank you Robin, may is a small word but with big consequences if realised. It is a lottery. I take your advice, thank you. I can´t believe that the Honda Technocrats would design a CRD inmjection System without a percentage tollerance of impurity management built in. BUT NOBODY WILL DISCLOSE THE TOLLERANCE IF IT EXISTS! Richard
Update from 11th December, above:- The Car has now done 160 Miles over 4 Days, NIL Visual or Audible impact on normal expectations. Compression, Performance under normal driving conditions (-4 to +6 Degs C). and the Idle is also stable at 800 r.p.m. Temp is also stable once fully warmed up. I still cant establih, even from Garages the impact of Unleaded solvent on CRD Systems. My Unleaded input to a 65 Litr Tank was 7.9% Unleaded (5.19 Lts). The more I research this, the more I suspect that the CRD Technicalities at the volume of contaminatin identifed are a closely guarded secret by the CRD Design Technocrats. I keep my fingers crossed. Hope this helps.
I will continue to top up with ultimate quality Diesel until 18,000 Mile Service in January.
Richard
My wife put 55 litres of unleaded into our bmw 318tds 1998 and ran it till it stopped, a sum total of half a mile.I drained the tank and kept the fuel to use in my two stroke outboard motor.After putting a new fuel filter in it started and ran as normal.That was thirty thousand miles ago and have not had any problems with it.Mileage is now 136,000
20% unleaded to 1.9tdi galaxy 2005. Run perfectly for about 15miles. Then I panicked and had it drained and flushed. Still perfect 10000 miles later.
help i have just put £20 of uleaded into my 1.9td1 golf drove home about 3 miles then realised what i have done . help !!
Alsion - impossible to advise without knowing more about the engine. How old is the car? By the sound of it you should at least have the fuel tank drained.
Lol.. I can´t believe how silly people can be! How can you not remember that you´re driving a diesel?? Anyway, apart from that, it was normal practice to put a small mount of petrol into my diesel lorry in the winter to stop the fuel gelling. As long as the ratio of petrol to diesel is very small, it won´t do any harm at all.
Dougie - not actually true of all engines - as it says in the article.
I was driving my wife´s 06 TDCI Focus and I filled it from empty with unleaded. I then drove it down the M4 at 60 mph until it died 10 mins later. It has been in 3 garages, had 2 drain downs and had the injectors removed and cleaned as well as the pump refurbished. It has cost me about £1500 so far. It runs great when warm but struggles to cold start and if it does catch, it runs on 2 cylinders for 2 minutes until warm, then its fine. The work was completed by a deisel injection specialist who could not find any further issue on his computer, so he gave it back to me...better but not fixed. I guess my next move is to book into the local Ford garage but I am scared of what the cost might be - any thoughts ?
Well, my hubby just put £20 unleaded in my 04 diesel Disco, but we realised just as he put the nozzle back in. So we paid for the petrol & pushed it to the back of the forecourt. nipped to supermarket for 6 fuel cans and Halfords for a syphon tube and screwdriver & undid the fuel filler outlet pipe just before the fueld filter/pump and drained off everything into the tubs. Then got another 5l diesel and put it in and rocked the car to swill it round and drained that out then fastened up again and filled up with new clean diesel. Took us 1hr and £15 in cans, but luckily we hadn´t got to unlock anything or start up and the tank had been on empty/ reserve for a while before the mis-fill. So here´s hoping it all goes well, got to admit though - she seems to be running a bit smoother now than she has done for a while, less chuggy........
Hello I put 10 pounds worth of unleaded into my polo tdi sport 1.9 pride and joy last night. I would say half petrol hald diesel mix. Drove the car 15 miles home then it conked. Why on earth can you put diesel in a petrol and it work but there is a restriction on the nozzle size surely it should be the other way round?!?! I am hoping and praying that my car is going to be ok with just a drain down.....it is a total lottery as to whether it will be by the sounds of things.....Wish me luck!!
I filled up my diesel Audi Allroad with unleaded petrol at a garage in Portugal because they switched the publicity on the nozzle diesel to petrol and vice versa. Even though they partially accept responsibility, neither they nor their insurance company will pay out as it is a self service garage. After going almost 2kms I parked and the car would not stard again. Audi have quoted 9,000 Euros to fix it and the garage owner says he can fix it. I find it difficult to know who is telling the truth as I am not into mechanics. Audi say that if I take my 6 month old car out of their garage I will loose my guarantee and my 120,000km or 5 year extended warranty. Who is telling the truth and what should I do? Please advise.
Howard - I´m afraid your case is far outside of our ability to advise. As a rule you will lose your warranty if you have any repairs done by a garage not approved by Audi.
After ten years driving diesels, I put in 20 litres of unleaded into my new Toyota Yaris, drove about 30 kms before it started playing up and belching smoke from the exhaust. My insurance company towed it to the Toyota garage. In a few hours they had drained the system flushed it through and replaced the fuel filter. The car now runs perfectly well and the total cost of repair was less than €100.
A lady customer has put petrol in her diesel Lexus 200D anybody know how to drain the tank on one of those?
Bought a ´55 Passat 1.9 TDi diesel estate y´day. Just put a gallon of unleaded into it by mistake. Got the car home (4 miles) but unsure what to do now. With the unleaded the tank is showing about 2/5 full. Any advice gratefully received.
John - I´d recommend getting the tank drained. This should cost up to £100. Having driven the car you may need new fuel lines and injection system. It´s impossible to be more precise, but I´d recommend you get your car Passat looked at by a garage you trust.
I put £10 of unleaded in a Rover 200 diesel engine. Its an old car R reg. Thing is I didnt realise for over a week. She was driving, not well by any means not accelerating properly. But running. I only really use her for popping around, never driving for more than 15 mins. I realised when I went back to the garage a week later to refill and saw that they do premium unleaded aswell as premium dielsel (what I was aiming for) on alternate pumps. So I´ve put a full tank of diesel in (about £40) and she's running just fine. May I have buggered the car for good? What shall I do? She seems fine. Would love any advice, my first car, feel pretty silly.
Amanda - you might get away with it, as I´m fairly sure there´s no common-rail diesel technology in the Rover 200. I´d say there´s a chance you´ve reduced the life of your car a little.
As I see it you need to make a choice based on how much more life you think the car has left in it, how much it would be worth paying to get it looked at, were you planning to sell it on in a couple of years, and whether your insurance would pay out.
It´s a question of maths after that - do you think it´s worth paying for a clean-out or is it best to take a gamble? If you´re going to take action get the fuel tank cleaned, along with pipes, fuel pump and filter.
Phone around a few garages to get the best quote - you could probably get it done for around £200. After that it´s up to you. Hope that helps.
A month ago my hubby filled our 56 plate crv with unleaded at a cost of £4000 in repairs. Delighted to discover insurance covered it, but dealer claims warranty is invalid on those parts affected. Can this be right? Seems to be saying we´ll fix it but aren´t that confident it´ll be ok. Any advice please. Do you think its worth taking up with Honda?
Glen which insurance company are you with
Hi I hope someone can offer us some advice... My mum has just put £20 of unleaded into her VW Passatt 1.9 TD X reg... she had some diesel in the car, just under quarter of a tank she thinks. She managed to drive exactly 1 mile before it conked out and we had to get the car towed home. Does anyone have and advice or khow much this is going to cost... my dad is going to go mad when he comes home from work!!!
Louise - you should probably have fuel tank drained, fuel lines and fuel pump cleaned. This should cost between £100-£200. Insurance doesn´t generally cover this but it might be worth asking.
help, my partner has filled up £10 of petrol in my focus car. has done around 7 miles..what now please
Chris - fuel tank drain. Phone around for quotes. Something to bear in mind is whether you have a manufacturer warranty - it could be invalidated if you get the work done by someone other than the main dealer.
Glen - outside my field of knowledge I´m afraid. Take it up with Honda if you think it´s worthwhile. Some dealers will maintain this line, others will be more flexible. There´s no written rule.
just put a tenners worth of unleaded in my 1996 rover 220 sdi and drove it about half a mile. do you think it would be ok to top it up with diesel and run it?
Brendan - there´s every chance that by topping up with diesel you´ll be alright, particularly with older cars. However, there´s always a risk - no way to tell for sure. It´s ultimately up to you.
have a 1999 t reg, ford focus diesel. partner put 10 pounds of unleaded in, and drove for 7 miles. anyway this will be ok, and whats the worst that is wrong
Jamie - with Zurich and going to stay with them too! Amazing the amount of people who/ve contacted their ins co & found they/re not covered. Cost us £250 excess
Chris - check to see if your engine has a common-rail injection system. It probably won´t due to its age, in which case you need a fuel-tank drain. You may need the fuel lines and pump cleaned out too. If your engine is a common-rail there´s a risk of more extensive damage.
Thanks for your advice Robin we managed to find an excellent local garage who drained the tank and replaced the fuel filter for £75 this included £25 of diesel and the car is now running fine. Thanks again.
DDN Ltd also have a misfuel prevention device that stops Petrol being accidently put into Diesel vehicles, their blocker has no moving parts, fits in the filler neck using the original fuel cap securing system. This to is being currently sold to Emergency services and fleets.
With the Safety issues that misfuelling causes together with the enviromental cost of contaminated fuel disposal and repair bills surely this should be retro fitted to every diesel vehicle
HELP After sucesfully draining out diesel contaminated with petrol, What do I do with the 50 litres of contaminated fuel.
Brian - your council should have hazardous waste recycling centres. Try contacting them. Failing that you may have to contact the environment agency on Contact the Environment Agency on 0870 850 6506.
In Dec 2007 when filling up 50 litre tank I put 1 litre unleaded in 3 year old X5 Series before I realised my error I went in and told guy in self service he said fill up with diesel and will be OK I filled tank up and all was fine until middle of March 2008 when I had problem starting. BMW says I need new fuel system will cost £8000. Why did car go OK until now?
When refuelling in Dec 2007 I accidentally put 1 litre petrol in diesel X5 Series before I realised my mistake. I quickly told the guy in service station who told me to fill up 50 litre with diesel and all would be OK. My car has been fine until middle March 2008 when it wouldn´t start.By time AA came out it had started so i continued my 70 mile journey home.Took it to BMW garage who after asking me if I´d ever put fuel in tank say I need a new fuel system cost £7000! My insurance company won´t pay up. Why did the car go for so long before braking down? Am I being told the truth?
Tess - it´s quite possible for the damage to occur over a period of time. This is why I´d urge anyone to be cautious about topping up with petrol as opposed to having a fuel tank drained until they understand exactly what could happen to their car. It´s likely that your X5 has common-rail injection technology, which can be wrecked by petrol. £7K sounds like they´re replacing the entire engine - it may be worth shopping around but you may invalidate a warranty if you go elsewhere.
Having misfueled my 2005 Volvo diesel V70 I travelled 5 miles before it started to misfire. I stopped as soon as it did. Does anyone know if it has a common rail fuel system? What are the chances of getting away with just paying for a £200 flush out?
John - what size is the engine?
Have put 5.24 litres of petrol into our nearly empty diesel 1.9 1999 T reg VW Golf. Drove it for about 10 miles then my husband put in 10 litres of diesel and drove it approx 22 miles before we realised what I had done. Car was very sluggish to start with, but seems ok now. Any suggestions on what to do next would be appreciated.
Have put petrol into my tdci mondeo!! Anyone know if MMA ins. covers this - can´t find anything in my policy - I´m fully comp. Thanks
Phil - generally misfuelling is not covered by your insurer but it´s worth asking.
Jan - probably worth having the fuel tank drained. Try to find out whether the engine has a common-rail injection system. If it is the danger to the engine and related parts is greater.
Once bitten, NOT twice shy unfortunately.
a year ago I filled up my ´54 BMW 530d with unleaded. Fortunately I didn´t start the engine and the AA towed it away and I had it drained for the princely sum of £150 (Soon the tank of fuel will cost that much, but that´s another story).
A week ago I did the same thing. (why can´t they sort out the shapes of the pumps to obliterate this problem?). Anyway this time I realised after I had put in 11 litres of unleaded. The tank was already half-full of diesel. I then topped it up with more diesel so I had about 20% of the tank being unleaded, the rest diesel. The guy in the garage said that two days earlier a chap had put 6 litres of unleaded in his diesel car and the AA had towed it away saying it would stuff the engine if he drove it. As it was I was on an extreme timescale and couldn´t afford to take the time to have it drained again. Plus the fact I was in Birmingham, miles from Heathrow, where I needed to be. So I said a little prayer (no, actually a massive prayer) and risked it. Fortunately for me I saw no ill effects except it seemed to have difficulty at the top end when I put my foot down. Since then I have kept topping it up every time the gauge has gone down a quarter tank. Touch wood, it seems to still be working fine. Subsequently to that I have done at least 500 miles and it seems to be working alright. I wouldn´t necessarily recommend risking it, but just a data point for you.
Hi, My wife has just put £10 of unleaded into my 53 plate Vauxhall vectra TDI, drove it a few miles and it stalled, the engine turns over but will not start. The recovery truck has just brought the car back, could i risk filling the car up with diesel to dilute it ?? when she put the petrol in it it was virtually empty ? please help
Wayne - get the car towed to a garage and get it drained, and fuel filter replaced. Lines and pump may also need cleaning. You may get away with filling with petrol but there´s always the risk of long-term damage.
hi i put £10 unleaded in my audi a4 tdi the put £50 deisel iv done about 100 miles will it be ok.........
Hi I put £1.40 of unleaded petrol into diesel vauxhall van before realising what i had done. I immediatly filled the tank with diesel (about 45 litres). What should i do? Is a drain down required or will it be ok as this is under the 10% dilution mark. The van is a 53 plate vauxhall combo 1.7 DTi. It seems to be running fine after i took advice from a friend who knows abouengines. wondering now after reading the above if he is overplaying his knowledge
Johnny - what year and what engine?
Graham - sounds like a very small amount of petrol - I´d guess you´ll be OK. If you´re worried check whether the engine uses common-rail injection technology - this is the danger with petrol in diesels. If you´re worries get a drain done, but I´m not sure that will be required.
Car is a Peugeot 807 HDI 2004 plate, my husband put in £35 unleaded then a further £50 in diesel drove home about 1 mile. Not sure best thing to do now? Should I go to a Peugeot garage or any old place as not sure if it has this common rail injection system or not?
hi, just an update on my blonde moment! Luckily, I think, our golf isn´t common-rail injection. For reasons which are too long to go into, didn´t drain tank, but filled right up with diesel and have topped up again after using 1/4 tank. Have now done approx 250 miles since putting unleaded in and all seems well. My husband´s boss said he has lost count of the times the works vans have had petrol put in them and all they do is top them right up with dieseland they are still running fine.
Put 4 litres of petrol into my rover 200 turbo diesel (2000 plate)
Realised what i was doing and stopped and then filled the car with diesel.
Doesn´t seem to be any adverse performance.
Is it worth me getting it drained?
Anna - safety first is sensible - get it drained. Phone around for quotes.
Geraint - think you´ll be OK as I don´t think the rover 200 has a common-rail system, but the choice is ultimately yours.
Jan - good to hear a happy ending!
Robin - Thanks for your input so far.
COuld I just ask though -If nothing has happened yet, Is it unlikley that it ever will?
Also, Is it fact that the petrol will eventually work its way out of the system thereby progressively reducing the risk?
Many thanks for your help in advance
Geraint - that´s the problem with topping up. Petrol can damage fuel lines, filter and injection systems over time, so there´s really no way to know I´m afriad.
Will the petrol work through in the end though?
My husband has just put £9 worth of unleaded into his diesel Vectra (05 plate). Immediately topped up with diesel and topped up again (on advise from a mechanic). Has driven a few miles with no adverse reactions as yet. Any advice?
Yes it´ll work through, The question is whether it´ll damage the engine parts over time.
Julie - hard to say without knowing what engine. If the mechanic says it´ll be OK, having seen the car, I´d guess it´ll be OK.
Thanks Robin.
Comments on this site are really useful.
No adverse reaction from the car.
i will keep fingers crossed
Thanks again
Put 23 litres of unleaded into about 40 litres of diesel into Jeep Cherokee. Feel a bloody idiot -- just not concentrating. Havent started vehicle. Towed to Jeep dealer for drain; flush and refill. Why don´t ALL diesel pumps have diffrent nozzle sizes to avoid this problem? What´s prognosis plz for my vehicle -- the electrics were on for a while to shut windows, etc?
I have put up to 25% in on numerous occasions, but realised in time and just topped to the brim with diesel before starting. No ill effects whatsoever. All under 3 years old, fords, seats and toyotas.
Garage attendant filled 18litres of unleaded fuel in my 1.9TDI VW jetta 4.I had half tank diesel before it was topped up with petrol.I did not start the car.Got garage to drain tank.(tank specs 55litre).I topped it with 65litre diesel.I think there was still a bit of petrol in bottom of tank before topping with diesel. Do i need to change filters.Would this harm my engine .
Richard - probably no effects as you followed correct procedure.
Alan - if it was drained quickly you´ll probably be OK too. If you´re worries get the filters changed, though I´m not sure it´s necessary.
My partner has just gone to the garage to fill his car up and come back nearly in tears because he put petrol in instead of diesel.He realised what he had done before he filled the tank and stopped at 23 Litres.The petrol warning light had just come on before he went so there wasn´t much diesel already in the tank.Unfortunately he then drove it home-about a quarter of a mile maybe(I can see the garage from the bedroom window).The car is a Rover75 2004.Any advice please?He does belong to the RAC but doesn@t have home cover because that came 'free' with his insurance and I have any car cover with green Flag (I think) which does cover 'at home' on my insurance policy.Help.We are supposed to be taking his car to Ireland on the ferry on Wednesday!!
Nikki - get the fuel tank drained. Fuel lines, filter may also need cleaning out. You own´t know the damage until you get it checked out - it may be OK though.
Hi
Put 0.9 of a litre unleaded into a 6 month old common rail diesel car earlier this week.
Topped it up with 60 litres of diesel - so about 1.45% petrol all together. Since then have done about 250 miles in it so and have just topped it up with half a tank of more diesel so should be down to about 0.75 % petrol.
Whats my prognosis??
Should I keep topping it up or just run it all out now??
Too late to drain the tank I think but any advice opinion most welcome!
Hi, doesanybody know if my Peugot 406 R reg 1.9 td is common rail or not? Yes I refuelled (badly) done about 1.5 miles and pulled up before the engine totally died. Have towed it and need a little help?
Daniel - I´d be surprised if you have any trouble. Sounds like you acted correctly!
Dozey - google your car with the words ´common rail´. Either way I think you should have the tank drained.
Thanks for your advice Robin. Will google CR and my car CDTi Vauxhall engine. Surely not worth getting tank drained?? Just topped up with another 30 litres of diesel. Petrol must be so diluted now! Original 0.9 of a litre mist be down to 0.2 - thats 200ml petrol of it swilling around in 60 litres of diesel. As diesel is injected after compression stroke petrol will be ignited when diesel starts to burn??
Thanks Daniel
Daniel - yeah it will burn off. Damage occurs in fuel pipes, filter, injection systems but I´d´ve though you´d be OK at those levels. Get a drain if you´re still woried but I´d´ve thought by now it´s largely pointless.
have about 11 galls of diesel to 2 and a half galls of unleaded in my 1999 seat toledo 1.9 stdi and driven about 20 mls. whats my worst (or best) scenario?
Jim - worst case you´ve damaged your engine, fuel lines, injectors and filter. Best case you´ll get away scot free. On older cars you´ll tend towards the latter, though you may notice some under-performance. I´d top up immediately on unleaded and keep doing so for a while.
Thanks Robin. I;ll keep an eye on it and get a mechanic to check it out
i had about a 1/4 tank of diesel in my 02 zafira , i went to the gargae and put in £20 of diesel...drove 17 miles..then it conked out.the RAC got a local garage to collect it and drain and flush it for £100. it seems to be working fine now...but i see from other comments that maybe there might be some long term damage???
duh....lol, my comment above, i meant to say...i put £20 of unleaded in..
Ronnie - there´s a possibility but it´s impossible to say what it is. I´d suggest you keep an eye on it, and take it in to a garage if you notice any further problems.
Hi, Please someone HELP ME. My girlfriend has put a half tank of petrol in my brand new BMW X5 3.0D. She then drove the car untill it stopped on her! i rang BMW assistance who took the car to dealers and they said they wud not cover this under warranty! I took the car from BMW and took it to a friend who drained all the petrol out and refilled it with diesel! The car started and drove uptp 40mph but stops. the engine mamgement light comes in and says ENGINE FAULT VISIT WORKSHOP! Have the injectors been knackerd? anyone have any idea what the problem is or what to do? the car has been off the road for 3 weeks and i simply dont know what to do! has she knackered the engine? Please Someone HELP
bmw are now asking for 6k to put it right!!
Just put 9 litre of unleaded in my 1993 diesel mondeo est. the tank was near empty and I topped it up with 15 litres of diesel and drove it 6 miles to get home with no problems. Should I top it right up with diesel or get it drained and flushed? Its an old run around so I don´t want to spend anything if I don´t need to. Thanks.
Mo - might be worth getting quotes elsewhere, but you may invalidate your warranty if you get the work done elsewhere. The engine may be OK but you´ll certainly need to get fuel lines, filter and injectors cleaned out.
Paul - keep topping up. It should be fine.
Anxiously waiting to find out if I put about a 1/4 tank of Unleaded in my 2.0L Fiat Scudo Common rail van. Cannot confirm as I use a fuel card from Texaco and my statement is due on Monday. Filled the van on Weds drove about 70 miles then it just spluttered to a halt. The thought hadn´t even entered my mind until the mechanic said about misfuelling.
I cannot see how I could have driven such a distance without noticing this?????
Very worried now....
Simon - it´s not unknown for vehicles to travel such distances before grinding to a halt if you have misfuelled, so it;s still a possibility I´d´ve thought.
Mechanic has got some of the fuel out and tried to ignite it - couldn´t, so this must be a good sign??! He cannot smell petrol either............
Texaco confirmed I filled with diesel, so it looks like Fiats problem now......
hi my brother has just put £40 of petrol in my dads passat 2.0 tdi and driven home from the petrol station...approx 1.5miles...car was smoking but thats all...what should we do?
nixyk - good chance do significant damage done, but the tank will have to be drained. best to get it towed to a garage, or you may be able to find companies that will come to your house. should cost around £100.
Simon - unlucky. Let us know what Fiat says.
its a 54 plate if it helps!
I´ve been told to show a local garage as opposed to a main VW dealer...because they´ll want to change lots of parts etc...what do you think? The guy i rang thinks just draining and refilling with diesel should be fine..
It´s possible, but you may invalidate the warranty if a VW dealer doen´t do the work - if it´s still in warranty.
My wife has put £20 of unleaded on our 1.9dci renault scenic. She then filled filled the tank with a further £45 of diesel after noticing her mistake. what do you recomend?
Martyn - what year is the car? You might be OK, but a fuel-tank drain is probably wise.
hi just put 9 litres of unleaded in my 2.0 litre focus 2007 ghia tdci, filled up car with diesel to full tank ,drove 45 miles to home would appreciate any advise what i should do next thanks
Steve - you can either keep topping with diesel and cross your fingers, or go and get the fuel tank drained. If you take the first option you may damage fuel lines, pump and filter though.
Yes, a woman again! Just put 38p of unleaded into my Merc A Class CDI 170. Then filled up with Diesel, so not even 1% of unleaded in there, am I panicking unnecessarily as all was fine when drove 10 miles home? Thanks.
Put 6 litres of unleaded into my 07 reg Santa Fe, then filled it up with 70 litres of diesel, have done about 300km now with no obvious ill effects! What can I do?
my hubby just put £20 petrol into my diesel car (had about 20 litres of diesel in already) he drove it 1 mile home then it conked out. what do i do now? i have no breakdown cover.
I put 77 pence worth of unleaded in my BMW320d auto 2002 model before I realised! I was advised that this was such a small amount and it would be ok. I then topped it up with £50 worth of diesel. It is running fine, will it be ok? I am worried about it, any advice would be great. thanks
I put 77 pence worth of unleaded in my BMW 320d 2002 model before I realised! (I own 2 BMW´s one diesel and one petrol)!! first time I have ever done that too.. I then put £50 worth of diesel in, the mechanic at the petrol station said it would be fine as it was such a small amount. I am still worried about it, will it be ok? thanks, Andy
2002 jetta tdi struggled to start this morning. Belched to a start, I made it to work 7km. Started the car again at lunch time. Very difficult start but started and drove for lunch another 4km. After lunch the car didnt start. I had lend my girlfriend the car over the weekend and she had put 25 liters of unleaded in the empty tank. Now the car is at the garage and I am waiting anxiously for the situation. ... to be continued ...
Ann, Lorna, Andy. I´d be very surprised if you had any trouble with the small amounts you´ve put in. If you´re worried have the fuel tank drained.
Louise - you need to get it towed to a garage and have the fuel tank drained. This should cost around £100.
My other half has put a full tank of petrol in deisel tank (Mondeo ST). Drove 400 yards from garage home. Tried starting engine this morning, but it just made spluttering noises once started up. AA towed to garage. The garage have said will cost £500 to drain, and could possibly be thousands of pounds to put right. Is it really that bad!!
I have just put 3 ltrs of petrol in my 2004 2.0 ltr Diesel DTi Vauxhall Zafira. The petrol station attendant told me to fill the rest of the tank with diesel and that this should be fine. So its got 57ltrs of diesel and 3 ltrs of petrol in the tank. should this now be fine or do i need to get the tank drained and a new fuel filter???
Ez - it shouldn´t cost anywhere near £500 simply to drain the tank. Replacing fuel lines and filters may cost more. Damage to the engine could mean significant costs, but that seems unlikely if you´ve just driven 400 yards. Ask around friends and acquaintances and try and get a recommendation on a good garage. Use another if you´re not sure about the current one.
Quite likely that three litres to 57 litres of diesel will be fine. A tank drain is an option if you´re really worried though - the choice is yours.
thankyou, hopefully your a life saver!! or at least a money saver!!
From empty added about 15 lts of unleaded to my Audi A6 Tdi. Realising my mistake I topped up with 50 lts of diesel. Car ran like a dog but topped up again after 100 miles and again after another 100miles. All this occured at 30k miles on the clock. Car ran to over 100k miles without any further problems. Sold car to a friend who has taken the car to over 130k miles, again no problems at all.
help! just put 20quids worth of petrol in my diesel astra van 1.7 04 plate. i put a further 20quids worth of diesel in before running it. since driven about ten miles home and it seems fine. can i keep diluting it? there seems to be a lot of conflicting ideas.
Danny. The reason for the conflicting ideas is that it may depend on how new your engine is. Common-rail diesels can be much more affected by petrol, so special care has be taken with them. Try to find out if your engine has common-rail technology.
Two months ago my wife filled our 1-year old Volvo XC-90 with petrol and drove a mile home before realising. The RAC took the car to an independent garage, who flushed the system for £200. 1000+ miles later the car is running normally. However, the fuel gauge is not working properly. If i take the car to a franchise dealer is there a risk that they will find the root cause of the problem, if say the fuel sender unit is damaged, and then insist on replacing other fuel parts even though the car is running normally?
Any advice greatfully received!
Iain - I suppose it´s a possibility, though I don´t see how they could find out without noticing damage caused to fuel lines and the lie. In which case, the work will need to be done.
Sorry I can´t be more specific.
have just put 9 litres of unleaded in ford focus tdci. all fine when home then came out to retstart with nothing happening realsised that filled up with wrong fuel. have had car towed to garage and drained but doesn´t seem to have worked garage inform me that I may need lines, injection and everything else changed any ideas how much this might run to on a 2005 model have no idea if common rail but sounds likely?
Phil - no idea on how much that´s likely to cost I´m afraid, I imagine it varies between cars. maybe more expensive on a common-rail engine too.
Please everyone take heed of the comments re common rail diesel engines. I have a Berlingo 2.0 HDI Forte. It is a 2004 model. I put £20 of unleaded in it and took the advice of a garage in filling it up with diesel and driving it a mile home. In actual fact you shouldn´t move the car. I had to pay £198 to AA Fuel Assist to come and drain the tank. I have to hand it to them they were quick off the mark and arrived at my home within 20 minutes. Expensive mistake and hopefully no long term damage to the vehicle.
Very consoling to know i´m not the only idiot!Just waiting for AA to tow me to a garage.
good news, drained tank and motor running with no immediate effect, except on the bank balace £185. However my dad suggest that I should have my fuel filters and my oil changed due to the ill effects that unleaded could have had on my vehicle is this necessary?
Just put £5 petrol into my 05 plate Saab 93, drove about 300 yards before suddenly realising, I stopped and had it towed to a garage. They are going to drain it and flush it do you think it will be ok
Elaine - difficult to say but you did the right thing by stopping and having it towed. Fingers crossed.
filled up with 30 pounds on an empty tank with unleaded in my 99reg mondeo td.pushed it off forecourt and got a bit of hosepipe and kept sucking till i had 25 litres in jerry cans.filled up with proper fuel and been ok so far.cars done 260 thou and touch wood ok
I haven´t put petrol in my diesel atravan 2006 - but she started running mederately rough, i changed the fuel filter and the damned thing stinks of petrol - WHY??, any ideas - i definately have never put petrol in this thing! - and she still sounds like a ewing machine.
DDN ltd just introduced a product that stops you puttind petrol into your diesel tank. Was just on dragons den excelent product.
just put 14ish ltr of unleaded in diesel car... petrol light had just come on... haven´t started engine, will mix of veg oil and diesel save it?? Old citroen engine...
Don´t think veg oil is the solution Katrina. Older engines are more tolerant of petrol and can sometimes be topped up, but getting the tank drained is the safest option.
thank you x
My hubby has just put 18litres of unleaded in my nearly empty citroen c3 hdi (53 plate) then drove a couple of miles home. Car wont start now. Waiting for aa. Is it too late to just drain tank and replace filters as it´s got common rail injection. Any advice or ideas?
Hi Ann, not possible to say I´m afraid. It may be OK with a drain, but realistically you´ll have to wait til a garage looks at it.
my hubby just put £20 unleaded petrol into my 07 pt cruiser diesel car (had about 2/3 of a full tank diesel in already) he drove it 6 mile home. what do i do now?
My husband filled his diesel van with petrol. When he realised it he drain the tank and filled with diesel so no problem. But what to do with that petrol(40 litres)how to recycle it?
Daiva - your council should have hazardous waste recycling centres. Try contacting them. Failing that you may have to contact the environment agency on Contact the Environment Agency on 0870 850 6506.
Leona - you need to get the fuel tank drained.
I recently put £25 of unleaded in my Mazda 6 Diesel and only realid when it started to stall. Unfortunately I put the fuel into an empty tank so I had pure petrol in my common rail diesel! It was a difficult few moments to come to terms with but after calling a few friends for advice, I went back to the garage on foot and borrowed a large container and then put as much diesel in the car as i could. I also poured a whole litre of oil into the tank to thicken it. Once i started the motor, it did run a little rough. I had about a 50:50 mix of petrol and diesel but after a few minutes it ran fine. No smoke whatsoever from the exhaust and seemed a bit more punchy. From then on I kept tpping up with diesel and ran a good injector cleaner (Injection Correction) through to give the injectors and fuel lines a good clean. Since then the car has run fine. Now that the petrol is all gone it has gone back to normal for a diesel to smoke a bit under heavy acceleration!
Hope this helps. I acted quick but saved all the money having a drained tank etc etc. Diesels will run fine with a bit of petrol in them just not too much!
I put in £17 worth of unleaded in my 2007 Audi A3 1.9TDI (common rail I believe) However, I thought it would be OK to top up the tank with mainly diesel (£45) worth. I then drove the car 70 miles with no problems. However, i then thought I had better check the internet and realise how stupid I have been. I have paid to have my car drained but fear long term damage. It is running fine at the moment after being filled with just diesel. Anybody have any ideas?
Recently put £60 petrol into my 6 year old Golf 1.9 TDI into an almost empty tank and ran sluggishly for 40 miles before it conked out. Had it drained professionally and now had fuel filter replaced. It is running like a dream and mechanic says probably OK - but it is old technology not common rail.
So fingers X for next 50k miles.
just put 59p of unleaded into hyundai 2.0 crdi. Topped up with 41 litres of diesel.Should i be ok with this?
Paul - almost certainly.
Hotpepper - sounds promising, good luck with that.
I have put £30 fuel in to my honda crv 2.2 and the repair bill is between £4500 & £5000 in this day and age this should not hapern and the garages should be made liable for this, Sick as a Paret
Please someone respond tonight! I´ve just put 1.7 ltrs of unleaded into my Toyota Corolla. There was already 1/4 tank diesel before I filled up, I then filled the rest of the tank with diesel (37ltrs). Will I be OK?
Helen - almost certainly fine. Read up on diluting in the main article above. Also try to find out if it´s a common-rail diesel engine. More danger of damaging parts if it is, bit 1.7 litres is still a very small amount.
hey i put 25p of unleaded in my mates bike in his 2stroke tank ! by accident . can anyone tell me if anything will happen i tried to get most of the petrol out by absorbin it with tissue helppp
I despair! If so many are misfuelling, what does this say about motorists´ concentration levels? God help the rest of us when these idiots attempt to leave the forecourt!
James. Quite a small amount, but if you´re particularly worried get the fuel tank drained.
Re the recent exchange with Helen. Have just had the same issue. Had driven ~3 miles with no damage / mishaps after putting 2.5l petrol in with ~30l diesel, and have now had it drained. Local Ford garage said that as little as a couple of drops of petrol could cause huge damage to our common-rail diesel engine. Is it really this intolerant?
Graham - not worth risking topping up on a common-rail diesel engine, as it explains in the article. Opinion is rather divided on what damage as small amount can cause on engines with this technology, and damage may not be initally apparent. In your casue it may also be worth checking out getting fuel lines, pump and injectors cleaned out, as these are most liekly to be affected. A literal ´couple of drops´ wrecking an engine seems rather unlikely to me, however.
I have put £10 unleaded into nearly empty tank of diesel! Was then advised to fill to the top with £55 diesel.Really not sure this was the right thing to do as car is 2007 Zafira!Please help should i drain? Vauxhall garage said no!!
Natasha - fairly sure that will be a common-rail diesel engine, in which case I´d get it drained. I doubt the Vauxhall garage would be prepared to complete the repairs for free if it did damage your enigne or parts. Even if there was no obvious damage, it could harm your engine and parts over time. I´d have it drained - it´ll cost up to £100 but at least you have some peace of mind then.
2 litres of petrol in 58 Litres of diesel (3 % contam)The car is a Vauxall Vectra 1.9 CDTI. Any advise welcome?
Alan - same advice to Helen upthread - 10th September.
Here´s a cautionary tale.
I put 7 ltrs of unleaded into a 2007 Toyota 5 months ago. Topped up 50+ ltrs of diesel, drove 1 mile home as advised safe to do so by forecourt attendant. I rang around when home and was advised that I would probably be ok if I topped up and ran it through, but I was worried about the warrantly so took it to the dealers. Paid £220 (!) for draining and filter change and cried all the way home.
5000 miles later the car was in the same dealers for a warranty job and the mechanic thought it was running rough. We had never noticed this ourselves (?). In short, injectors buggered, £1800 to replace... Leaving aside my many questions about the 5 month/5k gap between the fuelling and the diagnosis, and the accuracy of the diagnosis, it seems that damage may not surface for a while, so be warned. And, to add insult to injury, if I had had it drained elsewhere the dealer could have repaired it under warranty, but because they were aware of the misfuelling it is not covered. We will never know if the injectors may have been faulty all along (the car never felt any different). If I had not done what I thought was the right thing then I may not be in this position. I am not sure whether to get the repair or try elsewhere for a diagnosis, which will only cost more money...?
Urgent comments please. Last night, preparing for a long trip, I did the stupid trick of topping up my half-filled 2004 Mondeo 2ltr TCDI with 30 ltrs of Unleaded. On driving home (some 10 miles or so) the engine ‘spluttered’ very slightly (something it has never done before) and I wondered if I had topped-up from a bad batch of Diesel, but checking my receipt at home confirmed the worst - I’d used Unleaded. After finding and reading this forum I had a totally sleepless night before contacting my insurers this morning. To my great relief they confirmed my fully comp covers it. In view of the highly technical nature and potential seriousness of the problem I had expected it to be handled by a Main Ford Dealer (who has always serviced it to date) but instead they plane to use one of their Recommended Repairers, specialising in Fuel Injection, who will probably collect the car tomorrow. It has always been a fantastic performer, and I am very concerned that it may never be the same again. Is there anything more I can do to try and ensure that the repairs will fully restore it to its former state? All comments will be fully appreciated.
Tony - not beyond putting it in the hands of experts I wouldn´t think. Is your Mondeo still under warranty? Check with Ford if so - they may not want you not using a Ford dealer.
Thanks Robin - no, it is not still under warranty, I bought it second-hand from a Main Ford Dealer and have always taken it back to them for servicing. The Insurance company Recommended Repairers are Nationwide Autocentre, Liverpool, whom I have no expereience of - any comments? They have not yet collected the Mondeo and I´m concerned that the longer it lies there with 5-% petrol in diesel, the more the damage :-(
Well I have read with interest the miss fortune of so may of us. I have some big decisions to make can anyone advise on what they think is the best course of action.
I added £1.6 of Petrol to a 2004 Volkswagon Touran Diesel or 1.4L. I realised my mistake and then added 48.6 Litres of high quality diesel. Then drove home 5 miles. I have read all of inputs so far and wonder if because the mix was so small 2.7% I would be ok.
Should I let the dealer drain the car for £400 (they charge extra as they offer flush, change of fuel line and filter)? The car is also due a 40k miles service. Should I postpone the service to see if there are any problems and then have it serviced, or will having it serviced also help improve my chances of no long-term damage.
Can anyone advise? Really appreciate anyone’s help. Have not had much sleep since Friday. This is the family’s car and was meant to last until 100k+. Have I ruined it?
Tony - I wouldn´t have thought the wait will do any further harm. Can´ advise on the repair centre I´m afraid.
Mark - that´s quite a small amount. I don´t think a service would clear it up. Have it drained if you´re worried, if it´s a common-rail diesel engine the danger of damage is more significant.
Ok my mix of 1.4L Petrol and 58.5L Diesel is now drained from my common rail Touran (after driving 5 miles). Should I let my dealer have a look to see if there are any problems with the injectors? Would it be better to look for the damage now, find a problem now (if there is one).
Or should I keep driving, as any damage done, is done already?
What is your view.
Should I add something like Redex Fuel System Cleaner Diesel..cleans and rotects the fuels system
Thanks again.
I put £20 worth of unleaded into my almost empty Skoda Fabia 1.9TDi tank. Thankfully I realised what I´d done before starting the engine, so pushed the car away from the forecourt and bought some plastic containers to drain the unleaded into and filled another one with 5L of diesel. I then bought a length of thin plastic tubing to drain the system with.
The Fabia is very easy to completely drain I found to my relief:
Pull up the rear seat cusion on the drivers side and pull back the matting underneath, which will reveal a large plastic cap. Prize off the cap (I did it with my bare hands, it isn´t that tight), to reveal the top of the fuel and and the pump, there you´ll see 2 nozzles. One is fuel out and one is return, they are colour coded, the black one is the one you want. I clipped off both nozzles to be on the safe side. Again, easy to unclip, just hold the base of the nozzle and snap it out of place, then release. I then attached my plastic tube and put the other end into my empty container ready for draining.
Then followed about half an hours worth of turning the key in the ignition (though not starting the engine). This primes the pump so you´ll get about 1/2 cupfull of fuel out for every turn.
Do this until there´s no fuel left when the pump will stop pumping. I then emptied in the 5L of diesel I had and started my engine, got myself back to the forecourt and filled up again and everything´s fine.
Mark - if the injectors are damaged they can be replaced, so it might be worth having them checked, though you do leave yourself open to the dealer simply doing the work for the sake of charging more money. Don´t know about Redex - don´t suppose it can do any harm.
Richard - thanks for the tips.
I´ve just put 3.7L of petrol into a diesel passat (58 Reg)the tank was already more than half full & i topped it up with another £10 of diesel, the car was a courtesy car & i thought it would be ok so didn´t own up. now having read your page i´m panicking!
Sarah - although we´re obviously not going to advocate dishonesty I´d hazard a guess that there won´t be any obvious symptoms.
HELLO my father borrowed my 2004 clio 1.5 cdi and put £40 unleaded into it , then drove 230 miles, i then collected the car and have driven a additional 130 miles, my car spluttered when i collected it and it bellowed grey smoke when i started it. i have since put diesel back in and it seems to be running fine, i have had the filters changed and some of the plugs. will the car eventually die on me, or do u think i will survive the experience. any advice would be mush appriciated thank you
put 2 litres of petrol in a tank with 5 litres of diesel. Car is an 08 A5. Topped up with 55 litres of diesel straight away. Am I likely to be OK
D - no way of knowing I´m afriad. If there is any damage it may take years to become apparent. Not much you can do, but if it´s running OK now you may be OK.
Tom -good chance you´re OK but there´s no way to be sure. If you´re worried get it drained.
Thanks for the response. My message was a bit short as the battery on the lap top was going. Think I should be OK as receipt shows 2.2 litres and as it bubbled up and came out of the neck of the tank almost immediately Isuspect may be only around a litre that went in. Plus used BP premium diesel which is supposed to be better.
Got a 90 Mitsubishi Pajero - almost empty tank, put £8.00 of unleaded into a diesel, drove 500 yards and realised what I had done. Will I get away with siphoning unleaded out and put 5 containers of diesel in
Ian - a 1990 Pajero? Older diesel engines are much more resilient to petrol than modern efforts, so there´s a good chance you´ll be fine. As ever, if worries, get it drained.
5 days ago I put 15 litres of Petrol into my new 1.6 HDI Peugeot. The tank was just over half full of diesel at the time. Without realising this I have driven 5 journeys totalling approx 90-100 miles without any problem until yesterday evening when the engine would not start. The garage towed it away and when they called to say they can smell petrol in the tank I checked the receipt and feel so very stupid. However, they cannot look at the car now until the beginning of next week because of the week-end. There was no smoke or any indication that anything was wrong when I was driving it this week, but because I have driven it so far, do you think the damage will be extensive or is there a chance that they may be able to flush it out???
Rosemary - hard luck. As you can see it´s a mistake plenty of people make, so you´re not alone. It´s hard to say what damage there might be I´m afriad, it does seem to vary from vehicle to vehicle. The extent is largely down to whether the engine uses common-rail injection technology. If it does there´s more danger of damage.
Hi, Just put £15 worth of diesel into my tank while it was 1/4 full. Drove about 15 miles before it struck me. I pulled into a garage and filled up with diesel. I have now driven 60 miles home, car has gone well showing no difference. Called my mechanic and he told me it will be OK if I keep toping up with diesel for the next couple of hundred miles - is that right?
Today I put £15 of unleaded into less than a quarter of a tank of diesel into my Focus 1.8 Turbo diesel and drove it 1 mile to get home. Is this going to cost me a fortune to fix? I just don´t have the money.
I have put almost 8 litres of petrol into my 56 2.4 Xtrail which was already 1/4 full with diesel I am now waiting for the A.A to arrive to drain and clean the system. Do you thimk i may have caused any damage to my vehicle.
I added 43 litres of unleaded to 10 litres of diesel in my Zafira 2.0 diesel. I drove 50meters before getting the car towed home. Can I syphon the tank before refilling with diesel?
Dot, Alan, Linda, Bob - find out if your vechiles use common-rail injection technology. If so there´s more danger of damage. If not then it may be possible to drain the tank or top up without damage, but there´s never any certainty. Common-rail technology will require more expert cleaning
Thanks for your advice Robin. Regarding my Focus 1.8 Turbo Diesel, it seems fine. The RAC transported it to my local garage where they drained and cleaned it at the cost of £100 and since then it´s done several long journeys without any trouble at all. Thankfully I only drove it the one mile after putting the petrol in and there was some diesel in there in the first place. If anything though, it has made me extra vigilant now every time I fill up. Hope the rest of you get sorted as easily.
Just put 13 litres of petrol into Merc ML Diesel did not start or drive it. Had vehicle recovered to Merc dealer. Nearly had heart attack when they gave me the bill (£671) they reduced this to £498 when I said I thought I was being slapped. Any body got a comparable bill as I am still smarting, might complain to MB HQ. Any input appreciated, Cheers
Tom
Tom - what´s the breakdown - what did they do for that sum?
Hi I have put in 60p of petrol in my toyota auris diesel, not sure if its a crd. driving fine done about 20 miles so far, what are the chances of damage and will long distance affect it more?
60p worth is a tiny amount Steve, but it´s not possible to evaluate chance of damage. I doubt you´ll notice any effects.
hi i put in .90p worht of unleaded in m2008 v70 then filled to the brim with diesal travelled a further 115 miles not apparent problems please advise
Really interesting reading the stories on the site! My wife put 1.3 litres of petrol into our 04 Land Rover Discovery before I spotted it and yelled at her to stop. While still at the pump we called the AA, who said fill up with diesel and it should be fine. I was a bit surprised so I thought I´d check with Land Rover Recovery, and called them (still at the pump) - they said DON´T DO IT!! - dilution doesn´t work, the petrol won´t mix with the diesel, it´ll have to be drained, if you do what the AA said you´ll terminate the engine. So I phoned the AA back and discussed this with them. They said that they had done quite a lot of research into this question because it happens so often. They used to have a 'zero tolerance' attitude on mixing petrol with diesel, like Land Rover. However, their experiments have convinced them that if you have a very low % of petrol then there won´t be any damage, especially if you haven´t turned the engine on since the petrol first entered the system (which we hadn´t). They said they changed their standard advice as a result and have been telling their members this for over 2 years, without any complaints so far. So I shoved 89 litres of diesel in on top of the petrol (the tank had been almost empty) and off we went. All fine so far - though after reading some of the stories on here I think I´m going to get it drained off just in case! Many thanks to those who run this site.
Bodger - sounds like a very small amount. i would think you´ll be fine, but get a drain if you´re worried.
Tom - I wouldn´t take a risk with any new-ish model personally. It would be interesting to know what the AA considers a small amount and whether they have different advice for different engines. I´d be more inclined to trust LR´s advice in this case.
I just put in 8 liters of petrol in my audi Q7 and toped up with 85 liters of diesel drove about 5 miles home.please advice me.
Shall i send it to audi dealer or get it drained from another place?
David - get some quotes for doing it. they probably vary quite a bit. check that audi won´t invalidate your warranty though - this sometimes happens if you have work done from a non-approved garage.
Recently had the tank drained and fuel filter replaced on a jetta TDI after realizing the attendant was filling it up with unleaded. It runs as it did before, only the temperature gauge now shows different values between 50 and 90... sensor fault perhaps?
Frank - worth getting it checked out I´d´ve thought.
just put 1.7 petrol in a 70L vw passat tdi 07 reg, filled it to the top and drove a mile home, not sure if it is a common rail injection, please help
Simon - a very small amount and probably well diluted but hard to be precise. If you´re still worried get it drained - at least you´ll know then.
Not one to do things by halves, I brimmed my Astra 1.7 CDTI with BP Ultimate Diesel after driving into the forecourt on the fumes. I drove for half a mile when it started misfiring. It then smoothed out for a mile then coughed again. My heart sank as I checked the receipt. I got a tow home and decided try and fix it myself. I disconnected the inlet pipe to the filter which is located behind the engine and is about the size of a tin of beans. The inlet pipe is the one with the light blue retaining clip. I used a fluid transfer tool http://lasertools.co.uk/item.aspx?item=1019 connected to the inlet pipe to drain the tank. I tried syphoning via the filler cap to no avail. An hour later the tank was empty and I´d developed forearm like Popeye. I changed the filter and connected the pump to the inlet pipe to the fuel pump. Follow the pipe from the filter to the rear of the engine and there´s the pipe fitted to the fuel pump. Undid the clip, which I replaced with a small jubilee clip, and used the hand pump to draw the last of the petrol out of, and fresh diesel into, the inlet pipe. I replaced the inlet pipe onto the HP pump and tightened the clip. I drained the battery cranking but after connecting booster cables, the motor spluttered into life. Result. Went for a spin and all seems ok. On the advice of the local motor store, I put some additive in to help clean the system. My mate who helped me with jump start has taken the petrol for his old Jag. which is nice. Cost of bits and bobs was £30. I´ll have to wait and see if the company get charged for the 2 mile tow and in turn pass it on to me.
Just put 14 litres of petrol into ford galaxy 1.9 TDi on a W plate. It´s not common rail. Topped it up with diesel so about a 24:76 ratio. Any advice? If I don´t drain and get filter replaced will that help? Have driven it about 10-20 miles so far, tank hold 60 litres. Car was running fine.
Thanks
Ive just put about 50litres of petrol in my diesel Nissan Almera 2.2 2002 model - only went down the road from garage and realised wot ide done so stopped and parked it up. please help what shall i do now ??? I live in Fuerteventura and did´nt know the difference between Gasolina and Gasoil - and im not blonde !!!
Chez - get the tank drained. If possible do not drive any more or even start the engine. You´ll have to get it towed.
got a friend over here who´s a nissan specialist and he´s just gone to drain the tank for me now - do u think i will ave any long term problems with it ?
Hi last night I put 11 ltrs of unleaded in my year old Merc ML. Topped it up with diesel. Its got a huge tank 90 ltrs so I had hoped it would be okay. Spoke to a diesel engineer who said it should be okay if I keep topping it up. Same old story. Didnt sleep last night. What do you think I should do. Cant afford a massive bill from Merc
With c.16 litres BP Ultimate diesel in Land Rover 110 Defender (2.4 l Ford common-rail diesel), added 10p (0.11 letres) BP unleaded; then overfilled with 59 litres of BP Ultimate Diesel to make a total of c.75 litres of BP Ultimate in the tank. Now topping up at every three quarters full. This (110 c.c.´s) is more than a drop or two of petrol. On a previous occasion I´d already inserted the unleaded into the filler; more than a drop or two would have gone in then. On that occasion, would Ford have recommened a drain?
Chez - impossible to say. Depends if your engine is common-rail, how far you drove etc.
Pauline - draining tank for around £100 would give you peace of mind.
Defender - that´s a tiny amount. I´d expect most garages and dealers would tell you to keep topping up.
Its been a week since my little problem. I thought it might benefit other readers to have an update on my situaion. It seemed to be the opinion of just about everyone I spoke to that I should just keep driving and topping up. My car has shown no sign of any problems to date so im keeping my fingers crossed.
just put £20 worth of unleaded in diesel engine vauxhall combo
it has only done 400 miles was basically running on fumes before i filled it up any suggestions please
Vic - get the fuel tank drained. DOn´t drive to garage, get it towed.
sorry robin forgot to mention i drove it about a mile home from garage
last night i put £27 worth of unleaded in to my Y reg vauxhall zafira and topped up with £21 of diesel drove the car home but wont start this morning getting the car picked up this morning for a tank drain any thing else i need to tell them to do to prevent damage to engine?
Adrian - they should know what they´re doing and will probably change fuel, fuel filter and maybe fuel pump. Ask them what is involved if you´re worried.
i just put 7ltrs of unleaded into my 57plate range rover sports tdva ,which i already had 18ltrs in it already when i realised i quickly toped it up with 59litres drove for 100mils and it seems ok,am worried and need advice,thanks
put 47 litres petrol in my jag s type cost £3209 from lacal dealer gettin rid of asap
Jerry - Did the same to my Mercedes back in 07. Filled it up with Diesel, drove it up the motorway 100 miles and back keeping the revs below 2000 (<62mph) to burn it off. Kept refuelling (with diesel this time) every £10 worth. Runs as sweet as a nut (16k later). Be careful about telling your main dealer - They´ll invalidate your warranty as soon as look at you. Good luck
I have just put £15 worth of unleaded into a VW Touran 2.0 TDI it already had £10 worth of diesel in it. Drove for 3 miles before it cut out. Phoned vw breakdown and through them was put through to a local breakdown firm who recommended a company to flush the system through. Because I went through vw and followed instructions from their supplier would this cover my warranty? Thanks.
Martin, if you followed VW´s advice I don´t see how they could invalidate your warranty.
I have stupidly put 6L of unleaded into a 2001 Peaugeot 406 HDI, realised and topped up with 68L diesel. I have driven around 100 miles since and so far suffered no ill effects. Is it still worth considering a fuel drain or is it too late? Or even necessary? Thanks.
Phil - opinion seems to be divided with that percentage. I´d say keep topping up as much as possible at the moment.
I´ve put £20 unleaded in a 53 plate renault espace. Fuel ratio is now 3-1 unleaded. What sort of price should i be paying for a fuel tank drain. Is there a standard price or are we at the nmercy of the local garages?? Thanks in advance.
Steve - around £100 seems to be the going rate, give or take £20 or so.
I put £25 of unleaded in my Jaguar xtype 1.9, which was empty at the time, I drove approx 2 miles home totally unaware at what i had just done (children arguing chucking down with rain...stressed oh how many excusises do it need!, got home no problem. And proceeded with my school run in the morning (approx 4m) then it started to make a funny noise which i then had a gut feeling that i had put in petrol instead of diesel and went white! it started to jump and then stopped. i got towed to local garage who has just charged me £185 (with a full tank of diesel) to flush out no mention of the fuel filters being replaced, is this nec essary?. They said it drives ok, there seems to be no damage but the management light is on and they want a further £75 to take it off? they said it needs to be reset, is this common prictice, there has been no mention of this in any of your questions. please advise.
I have a ford focus 1.6 diesel and put £10 of unleaded into it. It was nearly empty of diesel, I drove about 4 miles and it was kangerooing, I stopped but right in front of someone´s drive so had to move the car and eventually started it again to put it in a side street. Help, do you think i´ve done too much damage.
Read through some of the comments, to try and reinsure myself. its a renault kangoo van on a 53 plate (diesel) Before i topped her up with petrol, it had just under half a tank of diesel already in. Only put 10 pound worth of petrol in. Drove away thinking nothing of it and then realized 5 - 10miles later that i put petrol in. so went to a different garage and put 15 pound worth of diesel in, which brimmed it. will it be ok? because its 4-1 in diesel? help please!!
thanks jamie
TM and Jamie - I´d say the best thing you can do is get the fuel tanks drained. Different engines and injection system react differently to misfuelling, so you never know. You might be OK, but if you get the tank drained at least you´ll know you´ve done everything you can.
Cassie - phone around for some more quotes. Whether injectors and filters need replacing depends on the engine. £185 plus £75 more to turn the light off sounds expensive, but it´s impossible to advise with much accuracy over the net.
Done the same thing today! Mercedes C220 CDI 07 plate (new style). Put 1.5lts in before realising. Called Mercedes breakdown, who strongly advised not to top up as with this, that and the other as the consequences (I had my Mrs and three kids in the car!). While on the forecourt talking to the techies I had at least 5 blokes tell me they had all done it, topped it up and suffered no ill effects...my dilema now of course was that Mercedes knew the problem and noted on my car record. Anyway, got a tow back to my house, thought it wasn´t worth the risk....didn´t start the engine...I´ll post back on here after I speak to the Dealer tomorrow and let know the cost (u know it´s gonna hurt).
Got my Mercedes back...and promised to post with update...well this is how much it cost (excluding VAT)...remember also I didn´t start the engine! Fuel Tank Drain/Fill Observe Accident Prevention Regulations £148.50. Fuel Hoses Drain through/clean £89.10. Main fuel filter replace £39.60. 2 x Filter £16.02. Refuel £10 (got back to me in red). Total £303.22!!! Do I regret not flushing out with diesel? Well, yes. Once I had called Mercedes however and told them...clearly no going back. Hope this helps. Cheers...p.s. good thread, thanks.
Simon - that´s very harsh for what they´ve done. Most people report £100-£200 for everything.
Put petrol in diesel engine.Drove very short distance before realising and got car towed back to garage.They drained it and road tested it and said it was fine.First time I drove it it was juddery when in second.seems ok otherwise but I am now worried I have done some serious damage. Is this normal after a tank drain and if I´d done serious damage would it have conked out completely (I drove about 15 miles).
i´ve put 22 litres of unleaded in my passat 1.9 tdi.i had about a quarter tank of diesel already in. i never started up just got towed back to my home.what do i do now ?
Katherine - take it back to the garage if it´s not right. Check if they replaced fuel lines, filters etc the first time round.
Peter - draining the fuel tank is the safest option. Some garages will tow your car but there are specialist services that will come to your home.
I filled my petrol Cavalier with diesel. It ran rough for a while, but after a few petrol tanks full, it was fine. In fact, after the diesel had all been burnt off the car was better than before.
Help! 42 litres of V Power ´unleaded´ unwittingly put into a 93 2.4d VW Transporter Camper by someone who shall remain nameless. Has been driven >10 miles with audible pinking and smoking before mistake was realised! Left wondering my next move, suction drain?, flush (if so with what?), oil change? Can I hope that an older vehicle will be more forgiving than some of the more modern high tech models or is that just naiive wishful thinking on my part? any advice would be welcomed. thanks
Jon - as the comment above yours indicates, some older diesels cope better with petrol as the injection systems are less complicated. However it´s a risk to leave it. The tank needs to be drained, fuel lines flushed and filters replaced. Most garages should be able to do this for between £100-£200, but prices vary so get a few quotes.
I have a Y reg citroen picasso HD1. My wife put in £13.00 worth of petrol before she realised her mistake. The forecourt owner advised her to top up to the brim with diesel. Neighbour mentioned ´Redex´which i´ve put in. Anthing else I can do? The car seems to be OK but any advise/help would be appreciated.
i am a newly established business in scotland dealing with fuel drains daily, i can also supply and/or fit a device to your vehicle/s to stop the problem of misfuelling, the product has been on dragons den and won funding. the product sells online for £49.99. i can supply and fit from £35. fleet deals available please contact petrol_in_diesel@yahoo.co.uk or call 07050 353837 and ask for kevin
I put half tank of unleaded into a half tank of diesel in my BMW 1 series 2006. BMW says it will cost £700 to repair and fuel filter etc
my hubby accidently put in £20.00 of petrol in our deisil ford focus c max the car was really in the red, he realised his mistake then put in £31.00 of deisil hoping for the best, he has been driving about 15 miles today and car seems ok but should we get the engine drained and should we be concerned re long term effects or should we just keep topping up with deisil.
Just had 60lts of unleaded put in 100lt tank to fill up on 2004 merc e320 cdi.Car was driven home 3 to 4 miles
and engine coughed about 1 mile from journeys end.Will a tank drain and diesel fill up be enough.
Donna - how old is the Focus? And how much have you driven it?
Jason, hard to say. Is it still under warranty? Might be worth ringing around for a few opinions/quotes. Garages more likely to be familiar with engine.
REF MERC E320 CDI.HAD AA FUEL ASSIST DRAIN TANK,FLUSH LINES,ADD 10LTS OF FUEL WITH ADDATIVE FOR £220. CAR NOW RUNNING FINE. AA TECHNICIAN CONFIDENT OF NO FURTHER PROBLEMS.
Im not sure but I think I may have filled my 2007 BMW 320d up with unleaded petrol, it wasnt until 540 miles and one week later when I returned to the same filling station and realised I may have made the mistake, my question is, would my car have run all this time and distance on unleaded instead of diesel without having any problems, Im hoping that Im just being paranoid?Any help on this matter would be appreciated!!
Simon - if you filled up and have been driving for a week I think you would have noticed some problems. Most modern turbodiesels can´t manage more than a few miles on the wrong fuel. Either way, I´m not sure what you could do now, barring having the tank drained and lines/pump cleaned.
I have a W reg 2.0 hdi. I put 10L of unleaded in by mistake & the garage guy said itwasok to top up & keep it up... So iadded £64 diesel .. Have I done damage driving the 0.03 mileshome?
Help me, I put 20gbp in my bmw 120d and drove it for a few miles, got towed to BMW who want 6800 to repair it. My insurance is coming to inspect it, the car is 06 plate and worth around 10-12k,lots of people think they will write it off, any ideas? I dont want to invalidate my warranty
JP, impossible to tell, get the tank drained and lines cleaned if you´re worries.
Bm - depends on the damage. If BMW are to be believed you´ve totally wrecked the engine. Your choices seem to be to pay up, face you car being written off or get quotes from elsewhere. You may invalidate the warranty, but the alternatives don´t seem too enticing either.
Just hired a Toyota, when handed to me I was not informed it was diesel driven and I put petrol in it. It stopped 8 miles down the road. Was livid with hire company as I think they are at fault? Got it drained and it started again and seems fine. Does the hire company have the right to take my deposit and should they have informed me it was diesel?
KG any documents you´ve signed will almost certainly indicate that the model was a diesel.
Just put 97p worth of unleaded in my deisel tx4 black cab.It had about 20 ltrs in it .so i topped up with 36ltrs of deisel.will this be fine.
drove ML270 3 miles, 3 times before it decided not to start. Put £20 diesel in (have receipt) but friend borrowed car previously and although they sure they put diesel in their car is unleaded. Garage say poss needs new injectors, pump, filter etc (v. expensive) but they put in new pump last year. Do I go with friend, garage or petrol station labelling?
From what the garage is saying it looks like misfuelling contamination. If so the garage is probably right, but it may be worth phoning around for quotes. Be aware that if your car is still under warranty you could invalidate it if you have the work done elsewhere.
hi put £20 unleaded in peugoet 806 drove a mile then the car stopped can i just drain the tank and change the fuel filter
Derek - possibly, depends on the engine and whether it´s common-rail. Pipes may need to be flushed out.
I have put 20 litres of unleaded into a diesel 207(58plate)there was approx 10 liters of diesel already in the tank have not started the engine would a drain down be sufficient
Drain should be sufficient if you haven´t started the engine, but seek some quotes
Ive just put 20 ltrs into my 2003 BMW 320D with common-rail system.There was 10 ltrs diesel in the tank at top-up.Didnt notice problem till 10 miles later.Engine didnt cut out,just running rough.I brought car to main dealer who confirmed fuel contamination.They now want 4600 to replace fuel pump/injectors/filters.What are my options,I Would be grateful for any help/advice at this stage.
Tommy - I can only recommend you get some other quotes, and preferably from a garage someone can recommend.
i put £50 worth of ultimate unleaded into my range rover supercharge it had 30 miles of diesel already in the tank. i drove 12 miles before i realised as the car started to jerk a little. i pulled over and got the car towed to a garage. how much damage do you think may have been caused even after being drained?
Weve just put £40 of unleaded into our 05 Diesel Vauxhall Astra (accidentally, of course) Car already had 1/4 tank of diesel in and we filled it to full with petrol. Did not start engine and got a friend to tow us back home. We tried the method of suction through hose, with little luck. So have drained it ourselves from under the car. Manage to get most out, checked fuel gage and its showing just under 1/4 left in tank. Impossible for us to get the remainder. Left with the decision to top up or go to garage and pay for a drain. Any suggestions?
i filled the A4 Audi diesel car by petrol to a full, what do a do now and how will cost me!
Len - better safe than sorry. Even if the car ran fine after topping up there may be long-term damage, though you did the right thing by not turning over engine. Best to get it drained.
Freddy - get it drained. Should be 100-200 quid.
I put 80 ltrs petrol in peugeot van today drove for a mile till it started to miss fire so I stopped and towed it home took off the fuel supply pipe at the filter and connected a small 12 volt pump and pumped it out emptied filter bowl filled up with diesel and struck it up and its fine
Just put 6 litres of unleaded in mazda 3 2.0 sports car. Topped up right away with diesel. Will this be ok
John - impossible to tell. How old is the car?
hey guys, help please. after a very long journey i put £1.28 worth of unleaded into my peugot 208, 09 plate which was almost empty. i immediatly woke up and put £30 of diesel. will this be ok? any help please?
put 60 quids worth of unleaded into our 3 yr old Kia Sorento then drove it 2 miles home. Thought battery had died later on this evening, got it jumped, drove 5 miles to charge it, only twigged then that I´d put the wrong fuel in (IDIOT!!) AA guy quoting us £194 to drain fuel, but my husband thinks I´ve knackered the engine. What does anybody elsse out there think?
Jen - can´t believe you made it that far. You may have knacked the engine but it´s not possible to say from here. get the tank drained and any pumps, filters and lines cleaned out. You might get away with it.
Brad - consensus would suggest you´ll be OK. A tank drain would bring peace of mind.
Hi, I have a 04 vectra CDTI with common rail. I put 6L of unleaded in yesterday before realising and then filled the tank right up with diesel (48L). The tank on the car holds 61L so what do you think my chances are of damage with just under 10% of petrol?
I rung 2 mechanics I know (both experienced mechanics) and both said I would be fine as long as I top the tank up with diesel whenever I can.
Since receiving this advice I have added a diesel injection protector and lubricator and have driven 15 miles and the car runs perfectly but after reading up here I am abit worried.
Any advice? I really cannot afford to get the tank drained and have to drive the car alot in the next week so I am kind of stuffed
John - the mechanics are likely to have a better idea and if you´ve driven it without problems seems you´re OK. Simply not possible to know for sure though.
Hi just put 6 ltrs of unleaded in my 02 Mondeo TDCI, topped up with 48 ltrs of Diesel drove it 3 miles home, any advice please
Hi all,
I´ve got a VW Passat TDI 2000 model. My car´s tank was in reserve when I reached the gas station, and after filling around 8 ltrs. of petrol I realized that I´m doing something wrong. and after that I simply topped it up with approx. 42 Ltrs. of deisel again. The car starts ok and runs fine, I´ve only driven it a couple of miles after that. Is there something I need to do like a drain-out, or should it be ok without any harm to the engine, and can I keep running it without any risks. Please help!!
just put 8ltrs of unleaded into my peugeot 406hdi, had 1/2 a tank of diesel.then top up with diesal to full. drove home 10 miles ,no apparent effect but what will happen and what should i do
my father borrowed me his 4 year old S type jaguar 2.9 turbo diesel, the tank was 75% full, so i decided to fill it up,,about 35 pounds worth and drove of normally,,afew days later it suddenly came to me that i d put petrol instead of diesel,,,shiiit!!,,th car has been driving normal,but i m worried,,dont know whether to tell my dad or not,,i ve since put 33 pounds of diesel in now and will keep topping it up,, and keeping my fingers crossed
I put petrol into my 07 Diesel Passat. 2.0 TDI. Garage drained and works fine. However I think consumption may have deteriorated. Is this likely?
Hi, i wont repeat what everyone else is saying with just different amounts and cars but what i will add is...
I was appalled at the attitude of the attendant at the Shell garage near Grange Hill, Essex. i didn´t realise till i went to put the pump back into the holder and when i asked about my recommended action i was told 'what do you want me to do about it' without so much as a look in the eye. i voiced my thoughts that i couldn´t have been the only person to ever fill up his f**kin van with the wrong juice on one of his shifts and he said ' my job is only to sell the fuel!' after some very apt name calling i drained most the tank on site, refilled with derv and I will let it run almost completely out before topping with derv again. runs very well when warm but starts sluggishly when cold. i will be emailing Shell within the next few days to complain about their staff and recommend that they have a small leaflet explaining the best course of action, maybe recommended mobile tradespersons and that they get ALL staff to read a short paragraph on this correct advice. Then make sure they use that information and give out this leaflet with the courtesy you would expect from a national company.
on saturday I put £20 of diesel into my transit van.Using the van today it conked out cos it is full of petrol,with receipt which stated diesel I went back to the garage and the owner retrieved the tape from Saturday cos he thought I´d put petrol in by mistake,I never thought about a tape however there I was as clear as day with diesel hose in hand at time stated on receipt putting so called diesel in. I was told then to sort van out ,garage,towing,etc,and take receipt to garage.Then fill a complaint form in and wait.No guarantee I will get anything back.You see the gentleman thought I may have used the £20 diesel then filled it up somewhere else and put petrol in.I am now waiting for the garage to tell me what came out of the tank on the van and roughly in money or litres how much.
Has anyone had this problem or can advise.It may be about £100 to rectify but I feel annoyed cos it wasn´t my fault.
I accidently put 15 litres of biodiesel in my passat tdi 2.0 so I diluted it with 20 litres of ordinary diesel . Should I get it chacked out ?
I have just put 5.75lts of UL into a 1.5dci Nissan Note 09 plate. The tank had about 6 lts deisel left in it. Realised and pushed car off petrol station forecourt without starting the engine. What is best plan of action. I am in AA but no garages would have been open tonight. Will call AA tomorrow for advice. Is it best to go to a Nissan Dealers or a dedicated misfuel garage etc. Do you also think I may have damaged engine if I didnt start it up
i´ve found this site really helpful as i put £20 of unleaded into my near-empty 05 astra cdti on boxing day, not the best christmas present i´ve ever recieved! i drove it home (7 miles) and didn´t realise until my fiance drove it later on that day (3 miles) and told me it wasn´t running right, i immediatly realised what i had stupidly done. Straight away i booked the car in at my local garage, it had the fuel system flushed, fuel filter replaced and £25 of diesel put in all for £92. So far it seems ok, so all being well i´ve got away with it, i will definatley stop and think before re-fueling in future.
I ended up being towed to Nissan Dealership by AA. They drained tank and flushed and new fuel filter. Cost £150 day before xmas eve. Done 300 plus miles and car seems to be running great with no ill effect from misfuel. Glad I didnt start car up. Nissan dealership had 3 other misfuels in that week. One was a Qashqai that drove for 20 miles with unleaded and bust the catalytic converter and cost £800 plus tank drain
My partner put £30 of unleaded in my 406 hdi, it had about £10 of diesel left in it, drove it 3 miles and it started running rough, realised and switched it off, going to get it drained etc on monday, is it likely to have damaged the engine and fuel system?
Just put 6 litres of petrol in my almost empty Chrysler grand voyager CRD - topped it up to max with diesel and drove 3 miles home. It seemed fine. Will there be repercussions?
Put 30 lts of super unleaded into my 57 plate Ford s max 2lt Diesel. It had about £10 of diesel left in tank. Drove it 5 miles to driving range. Hit 50 balls returned to car and it would not start. Realised what may have happened and call rescue company. Car towed to Ford garage. £441 to drain, flush replace filter but lose last 9 months of warranty. Or £2600 to drain, flush, replace filter, injectors, pipes and pump but warranty not affected. Any advise please.
Hi, every time I fill up my Ford Focus 09 plate, with diesel it leaks from the bottom, the garage have told me it me, numerous people have filled it up for me and the same problem is there, it seems to come from some breather pipe, can you advise?
Have put unleaded into ´98 laguna and driven 25 miles before realised. Current mix is about 50/50 with room to top up with 3/4plus of diesel. Any advice will be appreciated
hi, i put £10 worth of unleaded into my seat leon tdi 51plate....drove the car for an hour, was lacking power and stuttering.parked the car, and when i returned to turn it on it kept turning over and wouldnt start....could i get away with topping it up with more diesel? as i had 5pounds of diesel in already before i added 10 pounds of petrol??
I have just put £25 of unleaded into my V reg ford galaxy. I have not turned the engine on, but how do you drain the tank cheaply! There was about 1 gallon already in the tank.
Put £10 of petrol in my month old Seat Leon 1.9tdi. 3 hours and £200 later, its running fine. Glad i didn´t splash out on the 2.0 common rail
I have a VW Golf 2.0 Ltr TDi. I have mistakenly put 1.3 ltrs of BP Ultimate unleaded in the tank, relising my mistake I topped the tank with 50 ltrs of BP Ultimate diesel giving about 1.6% dilution of my tank. I have had to drive 200 miles, will I have caused damage to my cars engine if so what shoud I do to sort out the problem please.
My husband filled our newly bought Diesel BWM X5 with Petrol and drove it for half a mile. It only stopped after half an mile and puffed out lots of black smoke. We contacted the garage next door and they said the fuel needs to be drained and filters changed. They did not know how much it will cost. Hence, we contacted our insurance which initially said it covers this in accidental damage but then said that the decision is pending with senior managers. Do not know what to expect? Will I ever get my car back?
Slapped 6 litres of unleaded in an empty tank of a diesel Pug 307 SW estate ..what a dopey plonker i thought after. Was too embarassed to inform so i just drove her home 2k and did some reading... went back to the garage and filled the tank with Diesel and drove it for about ten miles and its not gone down yet so i am just praying....please
I put 7.5 litres of high octane petrol in the almost empty tank of my wife´s Peugeot 406 2-litre diesel. I filled up with diesel(58 litres) and drove the 70 miles home (without problems)where I topped up again with diesel. Should I do more or continue to hope its OK ??
Hello
I have tried to find out if my renault megane scenic (1998) has a commom-rail injection or not on the web but cannot find info anywhere,,, i put £6 of petrol in a nearly empty tank drove for about a mile and was advised to fill it up with diesel which i did .. from what you say if my car hasn´t got a common-rail injection my problems might not be so bad but how do i find out if it has or not..
I filled .5litre petrol & 60litre diesel in my 2008 model bmw 320d. I have driven around 600miles so far. Please advise. The engine seems to be running fine.
My 04 Kia Sedona (2.9) tank was empty so I put £30 worth of unleaded in, instead of Diesel! I´ve started it up 3 times and driven in for about 5 miles in total!Didn´t even occur to me until it stated chugging! I managed to drive home. My mates gonna drain it tomorrow, Am I likely to have ruined the engine? Is it gonna cost me a fortune? I am gutted :-(
Hi i just put 10litres of ethenol 85 into my unleaded fiat punto. i drove about quarter of a mile. would i be ok if i diluted it with 20litres of unleaded? please help thanks
Sounds a bit risky kerry - safer to get it drained
hi, ive just put 18litres into my pt cruisers 68litre tank. the aa suggest that less than 10% should do no real damage. if i siphon out the tank until its as good as empty and fill it back up. will this be a good a fix as any. i havent started the vehicle yet.
have put petrol in Renault Scenic 1.9dci. Drove about 3 miles, now car will not start. Done nothing yet. Please help.
I just filled 60 litres of unleaded petrol into a 2008 Mercedes S class CDI 4matic before realising. I´ve only turned on the engine twice, 1st moving the car 5 meters away from the pumps and the again for 2 seconds to get into out of Park to load onto the back of the recovery truck. Waiting now til the morning to resolve this matter. Any advice would be much appreicated.
I have put £4 of Petrol in a 57 plate VW Passat 2.0TDI 170BHP yesterday. I stragight away put in £40 of Deisel. So far no problems. any advice?
I just put £3 worth of E85 in my audi av 2.5tdi... it was already on a quarter of a tank... i immediately put £40 of diesel in... think am gonna have probs?
put 43 gbp of petrol in my bmw 330d and drove 100m before realising it was poss. (US nozzles make this impossible). Car now at dealer and they are quoting 7000GBP warranty and insurance a no go - any advice is appreciated. Can this car be saved? Can this car ever be sold in the future? thanks
Kirby, the main dealer will wanna replace half the engine... take it to a non dealer just a normal mechanic and have them flush out the entire system...should cost you no more then 500 GBP then throw them an extra 20 after if it starts.... when selling it dont tell anyone this happened...all second hand cars are sold as seen!
help. iv just put £3 worth of petrol into a skoda octavia i immediately put £15 worth of diesel in to drive home, the car has run fine to get me home!! what should I do now!!
Hi my husband just put £30 worth of petrol into a peugeot 807 by mistake. We didn´t realise and set off for a day out. After about 30 miles the car engine failure light came on and the car went into limp mode. Amazingly we got home and it was then that we smelt petrol and realised the mistake. My husband is draining the tank as we speak and will then fill with diesel and some cleaning stuff. Should we get the filter and/or anything else changed before going on a long journey? Do you know what are the chances of long term damage? Advice would be much appreciated.
put £40 worth of unleaded into a Mazda 6 TS2 03 plate which was more or less empty at the time. Drove 2 miles and realised my mistake (car also started to chug at the same moment). Paid 911 recovery to drain down (£220) have done 50miles since and it seems ok....fingers crossed....
hello, my girlfriend jus put £4 worth of petrol into my 2005 vauxhall astra cdti 1.3, i already had £20 of diesel in the car, i have moved the car from the petrol station and parked it around the corner, since its just a small amount would i be able to dilute the car by filling the diesel to the brim?
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I put half a tank of unleaded in my four-year-old plate Astra yesterday, it ran fine until the ECU took exception to it and stopped the engine.
I had the tank flushed out and it is back to normal, last time I did it was 2 years ago to this very same car, that was nearly a full tank of unleaded, out of the service station, whipped onto the motorway quickly up to 70+mph and then conked out.