What Happens If You Put the Wrong Fuel in Your Car?
Petrol in a Diesel vs Diesel in Petrol Cars
Can I Ignite the Engine If I Have Wrong Fueled my Car?
What Can Happen If I’ve Driven?
What should I do If I’ve Misfuelled my Car?
How to get Wrong Fuel Drained?
Pouring Small Amount of Wrong Fuel vs Large Amount?
Is Wrong Fueling Covered Under Insurance?
Possible Repairs and Replacements
Should I Go For Fuel Filter Change?
If you were in a hurry and you put the wrong fuel in your car, that’s not as unusual as you might think.
You will be surprised to know that it happens once every four minutes in U.K. What matters the most is how you deal with this unexpected issue that has come like a bolt from the blue. Don’t panic because we are here to guide you step by step on this matter.
Putting petrol into diesel fuel tank can be far more problematic than filling a petrol tank with diesel. Petrol will contaminate the fuel and cause friction between the components of the engine.
They will grate against each other and a breakdown can occur, giving you a financial setback. On the other hand, diesel is already used for lubricating certain parts of the engine and is less harmful. Moreover, the size of the nozzle of diesel pump guards against putting diesel into petrol vehicles.
Do not ignite the car if you’ve added petrol into diesel vehicle because ignition would cause the mixed fuel to travel through the fuel system and affect the engine more. In case of putting diesel into petrol, ignition won’t be possible without compressing or removing the diesel.
Wrong Fuel in car
If you were late to realise that you had actually put incompatible fuel and began driving, things can become worse for you. The more you’ve driven, greater can be recovery costs. If you continue driving without realising, the engine may be wrecked up to the irreversible extent.
Get to a safe place, put the car in neutral and take the keys out. Don’t turn on the engine and if you’ve already driven then stop immediately. Call a reliable ‘Wrong Fuel Assist Team’ and get the wrong fuel flushed by experts. Delaying the process can cause greater loss, hence, you better be swift.
Wrong Fuel Assist Team
You can get the wrong fuel drained via 3 given methods.
Flushing of wrong fuel can take about 15-30 minutes in case of roadside recovery. If you’ve sent your car to a garage or main dealer, it can take up to 2-5 working days. Moreover, time factor will also depend upon the extent of damage.
Recovery costs will be low (in hundreds) if you haven’t driven after wrong fueling the car. Costs will shoot up to thousands of pounds if you couldn’t realise your mistake soon.
Recovery Costs
You are lucky if you’ve poured only a small quantity of wrong fuel in the vehicle.
Your car will suffer less in this case and the recovery can be made quickly too. Usually, roadside recovery is convenient in such a scenario. If you filled the tank up to its brim, the chances of greater damage automatically increase.
Is Wrong Fueling Covered Under Insurance?
You can make an insurance claim if it is included in your policy documents. Some insurers do provide ‘misfueling cover’ and some don’t. Some pay for draining only, some solely for the damage caused whereas some can take care of both.
Repair work would largely depend upon the damage caused by wrong fueling. Generally new fuel lines,
new filters; new fuel pump and injectors need to be repaired or replaced.
Changing fuel filter does the work of preventive maintenance. We recommend you change it as a precautionary measure to save your engine from extra troubles in future. Moreover, it is neither costly nor it takes much time to fit. However, if your car is under warranty then contact your insurer first so as to retain the warranty.
Some Wrong Fuel Recovery Service providers can give you your cash back for the amount of drained fuel but some won’t. You better discuss this matter with the service team men before seeking their services.
Wrong Fuel Drained
In order to prevent misfuelling, always stay focused by not paying any heed to distractions. Fit a diesel fuel cap to fuel neck and set reminders for yourself if you’ve replaced your car with a different fuel vehicle so that you may not reach wrong fuel point. Always read the trigger label on the pump and see the fuel grade indicator as well. Don’t be duped by the colour of the nozzle. By following these guidelines, you can save yourself from financial setbacks brought by wrong-fueling.
Wrong fueling can make you feel embarrassed. However, it will make the matters worse if you panic. Therefore, be smart and immediately chalk out a plan to deal with it.
