Wrong Fuel in car, All You Need to Know

Petrol in a diesel engine or diesel in petrol? Here is what you need to know according to London’s wrong fuel drain experts

This article covers everything one needs to know about wrong fuel in car:

 

• What Happens If You Put the Wrong Fuel in Your Car?
• What Happens When You Put Petrol in a Diesel Engine?
• What Happens If You Put Diesel in a Petrol Vehicle?
• Symptoms of Wrong Fuel in Car
• What to Do When Petrol Goes Into a Diesel Car?
• I have driven after Putting Petrol in Diesel, is it troublesome?
• What to do if you’ve driven after Putting Petrol in Diesel?
• Removing Wrong Fuel from Car
• Time Required for Flushing Wrong Fuel
• Repairs going to be required
• What If Petrol Is Not Flushed Properly From Diesel Car?
• Is It Necessary to Change Fuel Filter?
• How Much Will it Cost?
• Can I Have My Cash Back on Fuel Draining?
• Wrong Fueling and Car Breakdown Cover
• What If the Car is Under Warranty?
• How to Prevent Misfuelling?
• Final words

What Happens If You Put the Wrong Fuel in Your Car?

Putting the wrong fuel in car accidentally is not a rare phenomenon at all. Figures obtained from a research reveal that you are just one out of 150,000 drivers in UK who do so every year, that’s one every four minutes.

Of course, it can happen to you if you are in a hurry and you involuntarily put fuel into your vehicle. However, it can cost you thousands of Pounds if you don’t get the wrong fuel drained out timely. Here’s your complete auto-guide to brief you about the risks involved with misfuelling coupled with the best possible solution.

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What Happens When You Put Petrol in a Diesel Engine?

Unlike diesel, which also serves the purpose of lubrication, petrol will play havoc with your vehicle by causing friction in the fuel-pump and other components of the engine when you put it into a diesel vehicle. It would cause less damage if you haven’t started driving but If you couldn’t realise it,It will mix with the diesel, flow through the fuel system and the engine may cease any moment. If you have added petrol in diesel, get it drained from GMM1 Wrong Fuel Assist at the cheapest prices.

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What Happens If You Put Diesel in a Petrol Engine?

By dint of larger size of the diesel pump nozzle, the chances of filling a petrol vehicle with diesel are very slim. Simultaneously, it is not as hazardous as in the aforesaid (petrol in diesel) case because you will most likely be unable to ignite your vehicle due to clogging effect of the diesel on spark plugs. The diesel will have to be compressed or flushed to ignite the engine.

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Symptoms of Wrong Fuel in Car

The symptoms which can give you a hint of misfuelling include lumpy and uneven acceleration, misfires and large amounts of smoke from the exhaust. In most cases, the engine will not start properly. The sooner you stop driving and drain the wrong fuel; the better it is for your vehicle and for your pocket too.

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What to Do When Petrol Goes Into a Diesel Car?

You better take an immediate action if you’ve put petrol in a diesel vehicle. The first thing to do is ‘not to start your vehicle’. Put your car in neutral and ‘call an efficient fuel draining service’ for assistance and get the issue resolved ASAP. Sometimes, even unlocking of the car can cause the mixed fuel to move to certain parts of the engine. Ignition would cause the petrol to flow through the entire fuel system and inflict severe damage upon the vehicle. You will be left scratching your head if you show negligence.

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I Drove after Putting Petrol in Diesel, Am I in Trouble?

Without an iota of doubt, your vehicle is going to suffer more if you’ve driven after filling the fuel tank of your diesel vehicle with petrol. Although it is difficult to specify or cover the details of damage comprehensively, following parts can be affected substantially:

• Fuel-pump
• Catalytic converters
• Injectors and Carburetor
• Fuel tank contamination
• Valve guides and valve seats
• Complete engine failure in case of prolonged problem

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What to do if you’ve driven after Putting Petrol in Diesel?

If you were in a hurry and you drove the car without realising that you had actually misfuelling your car, here’s what to do:

• Pull over at a safe place.
• Immediately turn off the engine and take the keys out.
• Call a recovery service and get the wrong fuel flushed.
• Get it refilled properly and you’ll be back on the road again

The extent of damage will depend upon multiple factors but generally speaking, the longer you’ve driven, greater can be the damage.

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Removing Wrong Fuel from Car

If you are in a fix after putting the wrong fuel in your vehicle, call a reliable Wrong Fuel Recovery Service for assistance. Make sure you don’t hand over your vehicle to a quack. Seek the services of trusted wrong fuel experts to get you back on the road smoothly. Usually there are three ways of dealing with this adversity.

Fuel Draining via Mobile Recovery Unit

For roadside recovery of the vehicle, wrong fuel technicians will approach you where you are and carry out the whole process. They’ll have a kit that includes a storage tank of 250-300 litre capacity fuel tanks that can hold explosive substances. It will have two pumps for containing the drained diesel and petrol.

To ensure the safety standards, the apparatus must comply ATEX directives. Well-trained technicians will be able to flush the fuel within 20 minutes and the tank will then be refilled with correct fuel to get you back on the road.

• Recovery at Garage Depot

If you choose this method, your vehicle will be collected by specialist garage team and repaired at their repair centre. Technicians can use a static pump to flush the fuel or remove the tank and drain the mixed fuel. Afterwards, they will re-attach the tank and refill it with correct so that you may resume driving.

•  Recovery at Main Dealer’s Service Centre

Your vehicle will be brought to the main dealer’s site and a thorough inspection will be made to assess the condition of the vehicle as well as the damage. The repair work can take up to 5 working days. Therefore, it is a comparatively lengthier process of getting your wrong-fueled vehicle back.

Choosing the right method of recovery is highly significant as your vehicle’s performance in future can depend upon it to a good extent. Henceforth, ponder over it if you ever face such a scenario.

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Time Required for Flushing Wrong Fuel

The time required to drain the wrong fuel mostly depends upon the amount of wrong fuel, how far you’ve driven; efficiency of recovery service team and some other factors. If you had poured only a small quantity of incompatible fuel into the tank, it can be drained in just 20-30 minutes by roadside recovery mobile units and you may resume your journey within an hour.

Contrarily, if you’ve sought recovery service of a garage, you will get it in a couple of days or more. Lastly, if your car has been taken to main dealer’s place, 5 working days can pass before you get it back.  It is recommended that you pick a time-efficient recovery service with the superior technical expertise to avert any inconvenience.

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What If Petrol Is Not Flushed Properly From Diesel Engine?

Potential damage can occur if petrol is not drained properly from your car’s diesel engine. Some of the parts will have to be replaced e.g. fuel pump and injection systems. Moreover, delayed draining of wrong fuel can lead to an irreversible loss in the engine.

Although you need to take an action on quick terms but don’t show an overly hasty approach while getting your car recovered. It is highly advised that you choose trustworthy recovery service if you wish to get your vehicle back in roadworthy condition.

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Am I Going to Need Engine Repair Work?

Of course, the required repairs will depend on the damage caused and convenience of the car owner. However, common repairs include new fuel lines, new filters; new fuel pump and injectors. Wrong fuel experts can give you proper advice in this regard.

Is It Necessary to Change Fuel Filter?

If you have driven the car after filling the tank with wrong fuel, it is a wiser approach to change the filter as a precautionary measure against excessive damage. Change of filter will help engine regain its efficiency after being contaminated by incompatible fuel. In addition, a fuel filter is neither an expensive part nor it takes hours to fit.

Thus changing fuel filter is good for your vehicle. There’s only one warning associated with changing the fuel filter i.e. you might lose your manufacturer’s warranty. Hence, you need to be very careful while taking this step.

How Much Will Wrong Fuel Drain Cost?

The cost will remain in hundreds if you are lucky enough to have put only a small volume of wrong fuel and didn’t drive. On the opposite, recovery bills can climax to thousands if the fuel-tank is brimming with incompatible fuel and you drove the vehicle too. In addition, different recovery service providers can charge differently. If you seek the assistance of well-versed wrong fuel experts who stick to ‘fair-charge policy’, you have a good chance of saving some pounds.

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Can I Have My Cash Back on Fuel Draining?

Whether you can get your cash back or not depends upon your recovery service provider. In UK, not all, but some of the garages provide you with the luxury to have your cash back in return for the amount of fuel drained from your vehicle. It is advised to find out their policy when you give a call to a wrong fuel recovery service instead of arguing on the matter afterwards.

Wrong Fueling and Car Breakdown Cover

It is very important for you to ask your break down cover provider if they provide misfuelling assistance or not? Surprisingly most of the main providers don’t and charge extra costs if you are stuck with your vehicle after filling wrong fuel in it.

Some insurers will pay for tank draining only but not for additional damage. Contrarily, some will pay for damage but not for draining. Some will cater for both and some for neither of them. You’ll have to go through insurance policy documents to find out whether it includes a ‘misfuelling cover’ or not.

Statistics show that nearly 30% of the insurers don’t pay for misfuelling claim in the UK. If you are fortunate to have misfuelling cover, give a call to your insurer and follow the instructions. If you don’t get in touch with them within the prescribed time limit, you won’t be able to make a claim afterwards.

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What If the Car is Under Warranty?

If your car is under warranty and you take remedial measures without informing the manufacturer, it is very likely that the warranty will be invalidated. Henceforth, call your manufacturer immediately in order to avoid losing warranty.

How to Prevent Misfuelling?

Of course it’s like a bolt from the blue when you come across such a mishap; however, you can prevent yourself against a similar misadventure by acting upon the following guidelines.

• While you are at a fuel station, don’t be distracted by what’s happening around you. Stay focused and make sure that you don’t fall a prey to wrong fueling. Even if you are in a hurry, take a breath of calmness and carry out the task amicably because haste makes waste.
• Fit a diesel fuel cap to your fuel neck. Being relatively narrower, it will stop petrol nozzles from fitting into an incompatible fuel tank. Resultantly, you won’t have to confront any adversity.
• Don’t be taken in by the colour of the hose or nozzle while filling up. Always pay heed to the pump’s trigger label as well as the fuel grade indicator very carefully to avert wrong fueling.
• Set reminders for yourself if you’ve replaced your vehicle with a different fuel vehicle so that you may not end up reaching wrong fuel point.

Final Words

Making mistakes such as putting wrong fuel into vehicle is natural.What matters the most is how you cope with it. If you follow the above-given guidelines, you can certainly avert financial setbacks brought by wrong fueling and your vehicle will stay roadworthy too.

This blog post is written by wrong fuel experts of GMM1 London.

 

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