Serious Blonde moment

[Simon Cobb]

My 2.0 TDi CR engined Scout was low on fuel. I started to refuel and inadvertently put 3.17 litres of BP 98 Octane Ultimate petrol into it before realizing my c*ck-up . I continued filling the tank to the brim with 49 litres of diesel, so in total I had 3 litres of petrol and 57 litres of diesel in the tank. I took a punt and started it, as I thought I'd read somewhere that you could get away with a small misfuel. I drove the car for about 25kms and all appears normal.

Do I need to take any corrective action?

As an aside, I partly blame BP, who - in NZ at least - have re-badged their diesel to be "Ultimate" Diesel alongside their "Ultimate" 98 and "Regular" 91 petrol.

[OCScene]

My 2.0 TDi CR engined Scout was low on fuel. I started to refuel and inadvertently put 3.17 litres of BP 98 Octane Ultimate petrol into it before realizing my c*ck-up . I continued filling the tank to the brim with 49 litres of diesel, so in total I had 3 litres of petrol and 57 litres of diesel in the tank. I took a punt and started it, as I thought I'd read somewhere that you could get away with a small misfuel. I drove the car for about 25kms and all appears normal.

Do I need to take any corrective action?

As an aside, I partly blame BP, who - in NZ at least - have re-badged their diesel to be "Ultimate" Diesel alongside their "Ultimate" 98 and "Regular" 91 petrol.

Ive never done it in a VAG diesel but have done it in a Transit Connect van with a Ford TDCI engine. It was much worse than you too, I put over 20 Litres of Unleaded in before filling up the rest with diesel. I paniced for a bit as I was just setting out on a 190 miles trip home but it never skipped a beat and I had the van for a further 2 years with no engine problems. You will be fine.

[robzer]

Ive never done it in a VAG diesel but have done it in a Transit Connect van with a Ford TDCI engine. It was much worse than you too, I put over 20 Litres of Unleaded in before filling up the rest with diesel. I paniced for a bit as I was just setting out on a 190 miles trip home but it never skipped a beat and I had the van for a further 2 years with no engine problems. You will be fine.

Nice to know having just ordered an elegance with the same engine. Currently have the petrol vRS and am terrified of doing same thing. Having changed from Fabia vRS (TDI) previously I'll have to get used to getting the correct pump yet again.

Simon, bet you had that gut wrenching feeling when you realised what you had done, but it is very useful to know you can get away with a 'minor' misfuel. wonder if there is anyone out there who knows exactly what you can get away with. Had I done the same I would probably have paniced and have called for help. very possibly having major cost implications. :no:

[m0bov]

I would have it drained asap and not drive it, in a delicate CR it won't be long before the fuel pump breaks into tiny pieces and kills the injectors! :'(

[bill2]

do you own a garage talk about trying to worry people or do you work for the health and safety mob.that wont do any harm to the pump.

Edited 20 December, 2010 by bill2

[Carpus]

Never done it with a Skoda but I put 6litres of petrol in a Landrover Freelander diesel and got away with it. Like you I topped it up straight away but I kept it topped upto maximise the petrol dilution. A local, trusted, mechanic also gave me some additive to put into the tank, unfortunately I can't remember what it was. No problems though over a year on.

[Stuart_J]

Should be absolutely fine, Ive filled a diesel , Ok a Citroen with Petrol & driven it down a motorway at 80 until it stopped before realising, after a drain down & filter change the car was fine, If you are at all worried get the fuel filter changed but not at a Skoda dealer as it may be noted & if you get any problems in the future it may effect the warranty .

Edited 20 December, 2010 by Stuart_J

[themacster]

I did it with a Peugeot diesel years ago - about 2 gallons of petrol, brimmed it with 8 or 9 gallons of diesel and had no problems. I do believe the CR engines are far more sensitive as they relu on the diesel for lubrication of key components, but you had it so diluted that you may get away with it - I think you should get it to a dealer to check out though.

[London Les]

Simon - that's a nightmare! I would be gutted if it was my Scout. I think I would get the diesel drained to be on the safe side, but there are lots of stories of small qualities of petrol being OK - diesel is a mixture of various hydrocarbons anyway, but even three litres would affect its lubricity.

When I misfuelled a TDCI Focus a few years ago, I stuck some Miller fuel additive in - injector lubricator or something like that - I doubt Skoda would approve however.

[Guest]

3 lites of petrol and 57litres of diesel!? That is a very very small amount of petrol, and I can't imagine you'd notice a difference. These engines are designed to work on various qualities of quality diesel (within reason obviously) so such a small amount of petrol would be within engine tolerances at the very least, shirley?

Edited 20 December, 2010 by Guest

[dekka48]

3 lites of petrol and 57litres of diesel!? That is a very very small amount of petrol, and I can't imagine you'd notice a difference. These engines are designed to work on various qualities of quality diesel (within reason obviously) so such a small amount of petrol would be within engine tolerances at the very least, shirley?

As I have previously posted I once put about 1 litre of petrol into my PD Octavia. Topped it up with diesel but still went and had the tank emptied, filter and lines cleaned ASAP having read some horror stories about this. Then to be on the safe side I bought one of these for my Scout. I would never forgive myself if I knackered my Scout!

http://www.stopdieselmisfuelling.co.uk/

[KenONeill]

As far as this is possible, top up every time you need 5 to 10 litres until you've run in about another tankful, and you should get away with it.

[howardshe]

there is no harm at all to put small amount of petrol in a disel engine. As a matter of fact, I deliberately put 4 liters of petrol and then top up with disel several days before I go through NCT test. This method will help clean up the injector and make you car easily pass the test.

[Dodgy]

Keep the engine topped up with diesel to continue to lower the ratio of petrol in the tank, don't wait until the tank is almost empty.

It's what I would do if I'd already topped up with diesel, though to be honest I wouldn't have done what you did by topping it up, I'd have gone for the tank drain.

I'll take a punt that no damage will be done though.

[Skodabuyer]

Back in 1982, the last really big freeze we had in Ireland, we HAD to add petrol to the diesel to stop it freezing and up to 10% was not going to cause any problems and indeed it didn't.

As others have said, top up the diesel at every reasonable opportunity but don't panic about less than 10% petrol in the tank; enjoy the brief increase in performance!

Mike

"If you can't fix it with a hammer, it's an electrical problem"

[hotbaws]

I did the same last year to my wifes 2008 C4 Picasso....I put about £15 in before I realised then filled it up with diesel and kept topping it up every time I had used a 1/4 of a tank.

I only had one time where it just refused to start but after I left it for 20 minutes it chugged a bit but fired up...I was still ****ting myself as I hadn't told the wife what I'd done and it was a lease car :S

[Forum User]

I would have it drained asap and not drive it, in a delicate CR it won't be long before the fuel pump breaks into tiny pieces and kills the injectors! :'(

LOL what planet are you from? 3 litres of petrol will NOT break anything, especially the pump or injectors!

[countryboy]

You are talking about a 5% dilution rate, that should be fine, most diesel in the UK is now up to 7% biodiesel and that is known to have lower lubricity properties than regular diesel. Like the other posters have said, keep topping up your tank when it has used about 1/4 of a tank and you should be fine. at least you are still in warranty and what the dealer doesn't know won't hurt them.

Ian

[PhilP1903]

I would have it drained asap and not drive it, in a delicate CR it won't be long before the fuel pump breaks into tiny pieces and kills the injectors! :'(

Jeez Louise, talk about OVERREACTION and SCAREMONGERING,

Just drive it and as has been said top it up at least every 10 litres usage for 6 to 8 times and you will be perfectly okay.

Edited 21 December, 2010 by BillyT1903

[aixlad]

As I have previously posted I once put about 1 litre of petrol into my PD Octavia. Topped it up with diesel but still went and had the tank emptied, filter and lines cleaned ASAP having read some horror stories about this. Then to be on the safe side I bought one of these for my Scout. I would never forgive myself if I knackered my Scout!

http://www.stopdieselmisfuelling.co.uk/

I just looked at this site, it states that -

Dealer Misfuel Leaves Audi A4 Worse for Wear!

Paul Kean's Audi A4 TDI began running badly after repair to the fuel system. It transpired the dealer accidentally mixed unleaded with the diesel already in the tank. The mistake wasn’t discovered until Paul had driven the car for several days after.

When the tank had been drained for the repair, the fuel was temporarily stored in a vat. The dealer used the one for petrol rather than diesel by mistake. As a precaution, it flushed the fuel system and declared the BMW undamaged. Paul claims the car still takes longer to fire up, and is concerned any long-term damage could cost him, as the warranty will soon run out.

Seems like Paul Kean's Audi A4 miraculously turned into a BMW after a misfuel. I may try this myself, see what I end up with, could be a Bugatti Veyron :yes:

[DLW]

Back in 1982, the last really big freeze we had in Ireland, we HAD to add petrol to the diesel to stop it freezing and up to 10% was not going to cause any problems and indeed it didn't.

As others have said, top up the diesel at every reasonable opportunity but don't panic about less than 10% petrol in the tank; enjoy the brief increase in performance!

Mike

"If you can't fix it with a hammer, it's an electrical problem"

I have heard about this too, and I have also heard that if you run a car on 100% bio that you can put 30% petrol in to help with freezing has it gels at -5c and petrol only freezes a -60c

[kenbo]

I just looked at this site, it states that -

Dealer Misfuel Leaves Audi A4 Worse for Wear!

Paul Kean's Audi A4 TDI began running badly after repair to the fuel system. It transpired the dealer accidentally mixed unleaded with the diesel already in the tank. The mistake wasn’t discovered until Paul had driven the car for several days after.

When the tank had been drained for the repair, the fuel was temporarily stored in a vat. The dealer used the one for petrol rather than diesel by mistake. As a precaution, it flushed the fuel system and declared the BMW undamaged. Paul claims the car still takes longer to fire up, and is concerned any long-term damage could cost him, as the warranty will soon run out.

Seems like Paul Kean's Audi A4 miraculously turned into a BMW after a misfuel. I may try this myself, see what I end up with, could be a Bugatti Veyron :yes: