If you have misfuelled your petrol engine with diesel, then there is no need to panic. This can happen to anyone, in fact only in UK, every three minutes a driver puts a wrong fuel in his or her vehicle. In the types of misfuelling putting petrol in diesel engine is the most common, with more than 80 percent of misfuelled vehicles being those who have diesel engines but their tanks have been filled with petrol by drivers.
This article answers all your questions revolving around the subject of petrol in diesel engine by mistake.
Contents
If you’ve involuntarily put petrol in your diesel car, you are not the only one to do that. It can happen to you when you are in a hurry and mistakenly end up at wrong fuel point. What can worsen things for you is your negligence. If you act smart and get the wrong fuel flushed timely, your engine will not be ruined by extensive damages. Here’s your complete guide to wrong fueling.
When petrol mixes with the diesel, it contaminates the fuel and reduces the lubrication in the engine. Resultantly, the components of the engine rub against each other with greater friction. Metal particles flow through the fuel system and cause damage to certain components of the engine.
It will be difficult to start the vehicle if you’ve misfuelled it with petrol.Starting problem can be greater if the vehicle is warm. The engine can get noisy if you add a bit of extra load. Moreover, you can notice emission issues and smoky exhaust when you drive it. As soon as you notice signs, immediately stop and switch off.
If you’ve only poured a small amount of petrol in the diesel tank, you can get away with it by maintaining 95% to 5% ratio (diesel: petrol). However, we recommend you get it drained completely to save your vehicle from extensive damages. Putting the greater amount of petrol can cause severe issues because it contaminates the fuel.
Do not start the car and take out the keys, if you’ve wrong fueled the diesel vehicle. Ignition would cause the petrol to flow through the fuel system and make you pay for expensive repairs afterwards. If you drive, things can get worse. Henceforth, keep the engine switched off until the fuel is removed.
Park your car at a safe place and put into neutral. Don’t start the engine and if you’ve already driven then immediately turn off the engine. Take the keys out; call a fuel assist team and get the wrong fuel flushed. After removing the mixed fuel, refill the tank with the correct fuel and if when the tank has been filled with diesel and you are back on the road. You can use a fuel additive to ensure that there remains no drop of contaminated fuel.
Time and cost depend upon the damage caused and the method of recovery. Recovery via mobile wrong fuel recovery van will take only an hour and the costs will not exceed a few hundred pounds. If the vehicle has already travelled a fair distance with the contaminated fuel, costs of repair work can climax to thousands, and in some cases needing a replacement engine, and can take up to 5 working days.
The answer is YES. If the mixed fuel is flushed improperly, your vehicle is prone to risks in future. Although the grave problems won’t occur certainly the fuel system of your car can suffer. Traces of contaminated fuel and metal particles can cause a decline in the performance of your car.
You will have to read the insurance policy documents to know whether you can make a claim or not for drainage and repair expenses. It is estimated that about 30% insurers in the UK won’t pay for the expenses you bear for putting petrol into your vehicle. If the documents contain a misfuelling cover, contact your insurer and you won’t have to bear the repairs expenses.
After putting petrol in diesel mistakenly, don’t go for repairs or replacements without getting in touch with the manufacturer first if your car is under warranty. Warranty may be invalidated if you replace a part such as fuel filters. Hence, we recommend you to give a call to your manufacturer first if you ever confront such circumstances.
Unless your car is under warranty, we recommend you change fuel filters. It will guard your engine as well as fuel system against future damage and ensure your car is restored to pre-loss condition. Moreover, fuel filters are neither too costly nor time-taking. Henceforth, get it changed to minimize the effects of contaminated fuel.
You can save yourself from a major damage if you follow certain guidelines to avoid putting petrol in the diesel. You can fit a diesel fuel cap to fuel neck so that the petrol nozzle doesn’t fit into it. Keep yourself focused when filling the fuel in your vehicle. If you stay focused, you will save yourself from a ‘misfuelling misadventure’. Putting petrol in diesel can be problematic, but you can surely get away with it if you cope with it vigilantly.
At the end, we would like to thank GMM1, wrong fuel drain specialists in London for their valuable input in writing this article.
