Have you put PETROL in a DIESEL car?
(Or diesel in a petrol car?)
Call FUELFIXER NOW
Free from Landlines: 0800 015 9564
Free from Mobiles: 0345 073 9672
30 minute response time nationwide
1) We come to you, drain the tank and flush the fuel filters and pumps with clean fuel
2) Your car is not ruined, it does not need to sit in a garage for a week, nor does it need to be towed away or have expensive specialist work
ALL MAJOR CREDIT/DEBIT CARDS ACCEPTED
Even if the car has been driven we can rectify the problem and do a full draindown and flush – in 99% of cases this will have your car running normally again straight away.
We come to you. We are fully mobile and carry all the kit needed. We have professional fuel evacuation equipment on board and are experienced in all makes of cars & vans.
We supply you with fresh fuel at pump prices, and we can normally have your car done and ready to go in under an hour.
All waste fuel is disposed of by us through a licensed waste carrier and recycled.
Please read our guide to Misfuelling a diesel or petrol car. If you have been scared witless by stories of doom regarding putting the wrong fuel in, its not as bad as some say!
Is £5 unleaded mixed with £55 diesel (filled to max) likely to do much harm to my 2009 Citroen C3 Picasso diesel? Realised right away – petrol light had been on prior to refilling – then filled up on top with diesel. I appreciate a drain is the best course of action but don’t have the funds – if I run it and keep topping it up, could I drain it later, or get away without a drain, given the percentage mix? Thank you for any help.
Hi Kate,
You pose a very common question we get. In fact, we are asked it so much I wrote an article about it just last week (see http://www.fuelfixer.co.uk/put-petrol-in-a-diesel-car). As I mention at the end of the article, unfortunately there is no way to tell. You might just get away with it if you keep topping up (if you attempt this, I would suggest at least using a diesel additive to help relubricate the fuel system and getting the fuel filter changed as soon as possible). Although I’ve seen people have no future problems when they do this I’ve also been called out to assist motorists who had much less contamination and a “dead” motor. It seems to be a bit of a gamble when you are talking about this amount of contamination.
If you have any other questions please don’t hesitate to call us. We’re very happy to help and give advice on the phone. And, depending on where you are, we might even be able to help you out with a decent discount.
The Fuel Man
I put £2 petrol in a 12 reg land rover (diesel) I then filled it up with £90 of diesel – do I need to panic?
No – no need to panic, your vehicle will be fine – no serious or long term damage.
You could probably even get away with doing nothing but continuing to fill it with diesel, but if you really want to be sure everything is fine and not risk your landy, get a fuel drain and new fuel filter. A lot cheaper than the cost of a 12 reg land rover.
The Fuel Man
Hi
My wife… bless her… put £40 of petrol in my 12 plate c220 Merc.. She then drove approx 7 miles home.. The car will now not start.. From your experience could there have been damage to the pump / fuel system. What would an approx cost be for you to come out and drain fuel and get the engine working again, We are just outside St Neots
Hi,
I am almost certain there will be no serious damage to the pump or engine (or anything else for that matter). One of our drainers would be more than happy to put your mind at ease on the matter by explaining how the fuel drain process works and why we get so much work from people who don’t want to spend thousands of pounds getting a whole load of unnecessary work done at their main dealer.
The important thing is that you get the vehicle properly drained and don’t leave it too long before you do.
Give us a call – 07514 409700, we operate 24 hours and can usually get anywhere within an hour.
The Fuel Man
Hello, looking for your thoughts , my wife filled her Audi A3 1.9tdi with petrol last week. She realised her mistake , didn’t start the car and had it recovered from the pump. A fuel drain was carried out the next day and a quarter tank of diesel added by the garage. I then drove the car about 10 miles and brimmed it with diesel. Car ran fine for 3-4 days and then started to to develop an intermitent slight misfire. Yesterday the car cut out whist being parked and wouldn’t re start. 2 hours later it started and was driven to independent garage to be checked( no misfire present ). Diagnostic check has revealed that one of the fuel injectors is faulty. Youth thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.
Hi David,
As the car was not started and was drained before it had been it could just be a coincidence.
There is a chance that something wrong was done while draining the vehicle, though as it was only the tank that need to be emptied, that shouldn’t be the case.
Hi,
I misfuelled (didn’t realise) my 2012 Nissan Juke diesel with petrol (22 litres petrol on top of 15 litre diesel) and drove 100 miles on a motorway and then stopped at a Services, while trying to restart the engine it did not start and I called RAC (Nissan Emergency Line) and they spotted the misfuelling. A local garage then drained my fuel tank and my car started with no issues, since then I have driven more than 400 miles and still running fine. But I have some concerns related to this
1) I now feel that the engine sounds differently, Do you think I should check with the dealer? Will there be any damage happened to my engine or fuel pump?
2) Will the dealer ever find out about the misfuelling and void my warranty? In fact will they be able to spot this during the first service which is coming up in the next month?
Thanks
Hi MAK,
Did the garage drain just the tank? If so, your best bet is to get the vehicle professionally drained.
It’s very unlikely that your engine or fuel pump have been seriously damaged through misfueling. You can contact your dealer, though in my experience this could lead to a very large bill or quote for work that is probably not necessary.
I would suggest you give us a call and get one of our engineers to come out to you. We have done plenty of Nissan Jukes and have had the pleasure of taking cars out of dealerships that have quoted the customer in excess of £5-7000 when all that was needed was a proper fuel drain.
Any other questions or worries you’ve got can be well dealt with by one of our engineers.
hi there. I am hoping someone might be able to help. i have a vectra 55 plate and drove it a litlle over 20 miles before car eventually conked out. To my horror it was only a little later on after i realised tgat i had put in the wrong fuel!!
The car was chugging and juddering a few times before it finally conked out. i simply stopped and started the car again and it would carry on as normal before it conked out. i did repeated the steps each time until my car couldnt finally go anymore.
It was only after this i realised about the insertion of wrong fuel. i put in 40 litres of petrol in my diesal car.
Please help
Hi,
I am sorry to hear, you should call our free phone number: 08000159564, I will be able to get you up and running in no time.
Hi,
Last night I put 22 litres of petrol in my Skoda Fabia (45 l) tank, which was 1/4 full. I did not start it. I had it towed to a local garage, who this morning were not interested in the job. I took advice and decdied on a DIY drain. I disconnnected the fuel filter inlet pipe, attached to a pipe to a large can. I then (wrongly) started the engine, as I misunderstood the advice. The fuel ran quickly into the tank for 20 seconds and the engine stopped. I then realised I only needed to turn the key to position 1 to pump the fuel through. I started the pump repeatedly in this way and drained over 30 litres until no more came out (it took a while!). By the end there was no fresh fuel coming through however much I turned on the fuel pump.
I filled with 10l of fresh diesel and tried to start. After about 10 minutes and repeated attempts I still cannot start it. The oil light lights up and then some other engine management lights come on and there is a lot of flashing and beeping.
After reading advice on this I am thinking maybe I have not diluted what was left enough and I should put some more diesel in, or maybe I need to try this Easystart product or something, to get it going.
Any advice gratefully received (sooner the better!)
Hi, sorry for the late reply.
well done for getting as far as you did, a can of easy start is a the field remedy for starting a car that has been run on wrong fuel, of course with our equipment we purge the wrong fuel from the system by suction.
Hi, I put diesel in a new Car today and drive about 15 miles, when Id stopped off and then tried to re-start it it wouldn’t and I realised what I’d done. I panicked and called Mercedes break down – my car has been towed and is now in a compound while I wait for them to tell me what the damage is going to cost me – having read your site I fear the worse and think I’m going to get stung – this whole situation is new to me, I wish is found your sight before I called to have it taken away. If they call me with what I think sounds unreasonable would you (or a franchisee) be willing to go and get it with me and give a second opinion? I’m sure they won’t like it but its my car so I don’t see what they could do….
Hi tom, yes you are right, they can not tell you what to do with your own car, the EU block exemption ruling ended the dealers stranglehold on the motorist, call us and we can do the job at the dealership, we are well used to taking cars out of dealers garages and performing fuel drains.
Put 0.5 litres of petrol into a 100 litre tank and then brimmed it with 92 more litres of diesel. Car has done 50 odd miles, will the 0.5% mix by ok or do i need to worry?
Hi, it should be fine, leave the filler cap loose when you are not driving it and the petrol will vent off
Would do that but likely to get rain in it.
Thanks for coming back so quick. To be on the safe side I’ll keep topping it up after 50-100 miles?
yes, top it up as you go but if you can leave the cap of at all that helps
3 weeks ago put 16 ltrs of petrol into a merc sprinter then topped up with diesel had half tank before putting it in. Rang Mercedes was told it ok to drive the 10 miles to them, they drained the tank and changed filters, yesterday they say the petrol has caused a problem. Have driven over. 300 mile since then could this happpen
Hi Tony, what are the symptoms?
Hi,
I have just put £15 of petrol in my Audi A4 1.9tdi avant 2002. This took me to about 1/4 of a tank and then drove 20 miles down the motorway on my way home. I had just pulled of the motorway and it died. I tried starting a couple of times then remembered about the fuel.
Please advise as to the potential for damage?
Many Thanks and Eagerly awaiting your response
Hi Mark,
A fuel drain would fix it,
I put 50 ltrs of petrol in a diesel 1.9. Tdi Audi a4 and drove less than a mile before it stopped. The local Saab garage simply drained the tank and refilled with an additive and it works fine £90.00 cost of labour, additive and 20 litres of diesel. Well done Saab.
sounds like you found yourself a good honest garage!, feel free to name them on here so others can use them
Westbury Garage LTD, Featherbed Lane, Shrewsbury. Gave me excellent service at 3 pm on a friday afternoon to sort out my fuel issue. Highly recommended.
i filled a diesel range rover sport with unleaded and drove it for 3 miles. the land rover people took it away and are claiming it needs a huge a overhaul amounting to thousands of pounds worth of work. is this necessary??
Hmm, sounds familier, you can read my thoughts on the subject here, your dealer is “at it”
Hi there,
I accidentally put 5litres of petrol into my fiesta ztec s diesel earlier on top of 1/4 of diesel and then put 40litres of diesel on top after noticing my mistake!
will i need to have the tank emptied?
kind regards, andy
yep, wouldn’t do any harm and will at least stop the petrol corroding the rubber seals/hoses
hi can you give me some advice i have a citron berlingo my fuel light was on and by mistake i put £5 of petrol in it, all i had was another £5 which i put £5 diesel in just to get me the 1/4 of a mile home. what should i do?
fill it up with diesel as soon as you can, or better yet get a fuel drain
Excellent service; very professional. Came in 45 min exactly as predicted. Competitive price.
Hi, put £20 unleaded in a corsa ecotec, that had about £5 diesel in it. Drove for a couple of miles, until juddered then it was left until could be collected. The car has now be drained by dealership and was filled up to half but it has used a quarter of a tank to do 4 miles!! What might be the problem??
Thanks
Hi, without looking at it I would guess that you either have a very serious fuel leak, or more likely, when a car is drained it often sends the tank level reading skewiff, – its unlikely the dealership gave you half a tank of fuel, whats more likely is they gave you 20 quids worth and you got the car back with a false reading on the guage, and now you have driven it the in tank sensor has founds its true level and adjusted itself.
check the ground underneath the car and if you cant see any diesel its a tank sensor issue, if there is diesel on the ground call the dealership.
its not uncommon for fuel gauges to temporarily play up after a fuel drain, however sometimes when a fuel tank is accessed from the top (which involves removing the level sensor) if it is not put back in carefully it can give false readings and permanently play up until it is corrected,
hope that helps, if it still acts up give us a call
Hi All
Just looking for some advice really please. I filled my car up (2007 (07) Audi Avant A4 2.0 TDI) and the day after it conked out whilst driving home from work (no warning just cut out). I pulled in and it restarted after a few minutes. A few days later it conked out again whilst driving but this time no restart. After the first conk out I put about £2.00 worth of petrol to a full tank of diesel to clean it (I was told it was safe to do so but only small amounts). After investigating it was discovered that the fuel pump had gone. I really just wanted to ask a few questions, so any help would be appreciated.
1. Would this little amount of petrol in a full tank of diesel cause this to happen?? Bearing in mind that the first conk out was before I added the petrol.
2 I made a complaint to the garage in question because the fuel was a really dark brown/black colour. The mechanic who looked is a friend and was quite shocked at the colour. They said they would sample the fuel and if there “stamp” was in it they would cover the cost of repairs providing its there fault.
3 My biggest problem is that no one else has complained about there fuel at this station.
Can any one offer any advice on this..(and I no the obvious is dont put petrol in a diesel)
Many thanks,
Kevin
Hi Kevin, sorry to hear about that, to answer your questions
1) no, that ammount of petrol in a full tank is about 2% – harmless for the short term
2) the marker they are talking about (stamp) is a chemical dye that will indicate where the fuel has come from, this is a customs and excise requirement, however petrol does attack the fuel lines and fuel tank walls which are made from rubber and plastic and it does make the fuel a black muddy colour, i have a picture of this in the faqs
3) if you put the name of the station up here anyone else affected might also see it and compare stories, but from what you have told me I would think its a problem with your car that is unrelated to the petrol, and the ugly looking fuel is normal if petrol has gotten in to the tank,
My advice would be to take it to an audi dealer or independent dealer, and have car checked out,
hope that helps
Thanks for coming to the rescue the other day! I really don’t know what i would have done without you! I think i’d probably be facing a divorce actually. Anyway, I found your service to be fast and your man showed up on time, and took care of my car. Needless to say, I don’t think my husband will be letting me use his car again anytime soon, but its fixed and thats all that matters.
Thanks
Trish
Bmw x5, sutton
good morning
I too have done the unthinkable. moment of temporary madness or just laziness. what would it cost to drain an Audi A3 2007. Im based in SW11. many thanks
Although i was very unhappy after i filled my S class with petrol instead of deisel dealing with FuelFixer was a good experience. They were on time and the Tatoo covered saviour was a thoroughly nice and decent bloke. If i am stupid enough to fill her incorrectly again I will be ringing the FuelFixer hotline.
Well done.
Why not fit a device to ensure this does not occur:
http://www.solodiesel.co.uk
For comparatively low outlay your problem is solved
exactly!, solodiesel is an excellent device and I would recommend everyone fits one
Hey Mate
hows biz…..? Gone a little bit quiet this week….fuel prices have risen and the punters are paying a bit more attention to the refuelling.
did you ever do a Golf TSI Petrol………..a bit funny to start after the evac.
Hi Ray, biz is more erratic than usual, I think the price changes got everyone filling up at the same time and then not filling up for a few days, and then getting back to usual patterns, it’s getting back to normal now
How’s business in Ireland, Did you get a price hike on fuel as well?
good question; has it been driven to point of failure ? where is it?, what type of car is it? do you need fresh fuel supplied? – I understand that when you have misfueld you will want an immediate answer, but a fuel drain costs between £140 & £240 and if you want an exact price, I will need more specifics