Petrol in diesel tank = $$$$s

[popeclement]

I think this is an excellent suggestion - I ended up removing the two 'caps' to my diesel Xtrail 'saddle tanks and siphoning the mix out - it also gave me an opportunity to blow the lines out with compressed air, replace the filter and restart.

I think the Q7 owner got 'ripped off'. I did end up having to rebuild the HPFP but I did drive over 100ks on a 50/50 mix = cost under $1k at a Bosch specialist. Have done nearly 10,000ks since will no other issues.

[Diesel_vert]

I think this is an excellent suggestion - I ended up removing the two 'caps' to my diesel Xtrail 'saddle tanks and siphoning the mix out - it also gave me an opportunity to blow the lines out with compressed air, replace the filter and restart.

I think the Q7 owner got 'ripped off'. I did end up having to rebuild the HPFP but I did drive over 100ks on a 50/50 mix = cost under $1k at a Bosch specialist. Have done nearly 10,000ks since will no other issues.

$18k for a new V8 engine + ancillaries + labour from Audi isn't that surprising - assuming the whole engine + ancillaries did indeed need replacing and the dealer wasn't taking them for the financial ride of his life...

[buzuki]

its the HPFP that suffers the most, once fuel goes in it destroys it which in turn sends all metal filings throughout the fuel system. So everything gets replaced if its been ran and the pump has been destroyed.

[popeclement]

its the HPFP that suffers the most, once fuel goes in it destroys it which in turn sends all metal filings throughout the fuel system. So everything gets replaced if its been ran and the pump has been destroyed.

I'm not sure about your comment about the metal filings throughout the fuel system. Basically the HPFP seals are damaged to the point that it cannot sustain the enormously high delivery pressure to the common rail/injectors. When I removed my rail, I did not notice any metal or other contamination & did not do any remedial work to this area.

I have had two other friends with quotes of 12k (Transporter) & 15k (Mercedes Vito) for the fuel delivery system and injectors which in itself is not excessive given that the repair agents are being conservative and replacing the lot.

I just think the HPFP should be repaired/exchanged first for around the 2-3k mark with labour and then the system re-evaluated. Both my friends use their vehicles for commercial daily high mileage use and elected not to incur the quoted expense and simply clean/flush and exchange the HPFP & like me, have had no issues since.

[wai]

No risk of anyone else filling your vehicle, except another driver, if you live in Qld. Don't think I have ever had a servo staff member offer to fill anything for me in 10 years!!

Although true, it is still up to the driver to keep an eye on what is going into his tank.

The problem is that if you have been used to using petrol only, depending on circumstances, it is all too easy to forget and end up using petrol instead. It just takes a moment's distraction and you can be in trouble.

[Johnnojack]

The problem is that if you have been used to using petrol only, depending on circumstances, it is all too easy to forget and end up using petrol instead. It just takes a moment's distraction and you can be in trouble.

Here's an idea: Take a rubber ball, smaller than tennis ball. Make a hole right through it, thread on 200mm of strong cord, knotted at one end, write diesel only on ball with permanent Texta. Tie cord to the hinge inside your fuel flap. Every time you open the fuel flap this ball appears next to the filler, jerking you back to reality and reminding you and anyone else just what you are doing. Finish refuelling WITH DIESEL put ball back inside flap and shut. Ball size may need to be adjusted to space available. Works with all size filler nozzles.

[wai]

You can do a whole series of things, but the reality is that unless there is some physical limiter to doing the wrong thing, you will end up making a mistake.

[jamesatfish]

You can do a whole series of things, but the reality is that unless there is some physical limiter to doing the wrong thing, you will end up making a mistake.

That's the problem - it doesn't matter what stickers / signs / tennis ball contraptions you install, once people get into a groove they ignore all that anyway.

One of my employees filled her work Golf TDI with petrol, and made it as far as the petrol station driveway before the car died. We have Shell fuel cards and she was used to just filling with the Black pump at Shell servos, so when for some reason she decided to fill at a different brand servo she just picked up the Black pump and filled up. Sadly Black at that servo was regular unleaded.

Made no sense as a) she'd have had to pay for the petrol out of her own money as we didn't have an account at that servo, and b) there is a Shell about 500m up the road.

Thankfully the repair bill wasn't all that bad.

[wai]

I am just watching a program on how easily we are distracted and how poor our attention really is. It comes down to what we are really thinking about when we do something. No matter what we think we are thinking about, we may not actually have our attention on what we believe we have it on. Interesting thing about multi-tasking and how poor we actually are. Interestingly, those who believe they are are perfect at multi-tasking turn out to be some of the poorest at multi-tasking.

When ULP first came on the market, it was seen as absolutely necessary that the fuel nozzle was different and it was not possible to insert a leaded fuel nozzle into the filler of a vehicle requiring ULP. Exactly the same reasoning applies here, yet people believe they don't need it. The thing is that it costs much more than a new catalytic converter to repair damage to a diesel engine that has been run on petrol.

In the end, it is a choice, and with the choice come consequences. Hopefully they won't be too expensive.

[volksMuller]

You can trigger the fuel pump via VAS PC and pump out at filter end...much easier...the dealer has charged way too much for this task.....in cold climates VW suggest adding a very small amount of petrol to a diesel fuel tank. We use Luqui Moly fuel cleaner once the tank is drained and refilled correctly......Insurance compamies are NOW working on writting out the wrong fuel added policy so be careful this will be a expensive exercise once the car has been driven a number of k's on the wrong fuel.

[Johnnojack]

That's the problem - it doesn't matter what stickers / signs / tennis ball contraptions you install, once people get into a groove they ignore all that any

I agree about the stickers, words on cap etc. However finding a brightly coloured ball dangling next to the filler cap would for most people be quite unexpected and oddball (pardon the pun) so would be likely to bring a dreamer quickly back to reality. Like "WTF! Oh yeah diesel"
Both people I know who filled their cars with petrol had owned their diesel for a year or more but at the time of their mistake had a lot on their mind.
Volksmuller excuse my ignorance but can you explain VAS PC? Not something that can be found by the spare wheel I expect. Can you also empty tank by turning ignition on and off repeatedly?(wearing out switch)

[wai]

Insurance compamies are NOW working on writting out the wrong fuel added policy so be careful this will be a expensive exercise once the car has been driven a number of k's on the wrong fuel.

I have no doubt that insurers will write out operating the vehicle on the wrong fuel. After all, they do everything to minimise their risk.

On running a vehicle on the wrong fuel for a few k's, you can cause thousands of dollars damage to a diesel by trying to run it on petrol even just TRYING to drive it out of the service station. A friend of mine ended up having to pay over $3,000 and he barely made it 10 metres from the pump.

[Guest001]

Its worse when like me you have one petrol and one diesel.

Have to be on your game or disaster will strike.

So far so good for 2 1/2 years LOL.

[gldgti]

Why wouldnt you use one of those handy engine oil extractors to get the fuel out of the tank? They are quite good gadgets I hear.

Anyway, I can certainly believe some people will do the wrong thing if they can. My boss is notoriously easily distracted. I think even if the petrol nozzle would not fit into the diesel filler, he would figure out a way to get the fuel in there somehow before he realised he was just using the wrong thing

[njg02]

I recently put 30l in my '05 Touareg. Ran fine and so far no issues. It was hard to start but I filled up every 100kays or so while on a weekend away. It's not common rail like my Polo, which I wouldn't have started.
We are only human and sometimes in our excitement about holidays or whatever we forget some basic things.