[whitbomb07]

But I was speaking to a work mate and the son of one of his friends accidentally put Unleaded into their CRDi.

Initial estimate is 13k to fix, but that could be revised down.

I don't know if the owner is a member of the forums, but if you are, my sympathies go out to you. I hope it's alot cheaper to fix. This is also why I have kept the details non specific so as not to cause embarassment etc etc.

I'm surprised we don't see more stories like this though. I'm worried when my girlfriend starts driving mine that she will go and do it.

Regards

Daniel

[Shambles]

Misfuelling is a major problem in the UK, so I once read.

Over here we can call "AA Fuel Assist" who will come out to your vehicle, drain the tank then clear the pipes (if the engine has been started). They do this for just under £300

For any UK members listening, get this number into your mobile phone's address book: 08702 403985

Hey Daniel - quick solution to your worries about your girlfriend driving yours - (can you guess what I'm gonna say? )

[MRH130]

Over here we can call "AA Fuel Assist" who will come out to your vehicle, drain the tank then clear the pipes (if the engine has been started). They do this for just under £300

That is certainly a good service, but members should be aware that while some cars will survive this with just a good clean of the system, a CRDi Hyundai (in fact most common rail diesels) will not tolerate it, even a little bit. The high pressure pump uses the diesel fuel as an internal lubricant, and any petrol in the system will destroy the pump's ability to develop the correct fuel pressure. If petrol gets as far as the rail/injectors it will ruin them straight away. The Piezo injectors in the i30 are hideously expensive.

My strong advice to anyone who notices that they have done this would be not to even turn the ignition on, let alone start the engine. Even turning the ignition on will prime the system and push the fuel through to contaminate other components. 

Depending on how much damage was done, I'm not totally surprised to hear about the bill. The cost of components for CRDi maintenance and repair was one of the reasons I went for a petrol, because I plan to keep the car for a very long time. We do have CRDis in the family and I'm sure the cost of repair components will come down with time, but it is a real cautionary tale for drivers of Diesels. Do whatever you can (even if it causes minor marital strife!) to ensure it doesn't happen to your car! 

[whitbomb07]

Hey Daniel - quick solution to your worries about your girlfriend driving yours - (can you guess what I'm gonna say? )

Ummmmm in no particular order: 1) Don't let her 2) Ensure I'm with her when the car does need filling and/or do it myself, 3) Ensure tank is full and not travelling far enough to require a refuel. 4) Buy her a petrol car (except I've sold her on Diesel, so if we do get a Tucson it will be a diesel) 5 Put a nice big neon sign on it saying 'Don't forget it is DIESEL!!!!!!!!!!'

Other problem is I know she wont have the patience to wait for the foaming and fill it to the brim, so it'll throw the SGII out (if she even resets it) and not get the same mileage etc etc.

It's an interesting service Shambles, costly, but nowhere near as much as what it costs to replace everything that's damaged if you do run the engine.

Regards

Daniel

[Lakes]

Guy i work with, was telling me he was looking at this new large diesel van, that was a camper and same as the van he owns. and old couple were touring Aust in it. as my friend was ralking to them the guy went to fill up his new Diesel with Unlead, my friend stopped him quickly. the guy thanked him.
i've never made a mistake yet but people that don't care much about cars or worry much could make the mistake, they just go for the cheapest fuel i think?
cheers

It has been something my wife and I hoped we would never do.  Our recent purchase of a Santa Fe CRDi to keep the i30 CRDi company has solved the problem - now the only things we have that use ULP are the ride on mower, chainsaw etc.

Bob

[Dazzler]

I can be a bit absent minded but the i30 fills on the passenger side and our Tiida on the Drivers side so that sort of helps us remember...

You would think with Diesel written on the cap and the trap door it couldn't happen but if you had a lot on your mind.. 

[whitbomb07]

I think the biggest problem is people mistake the bowser/handle etc etc, not that they forget what fuel goes in their car.

The station that I know go to regularly has a complete separate section for diesel, so I don't have any risk of picking the wrong one when I'm off with the fairies. 

This is a rather interesting topic.

Regards

Daniel

[Dazzler]

so I don't have any risk of picking the wrong one when I'm off with the fairies.  :lol

Daniel

 

Is there something you haven't told us daniel  (only joking)

If you are off with the fairies sometimes now wait 'til you get older....

[ozsnowman]

The station that I know go to regularly has a complete separate section for diesel, so I don't have any risk of picking the wrong one when I'm off with the fairies. 

Yep same here

[Dazzler]

The station that I know go to regularly has a complete separate section for diesel, so I don't have any risk of picking the wrong one when I'm off with the fairies. 

Yep same here

 

Most in Tassie have mixed pumps.. but clearly marked...

[MRH130]

Reminds me actually, I saw an ACT Government i30 SX CRDi the other day and it had a sticker above the fuel door (about the same size as the fuel door!) saying, in large red letters, "WARNING!!! DIESEL ONLY!!!" It was so huge I read it as the car passed me while I was parked at the traffic lights!

Might do the trick for those of us who share our i30s with those who might make this mistake?

It's ugly but (you'd hope) effective!

[Dazzler]

Sounds a bit extreme to me...

Maybe I could invent a voice operated lock that only opened when you said "diesel" 

[sparki30]

When you open the fuel flap it should sound, diesel....diesel....diesel or petrol....petrol...petrol

[bumpkin]

I have heard of fuel stations in the UK where people have been stopped by the attendant shouting over the PA, and I have been in a couple of stations where the pump said diesel or ULP when you took out the nozzle, but they are few and very far between.

[Lakes]

The station that I know go to regularly has a complete separate section for diesel, so I don't have any risk of picking the wrong one when I'm off with the fairies. 

Yep same here

 

Most in Tassie have mixed pumps.. but clearly marked...

The way you put it Dazz LOL.

How i see it is there is some ????? what could you call it? but there is a type of warning and no real chance of a person filling a petrol with diesel, but diesel drivers normally know more about fuels. so there is no warning and easy to fill a diesel with unlead. but the diesl pumps have a gard type flap you need to lift that reads diesel, also the diesel nozzle will not fit inside the petrol filler hole. but easy to put the pertol nozzle into the diesel filler.
but i only go into a servo about once a month now unless i'm on a trip.
cheers
ps, with the computer age on us why have not the manufacturers got some warning that goes off if petrol is being fueled into a diesel tank?thats what we get going self serve!did you know we got self serve because of the Gulf War.
cheers

[whitbomb07]

Latest update.

Ended up only being a $500 repair bill, driver shut the thing off before anything major happened.

Very lucky I think. Definitely could have been alot worse.

Regards

Daniel

[Shambles]

Latest update.

Ended up only being a $500 repair bill, ...

A little better than the initial $13k estimate

[MRH130]

Latest update.

Ended up only being a $500 repair bill, driver shut the thing off before anything major happened.

Very lucky I think. Definitely could have been alot worse.

I'll say! He or She did very well there! I'd probably still avoid that particular car second-hand though! 

[eye30]

Just check when I last filled up


I have a sticker which says - DIESEL - on the inside of the flap as a reminder.

Do all CRDi'd have this stcker?

[Dazzler]

Mine does (and diesel across top of cap as well) 

Funny how you had to check .. we get so used to these things we don't see them any more (it's not just me!  )

[eye30]

(and diesel across top of cap as well) 

Ditto

[CWnHatch]

Just spotted this thread. The wife filled the nearly empty tank in our Holden Captiva (which is a modern Common rail Diesel) with ULP about 1 year ago - then drove 35km before realising

Apart from some spluttering it ran Ok.

We had to get the cat towed, tank removed (no drain plug) and fuel lines cleaned - AU$300 all up. No problem since.

Some research I did at the time suggested this is pretty common and easily fixed

[Lakes]

Just spotted this thread. The wife filled the nearly empty tank in our Holden Captiva (which is a modern Common rail Diesel) with ULP about 1 year ago - then drove 35km before realising

Apart from some spluttering it ran Ok.

We had to get the cat towed, tank removed (no drain plug) and fuel lines cleaned - AU$300 all up. No problem since.

Some research I did at the time suggested this is pretty common and easily fixed

Good to hear turned out ok, all new cars seem to have fuel line and pump fitted to top of the tank. so people who say if you run your tank low you pick up dirt from bottom of tank , are talking about cars 30 years or older, that had fuel pump on motor fuel line at bottom of tank.

[MRH130]

surprised a Captiva diesel survived that.

We had a Holden franchise as well as Hyundai and others, and we had more than one common rail Rodeo destroy itself in a huge way.

One in particular, which belonged to my local council, copped a load of ULP and was driven about 10km, and although it ran after we drained it it couldn't build the right fuel pressure and started rattling and banging and wouldn't rev above 1000rpm.

All up it cost a bit over $10000 before it'd run properly, and I still wasn't convinced it was 100%. (there go my damn land rates...)

Glad to hear the Captiva lived to fight another day, and no doubt sometimes people get lucky, but if you don't it is a disaster. Certainly wouldn't recommend it!

 

[accim]

What? 
So you are saying that in case you fill up the tank with petrol instead of diesel the costs could be up to $10,000??

The difference between the petrol and the diesel pistol is noticeable, I admit. And we all know which kind of car we are driving. But when you are in the hurry and have 100 things on your mind, and when there are 3 fuel pistols very close, it's not that impossible to happen.. It hasn't happened to me yet (knock on wood) and sure hope in won't.. 

This is the picture of fuel pistols on most of our fuel stations. You can easily distinguish the difference. But on some fuel stations, the pistols are not so great

[MRH130]

What? 
So you are saying that in case you fill up the tank with petrol instead of diesel the costs could be up to $10,000??

Potentially, yes. Certainly CWnHatch's Holden Captiva sounds like it survived and the i30 that started this thread survived too, so it's not always going to completely destroy everything - there's no guarantees though. As I noted earlier, if I did this I wouldn't even turn the ignition on because the system will prime and start pulling the fuel through. And prices for repairs like that can be devastatingly expensive. On the plus side, European diesels like VWs and Peugeots etc can crack $10 grand very easily, in Australia at least!

I think with the best will in the world you'll make a mistake from time to time, especially when you have 3 similar-feeling hoses, but it's one that's worth avoiding if possible IMHO! 

Over here we have restrictors in the filler neck for petrol powered vehicles so you can't put diesel in them, but there's nothing to stop you putting petrol in a diesel unfortunately...

[accim]

What? 
So you are saying that in case you fill up the tank with petrol instead of diesel the costs could be up to $10,000??

Potentially, yes. Certainly CWnHatch's Holden Captiva sounds like it survived and the i30 that started this thread survived too, so it's not always going to completely destroy everything - there's no guarantees though. As I noted earlier, if I did this I wouldn't even turn the ignition on because the system will prime and start pulling the fuel through. And prices for repairs like that can be devastatingly expensive. On the plus side, European diesels like VWs and Peugeots etc can crack $10 grand very easily, in Australia at least!

I think with the best will in the world you'll make a mistake from time to time, especially when you have 3 similar-feeling hoses, but it's one that's worth avoiding if possible IMHO! 

Over here we have restrictors in the filler neck for petrol powered vehicles so you can't put diesel in them, but there's nothing to stop you putting petrol in a diesel unfortunately...

Yes, here it's the same. You can't put in the diesel pistol in the petrol vehicle. I really don't know why they didn't make something similar with the diesel pistol, when there's so much more damage to diesel engine if mistake happens..

[Lakes]

What?  
So you are saying that in case you fill up the tank with petrol instead of diesel the costs could be up to $10,000??

Potentially, yes. Certainly CWnHatch's Holden Captiva sounds like it survived and the i30 that started this thread survived too, so it's not always going to completely destroy everything - there's no guarantees though. As I noted earlier, if I did this I wouldn't even turn the ignition on because the system will prime and start pulling the fuel through. And prices for repairs like that can be devastatingly expensive. On the plus side, European diesels like VWs and Peugeots etc can crack $10 grand very easily, in Australia at least!

I think with the best will in the world you'll make a mistake from time to time, especially when you have 3 similar-feeling hoses, but it's one that's worth avoiding if possible IMHO!  

Over here we have restrictors in the filler neck for petrol powered vehicles so you can't put diesel in them, but there's nothing to stop you putting petrol in a diesel unfortunately...

Yes, here it's the same. You can't put in the diesel pistol in the petrol vehicle. I really don't know why they didn't make something similar with the diesel pistol, when there's so much more damage to diesel engine if mistake happens..

I think in the past more damage was done to petrol motors getting diesel put into them, that is why they have a flap over diesel pumps in most servo's with warning. as most all diesel in the past was cheaper, some people saw cheap fuel and just used it in petrol it kills petrol motors.
now we have the problem of lady drivers useing diesel cars, some just think its shopping look for the bargain.
just how i see it

[Shambles]

...now we have the problem of lady drivers useing diesel cars, some just think its shopping...

Ooh you might get some flak for that mate