Unleaded in a diesel?

JohnnyG

JohnnyG

JohnnyG

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At 5am this morning whilst tripping on a handful of flu pills and neurofen I cleverly filled a hired diesel van with £45 worth of premium unleaded.
The bloke in the shop pointed out my error when I tried unsuccessfully to pay with my company diesel card so luckily I didn't try to start the van afterwards.
Now I'm prepared to pay for my mistake obviously but as I just got picked up by someone else and left the van there to be rescued I just want to be sure that as the vehicle wasn't turned over with the unleaded in it should just be a simple job of draining the tank and refilling it with diesel I have to pay for as there shouldn't be any engine damage, or am I just being optimistic?:)
 
shouldnt be any engine damage really no. but you may have to pay to dispose of the fuel.
 
My father did this to his BMW 330d and he drove it 1 mile home. It had zero ill effects. Still running fine to this day - that was circa 3 years ago. BMW just came and picked it up, I presume they drained, flushed and refilled as the bill wasn't huge - surprising for BMW!
 
Yeah it will be fine. Remember diesels are rather frugal and the filter casing itself will contain enough fuel to run a few miles on its own. Will just need emptying, it's had a nice clean now.
 
Deffo a fuel system flush if you've run the engine. Some folk say it'll be fine, but some of the more modern electronic diesel injection systems can suffer adversely for being run on petrol - something to to with diesel fuel and lubrication of the innards of the injection pump and the way petrol acts as a solvent. (not such a problem with the older mechanical pumps due to more tolerance in the engineering).

If you've just contaminated the tank it should be ok with draining and flushing out, possibly changing the fuel filter too.
 
Cheers, as it wasn't run with any unleaded in I was hoping a simple flush would do, didn't want the repairers claiming I'd knackered anything else :)
 
Stonedofmoo said:
Yeah it will be fine. Remember diesels are rather frugal and the filter casing itself will contain enough fuel to run a few miles on its own. Will just need emptying, it's had a nice clean now.
Click to expand...

Stonedofmoo, meet common rail fuel injection, common rail fuel injection, meet Stonedofmoo.



Not starting it was the right thing to no do. It will be fine after the tank has been drained the filled with diesel.
 
I know someone who filled their diesel car with unleaded about a week ago and drove 2 miles before the engine stopped. They found a mobile company that come to the roadside, drain the tank, flush the tank and engine etc. and are kind enough to give you 5 litre of diesel. The cost was £150 including disposal of the unleaded.
 
as long as the unleaded doesn't wash the diesel (more importantly the lubricants in it) out of the pump all is well.

only ever seen a couple of pumps killed that way out of dozens of fuelling mistakes.
 
£150? That would be handy and it's also handy to know you can get it done for that amount if they try and rip me off:)
 
I've done worse, I filled my 3 series with a fuel can full of water. It made it about a mile before cutting out.

During the fuel shortages in 2000 we had some cans stored in my dads garage. Once the shortage was over I filled my car with those remaining. My younger brother had inadventently left one full of water mixed in with them.

I was less than pleased.
 
tbh, you havent started it so it hasnt done any damage which is good. it only damages when it pulls through the pump, which it wont do until its started. best and cheapest way out - syphon it into suitable containers, then fill up with diesel. then find some other car to stick the petrol in.
 
My Dad did it with a 320d. BMW came and collected the car. Emptied out the tank, washed and I think they replaced the fuel line to the tank. Came to £300.

Can anyone else see a BMW theme here? :p
 
My friends wife filled up her Mercedes coupe diesel with unleaded and then proceeded to blast down the motorway as she was late for a meeting, she got around 5 miles before the car spluttered to a halt. Mecerdes charged her a fortune for the repairs but she somehow managed to wrangle the money out of her insurance.
 
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