Cost for draining engine (filled up with wrong fuel)?

KaratePigeon

Hi,
I have an elderly relative staying with me, driving a nearly-new motorhome. He accidentally filled up with petrol instead of diesel, drove from the garage (1-2 miles away at a guess) and has only realised what he's done now that it won't start

The only thing I could think of was to ring the AA of which he is a member, they said they'd come out in the morning but are going to charge something like £220 to drain the tank.

Just wondering if this was reasonable or are they ripping him off? He feels really silly, I just hope there's not more damage done to the engine. I think he mostly filled up the tank from empty so the percentage of petrol in it is really high, not like we can just top it up with diesel

Iceweasel

Sounds about right to me.

To fix this mistake it's not just a simple drain the tank.

It will need the low pressure fuel pump and the whole system purged - plus a new fuel filter.

The AA should know what they are doing as this happens a lot - 1000 cars a day are mis-fuelled in the UK I read a few months ago.

It's no big deal if the vehicle has not been started or driven - but unfortunately that's not the case here - it's very possible that the high-pressure injection pump seals have been damaged - that could be very pricey.

Goodluck.

forgotmyname

If you have less than 20% petrol in it then topping up may work. But anything around that and above really needs draining.

Dont forget the petrol will be washing any lubricating qualities of the diesel away.

You may get away with topping up. But that petrol will be in there and doing damage for a long time.

If the cylinders are full of petrol that wont compress then the bill maybe very large.

Hopefully draining the fuel tank and flushing the pipes through will work.

londonTiger

yikes, on a new vehicle too. Let's hope it doesnt permanently damage the engine.

Richard53

Sounds about right to me. I did the same thing a couple of years ago, and drove the car until it stopped. 6.2 miles exactly, as I had reset the trip. RAC called out a local garage who towed me in a drained and purged the fuel system. Total cost was about £250, plus of course the tank of unleaded that I had just put in (which I am sure went straight in the tank of the owner's Jag that was parked out back). It was a Sunday afternoon, so perhaps the higher price reflected that.

I felt completely stupid (did it in front of my adult kids) but blamed it on being distracted by a well-restored Triumph Bonneville at the next pump. No excuse when, exactly one week later, I did the same, but in reverse, to my bike.

Durr.

The car, incidentally, has run perfectly since then, about 15k miles. I'm assuming that any damage caused will be of the kind that shortens a component's life, rather then causes sudden failure.

Aretnap

It may well be the sort of mistake you tend to make only once, but here's an idea for a Christmas present for him.

http://www.misfuellingprevention.co.uk/

facade

Richard53 wrote: »

Total cost was about £250, plus of course the tank of unleaded that I had just put in (which I am sure went straight in the tank of the owner's Jag that was parked out back).

Don NOT put mixed petrol and diesel into a car with oxygen sensors -pretty much everything since about 1990, it kills the sensor (which is what happened when Tesco famously "wrecked" thousands of cars because the petrol was contaminated with diesel additives)

On the other hand I'll happily put it in my 'bike , and plenty of people with old cars, like a series landrover will have it.

colino

The key really is on how long the camper was attempted to be started. You may be hyper lucky and a drain, change of filters and blow through will be OK. Some vehicles however (and really their high pressure pumps and seals) are very sensitive and even a one off like this can drastically shorten their lifespan.
The cost quoted is a bargain.

KaratePigeon

Thanks, the AA man came and drained it, put some detergent through it and said he'd be very surprised if there is any permanent damage (it was a specialised 'fuel assist' bloke, and he said in about 1000 vehicles he's done this to only about 3 have been knackered by it). At least it started ok and he's drove off to carry on with his holiday, so we can only hope there's no further damage!