tomkid Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Hello everybody I often read the threads on this forum and hope you may be able to help us with our problem. We made a big mistake yesterday we put petrol in our diesel motorhome, we put about £15 of petrol into the tank which was about just over half full of diesel at the time. we drove home about 40 miles before we realized the van drove as normal van is 2008 Mercedes Does anybody know what we should we do now Thanks Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickt Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Probaly be ok , i would top up tank with diesel l now. It is not as bad as doing it the other way arround. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Welcome to the madhouse Tomkid - many of us have done this at some time and if it were my van I would get the tank drained and refilled with diesel and the fuel system plumbing purged through to remove the petrol asap and I would not run the engine again until having done so. The reason is this. Diesel is a lubricant and as it passes through the system it lubricates any moving parts and seals whereas petrol is a solvent and it remove lubrication causing friction and wear and can also damage seals and make them leak - very expensive - especially on a Merc!! At a guess you put 2 gallons of petrol into around say 8 gallons of diesel and you may well get away with a 4:1 ratio in the short term but, at the risk of being alarmist, personally I would rather reduce the risk of future problems, especially whilst away from home, by losing half a tank of fuel now. Filling the tank with diesel now should reduce the contamination to about 8:1 but whether that is enough to avoid the risk of damage I would not know. You pays yer money and takes yer choice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Yep I'd refill with Diesel as soon as possible..........I used to add two stroke to my works van.......... helped with the mpg, acceleration and top speed :D.................gave it up for the sake of my licence (lol) (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 fill with diesel....to late for anything else once you have run engine I would think...fingers crossed and good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Your best option, as already stated, would be to get it drained and purged and then refill with fresh fuel. If it where mine then this would definitely be my plan of action. And in the meantime, DON'T DRIVE IT. The spec I found for a Merc sprinter gives the fuel tank capacity as 75 litres so if you put 10 litres into just over half a tank that would be 10/40 or 25%. We reckon on a maximum of 5% petrol to diesel as a safe limit at work so you would need to dilute it further as soon as possible. 10 litres in a full tank would be 10/65 or 15% so again well over 5% and several top ups would be needed to get it near to 5%. This is going to take quite a while before it drops below 5% and all the time will be doing further damage to the high pressure pump and injection system. Drain it now and hope for the best! Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 The modern common rial pumps run at around 13,000 PSI. They are very delicate items and can be affected by even small amounts of petrol. Have the tank drained and cleaned and the pipe work and pump flushed out. It could save you the cost of a new pump and injectors. When I had to have the pump and injectors done on my Ford Transit it cost £2,000 + 8-) No, I didn't misfuel it but maybe the previous owner did, who knows? So better spend a few bob now me thinks. H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Right, I've just done some basic calculations... If you brim it now then use 15 litres (approx 100 miles @ 30 mpg) then brim again and keep on repeating this cycle it will be the fifth re-fill before the petrol concentration falls below 5%. This will mean driving for over 500 miles with a dangerously high level of petrol in the diesel. DON'T DO IT. DRAIN AND REFILL NOW! Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 From the AA web site. If you've put the wrong fuel in your car, don't turn on the ignition or start the engine as this will circulate the contaminated fuel and increase the risk of expensive damage. If you have just accidentally put the wrong fuel in your car you're not alone. At least 150,000 drivers put the wrong fuel in their car every year. That's one every three and a half minutes. 'Misfuelling' seems to be associated particularly with growth in diesel car sales – modern diesels are so quiet it's easy to forget you're driving one, particularly if it's a second family car or hire car. Potential damage Diesel fuel pumps operate on very fine tolerances and at very high pressures – modern systems run at between 350 and 1600 bar) – and are lubricated by the fuel. Petrol in diesel acts as a solvent, reducing lubrication, and can cause damage to the pump through metal to metal contact. Metal particles from the damaged pump can be deposited in the fuel causing further damage to the rest of the fuel system. Some fuel system seals can be affected by the compounds in petrol too. The further the contaminated fuel goes in the system the more expensive the repair. In some cases it can be cheaper to fit a new engine! Common rail (or HDi) diesel engines are particularly vulnerable – if fuel contaminated by pump wear debris gets as far as the common rail system you may have to replace the low and high-pressure fuel pumps, injectors, fuel rail, line filters and the fuel tank. Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) petrol engines are particularly susceptible to damage too. Many cars have a low-pressure electric pump in the tank which starts to work as soon as the ignition is switched on, circulating contaminated fuel through the pump and rail, so it's important not to turn the ignition on. Petrol in diesel Don't turn on the ignition or start the car In line with car manufacturers' recommendations, AA advice is that any diesel fuel contaminated with petrol should be removed from the tank and replaced with clean fuel before the ignition is turned on and the car started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Must remember never to ask a question involving maths on here ;-) You have a tank with approx 20% petrol, even the most optermistic reacon 10% is max that a common rail engine will tolerate, so you may well have already done the damage. Personaly I would get it drained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomkid Posted June 9, 2012 Author Share Posted June 9, 2012 Well thank you all so very much for your response to my question I will drain it out this weekend and top up with fresh diesel and hope for the best. how and when do you think that we might know if long term damage has been done to the engine thanks again Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 tomkid - 2012-06-09 10:01 AM how and when do you think that we might know if long term damage has been done to the engine thanks again Tom At any point between now and the day you sell it - probably when you least expect it on a dark, cold, wet and windy night miles from anywhere!! You have joined an elite club destined to be listening out for strange noises and rough running for the rest of the time you own the van!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wooie Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 I`ve got 2 very simple little stickers on the fuel flaps. Can`t remember where they came from might have been Halfords, but a quick search should find some. Diesel on the van and Petrol on the car. All it takes is a moments lapse in concentration and it " could " cost you. Regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 tomkid - 2012-06-09 10:01 AM Well thank you all so very much for your response to my question I will drain it out this weekend and top up with fresh diesel and hope for the best. how and when do you think that we might know if long term damage has been done to the engine thanks again TomI would think that you would know fairly quickly, because if the high pressure pump is damaged the metal filings will quickly reach your injectors and stop the engine. I wouldn't take too much notice of trackers pessimistic outlook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 Just a general thought...........would this constitute an insurance claim? :-S.............well it was an accident ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 tomkid - 2012-06-08 6:06 PM We made a big mistake yesterday we put petrol in our diesel motorhome, we put about £15 of petrol into the tank which was about just over half full of diesel at the time. we drove home about 40 miles before we realized the van drove as normal. Van is 2008 Mercedes Does anybody know what we should we do now? Bit in bold says it all unfortunately. You may well face having to drain it off though £15 worth isn't a lot of fuel. If it was a Ford Transit (pre Mk6/7) then you could chuck anything in and have no worries......even chip oil straight out of the Fryer! Mercedes engines can be expensive to work on. I would contact a local Mercedes mechanic......not a Merc Dealer as they will charge you silly money to do something that possibly doesn't need doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 pelmetman - 2012-06-10 9:25 PM Just a general thought...........would this constitute an insurance claim? :-S.............well it was an accident ;-) Possibly Dave but some insurance policies specifically exclude damage from accidental misfueling and unless it is very expensive it's probably not worth damaging your NCD by the time any AD XS is applied.. Difficult to prove any damage was caused by petrol as a friend of mine discovered when his injector system gave rough running and starting problems on his BMW 320D about a year after he did the same. I seem to recall it cost him well into four figures at BMW prices. My dear wife did it to a Toyota Corolla several years ago and it cost us the thick end of £200 to have it towed in, drained and refuelled after she drove it half a mile before conking out and that car went on for two more years and some 18000 miles with not a hint of trouble before we traded it in. Perhaps Toyota make better cars than BMW! Then again it may not have been the fault of petrol contamination - who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomkid Posted June 15, 2012 Author Share Posted June 15, 2012 Hello again Just to update you we drained the old diesel out of the tank and have filled up with fresh. all seems ok but fingers are crossed. thank you for your help Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 I think it would help to reduce "misfueling",if the filling stations stuck to the same bl**dy colours for their diesel pumps and hoses...! ...blue ones..yellow ones...green ones...What the hell is wrong with just black? *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Tom, If you are really worried about doing this again then I suggest fitting a mis-fuelling device to your filler neck. I have found a few options but there are many more out there... http://www.stopdieselmisfuelling.co.uk/howtofit http://www.maplefleetservices.co.uk/component/virtuemart/detail/17-mis-fuelling/flypage/93-diesel-key--misfuel-prevention-device.html?sef=hcfp http://www.solodiesel.co.uk/solution.asp Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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