Just done something too stupid for words ....put diesel in my crossflow

[HendrixsWhiteStratReturns]

Ran it for about a mile before it conked out and car now recovered home on a low loader anyone done it ? Is it recoverable by flushing out the tank a few times and running unleaded through the fuel system ?

I feel physically sick  - the car was running perfectly 

[Jonathan Kay]

Is it recoverable by flushing out the tank a few times and running unleaded through the fuel system ?

Yes. You can do it yourself or get it to a local garage or use a mobile service (the last time we discussed it they were pretty expensive).

It will come out all right in the end.

Jonathan

[SM25T]

Better than putting petrol in a diesel ... no lubricity and kills a lot of components.

[Ivaan]

I've done it to the R1. Got about a mile, and knew straight away what I'd done. Recovered home. Emptied fuel tank into a couple of jerry cans, then flushed through the fuel line. Drained what I could from the carbs. Stuck in fresh UNLEADED, and it ran fine.

Used the old fuel in my van over a few weeks. Just put half a gallon in it at every fill up.

No damage, just a red face !

[MADMALC]

Stay cool H it will be OK.

[TomB]

Probably much easier to deal with than if a tintop! This is what I’d do if I did it on my K series - Syphon as much diesel out of the tank as possible and brim with unleaded. Then I’d undo the feed pipe after the fuel filter, undo the other end of the pipe at the engine & draw/ suck the contents out. I’d disconnect the injector rail and get any thing out from there. I’d then disconnect the electrical connection to the injectors and crank the engine on the starter to draw fuel through. Then try and start normally. 

[HendrixsWhiteStratReturns]

Thanks Ivaan/All

I’m still absolutely furious at my own abject stupidity to be honest - thanks to James Whiting the car has been running better than ever and I go and do something utterly brainless like that...

The missus has said that she has never seen me so crestfallen....oh well, a lesson learned.

Thanks guys,

 

HWS

 

 

[Golf Juliet Tango]

     

How do you think I ended up with 6 spare fuel containers full of diesel in my garage?  

Was it a BP garage? At these both petrol and diesel have pumps labelled "Ultimate" with blue backgrounds (different shades of blue) but not green or black.

[Bricol]

I tried filling a V8 massive petrol SUV thingie I rented for work in the USA with diesel - petrol pump hoses were green for diesel and black for petrol . . . couldn't work out why the nozzle didn't fit, or indeed hitting the middle grade gas button on self-serve didn't get me anything . . .

 

[SJD]

Believe it or not I did the same thing last month  and like you I couldn't believe it

I got home OK but when I went to start the 7 for its annual trip to James Whiting for its check up and MoT it wouldn't start. I'd put 3 galls of VPower diesel on top of about 3 galls of Vpower petrol already in the tank. I didn't realise Shell sold VPower diesel! I pumped most of it out using the SU pump which replaced the old mechanical one, leaving just a little which I thought would be so dilute it wouldn't be a problem. BIG mistake, it started OK but pumped out clouds of white smoke  so I drained it again and this time took the petrol tank out and flushed it with clean petrol and then it was fine.

Getting rid of the petrol/diesel mixture was another story.

[HendrixsWhiteStratReturns]

SJD 

Exactly what I did !!! VPower diesel....bloody pumps !’

Sorted mine this morning and all good !

[Jonathan Kay]

That's good, well done.

Jonathan

PS: Other episodes of brain fade can be shared here. :-)

PPS: And now I know the origin of crestfallen.

[Paul Deslandes]

I thought BP had fixed their Ultimate pump colour issue.  I did this a few years ago on my '76 308 but fortunately realised before I tried to start her up and had only added 20 litres.  Being an older car it didn't have the smaller fuel inlet to stop diesel being put in. 

When I went online afterwards I discovered that BP had set aside a considerable sum to settle claims for not clearly marking the different fuel types.

I ran my 4-stroke mower for several years on the 50/50 petrol-diesel mix.

Don't beat yourself up Martin, we've all done something similar.

Paul

[rj]

I'll second that you have to watch out when filling at Shell stations. THe V-Power diesel nossle is very similar to the petrol ditto.
 

[john aston]

V Power diesel - I harbour strong suspicions that its main component is snake oil. I too once filled up by mistake with the stuff - but only a financial one as I wanted cheap diesel - and there was no discernible difference at all . 

[SM25T]

I first experienced it in the Netherlands about it 12 years ago ... filled My Tdi Octavia with it at a Shell station .... It made a very enjoyable tankful !

[Stridey]

No shame in doing it. (Or rather I take solace that others have done the same thing)

I put petrol into a diesel van, but only a few litres. Luckily cured by filling with diesel.

Signage could be better and use of colours on hoses etc.Even separation of hoses in holsters, I find myself looking to see if pump handles have inadvertently been swapped into holders. 

One tip. Always grab the receipt and stuff in a pocket. That way you can always check what fuel you bought and where/when if you run in to trouble.

I was sure I couldn't have mis-fuelled, but a quick check meant easy diagnosis of the problem.

[polainm]

My wife had a brand new £45,000 Mercedes E300 diesel hybrid as a company car, delivered just before we drove to south of France. On the way back I thought I'd put Premium diesel in it, but admit I was tired. Filled with petrol (colour coding of pump was different to UK pumps). After 20 litres went in I thought  F**K! So I put another 20 litres of diesel in! Then I thought that this super hi-tech engine might not cope...so began the phone calls in poor French and had two young children very angry. Wife didn't speak to me for weeks...had to shell out £500 to French garage in back street while he messed about with an engine way beyond his abilities, with lit cigarette. A very bad experience....so you are fine :-)

[Golf Juliet Tango]

I thought BP had fixed their Ultimate pump colour issue. 

It was at least six years ago, so you may well be right.  That they had to compensate people had passed me by, maybe I could been in the queue!  

If only the two fuels were not in adjacent holsters, things would be simpler.  It only needs 300mm or so of separation with suitable backing colours.

[HendrixsWhiteStratReturns]

Hi all

Thanks Paul - appreciate your words !

have now heard from 2 ( and possibly three) people who have done the same thing, all at the same garage. I’m driving out there tomorrow to look at the pumps and if they’re poorly marked will make a claim against Shell.

The car is now fine and running A1 but it was a horrible feeling 

[Jonathan Kay]

... if they’re poorly marked will make a claim against Shell.

On your own or with others who have done the same? Is there a group attempting this already?

Standards and regulations discussed in this MoneySavingExpert forum from 2012!

What's your estimate of your damages? (Remember there is very little chance of punitive or exemplary damages in England.) 

If you do go down that route keep immaculate as-near-to-contemporaneous-as-possible records. 

But how about discussing it with Trading Standards instead? Or an interested journalist?

Jonathan

[Paul Deslandes]

I doubt you'll get very far, especially as no damage was done to your engine.

The problem doesn't just lie with the pump marking but with the driver who forgets that they're driving the diesel car today rather than their usual  petrol vehicle.  The answer has to be mechanical and somewhat more sophisticated than the current two-size nozzle which only works one way and stops putting diesel in a petrol car.  Simple rfid tagging would work, and could be retro fitted to both pumps and fillers; much simpler than complicated nozzle shapes that have been suggested such as the square and triangle shapes like the kids learning toy.  The device could either warn or inhibit delivery.

You'll probably find that the oil companies aren't interested as they'll be out of business in 20 years (apparently).

Or just stop and think before you fill.

Paul

 

[Jonathan Kay]

The answer has to be mechanical and somewhat more sophisticated than the current two-size nozzle which only works one way and stops putting diesel in a petrol car.  Simple rfid tagging would work, and could be retro fitted to both pumps and fillers; much simpler than complicated nozzle shapes that have been suggested such as the square and triangle shapes like the kids learning toy.  The device could either warn or inhibit delivery.

A couple of medical analogies:

There have been several instances of severe damage caused by drugs being injected into the spinal cord rather than a vein. It's widely used as a test case for improving safety. One proposed improvement is an incompatible connection in the infusion kit for the lesser used route. I don't know if that was adopted anywhere.

We still sometimes give the wrong blood to patients. I worked on this for the last ten years of my hospital career. Design and implementation of autoidentification technology was a major contributor to the improved process. But one repeated argument was whether that should be based on barcodes or RFID. The line I always took was that the big issue was using autoidentification at all, and beyond that it was pragmatic... but in our projects it always turned to be barcodes. This sounds the same!

How is it done in aviation?

Jonathan

[Paul Deslandes]

problem would be practicability of fitting a scanner in the nozzle (also true of RFID reader) and ensuring integrity of barcode or tag.  Electricity and fuel nozzles do not make make a good combination!!

Paul

[Jonathan Kay]

I've been thinking of little else! :-)

The reader could be built into either the nozzle... or the car...

Best so far:

1. Reader on nozzle, either battery powered communications to pump or cabling along hose
2. Barcode next to filler on car.
3. Reading done as the nozzle approaches the filler rather than when it's in place, as that makes the alignment easier.
4. Reader says "OK" or "STOP" before it delivers.
5. ± User has to accept before pump starts.
6. ± User override of "STOP".

Jonathan