Monthly Archives: October 2010
petrol in diesel in an old golf
Got called out to an old VW Golf yesterday, fairly straightforward but to get the dregs out of a golf you need to unclip the back seat and access the tank from the top panel, attached the suction pump to the tank directly and all done in 20 minutes, the lady was on her way and the golf survived!
wrong fuel in an astra
Arrived at a fuel drain in Hammersmith tonight, a diesel astravan had been filled up with 30 quid of petrol, I had been told that the van had been driven “for a few miles” – whilst draining it down and chatting to the customer he told me it was closer to 35 miles! – and the car had “conked out”, it’s not uncommon that a customer “plays down” the situation becuase they think we might turn down an awkward job, anyway I was there and the customer was stranded miles from home in deepest darkest hammersmith on a sunday night, I did a full drain, tank, filter, hoses, lines, pump – followed by a purge thru tank, lines, filter & pump. I thought it would start eventually (but I was expecting it to fight), amazingly first turn of the key it fired up and ran fine, and the customer was off on his way home 20 minutes after I arrived, I dont know whether to put it down to his luck, or that diesel astras are unbreakable.
babies & diesel
Got a call from a lady a few days ago, usual story diesel in a VW eos, I was 30 minutes away and told her to expect me in 30 mins give or take 5 for traffic, she mentioned she was pregnant and would like to be up and running again as soon as possible, I always try and get to the jobs a quick as I can and especially if someone is in distress, but I do take it with a pinch of salt sometimes, because ”key words” get used to imply urgency, when they are not strictly true, but this one was legit – (she looked ready to pop a kid out on the forecourt), when I turned up her husband had arrived and he joked about calling the baby “Diesela” so that mum wouldn’t forget, very nice young couple and on there way in 20 minutes – in the Eos, so if your kid comes back from school in 5 or 6 years and sais there is a girl in there class called “Diesela” – its probably her!
Bad Advice Landrover
Another busy Monday, thought I would write a few words about my last job, poor lady had put 40 litres petrol in a diesel Discovery, she already had enough on her plate with work and was pre occupied when filling up, she called land rover, who told her the car should not be started and if it is it will be ruined and all hell will break loose – “one turn of the key will ruin it” (a bit over the top), another motorist filling up told her she should just top up with diesel, another told her to get a garden hose and just suck it out, meanwhile on the phone to the aa, landrover and her husband the petrol station staff were telling her not to use her phone on the forecourt and were getting jumpy becuase she was holding up a pump at rush hour, – I was nearby when I got the call and when I arrived she was beside herself with worry and didnt know who to believe, so to put the record straight,
1) turning over a car diesel car will not ruin it, when you misfuel you will only have put the wrong fuel into the tank, the fuel lines, filter, pump, and common rail will still be full of pure diesel, starting it up to move it for 20 seconds on the forecourt will not ruin it
2) topping up with diesel and leaving a 50/50 mix, is an easy way of making a bad day much worse, if a car is driven for any length of time on wrong fuel, then things do get ugly, new fuel pumps and piezo injectors is the norm, and if a main dealer gets involved 3k is the starting point
3) siphoning with diy kit on a petrol forecourt 40 litres of fuel? – aint gonna happen, draining a tank needs an electric drain pump, the ammount of people who call me for a price to drain it and tell me they are doing it themselves - then call back an hour or so later to ask if I can do it would fill this blog on a daily basis, many try, and very few succeed unless they have a proper pump
4) there’s a few scaremongers in the main dealer network and the yellow and orange van brigade, (the technicians are excellent but the call center staff are working off a script)
4)
RANGE ROVER SPORT, anti misfueling device
I got called out to a job last night in South London for a nice young couple with a Range Rover Sport Diesel, that had been filled with 40 quid of Petrol, what was interesting is that these cars are fitted with an in-built misfueling prevention system, what happens, or is supposed to happen is that when you put in the wrong fuel, the car detects it and closes the filler neck and stops you filling up, which in this case it didnt work until 40 quids worth had gone through, The car was new and the client had been told by the dealer that “its impossible to missfuel the car” – I think it gives a false sence of security, and put her off guard, the long and the short is that factory fitted misfuelling devices are an infant technology and I dont think they quite there yet, also they are flimsy plasticy things and I would be interested to see how they stand up over the test of time – I have already come across a few that are constantly kicking in when the car is filld with the right fuel, and being part of the filler neck its main dealer territory. anyway car was drained and filled up with the right stuff and on her way in 30 minutes , the manual for the car does have a little piece about “it is your responcibility to put the right fuel in your car and any damage that results….” – which gets them off the hook if the device plays up the book also has instructions for the reset and provides a yellow “reset tool” – which is a bit of plastic that you push down the filler neck to reset – very simple
The tool is in the boot, next to the spare tyre, it is yellow and is about 9 inches long, the instructions for using it are int the manual – which should be in the glove box, but in short, this is what you do
1) get the tool, it has 2 prongs on the end, if you look into the filler neck you will see where these prongs fit in
2) put the two prongs in the neck and pull it gently, this resets the misfuel fuel filler flap door
3) your car can now be refueld, do not refuel your car if you have misfueld – check the FAQ’s section for further details