Don't know what the outcome of diesel in a petrol would be, if it would in fact run. The dispensing nozzle on a diesel pump is larger than the petrol pump, so on modern cars it is next to impossible to get the diesel nozzle into the petrol tank. (Although it has been done) Older cars would be at risk though.

Sure somebody has developed a device that can be fitted to a diesel filler to prevent mis-fueling a diesel, should be adopted by all manufactures really.

Yup here's one.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Contamination-Prevention-Device-Diesel-Filler/dp/B008MK2B52/ref=sr_1_3?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1385216054&sr=1-3&keywords=misfuelling+device

Surely would be a couple of pounds to incorporate during production.

Think fords fuel systems stops misfuelling.

Some VAG cars already have it - described in http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motoring/audi-aims-stop-misfuelling

Think fords fuel systems stops misfuelling.

That explains why it's tricky to fit the nozzle in - you have to get the angle exactly right otherwise it won't go down the hole (ooh err missus!).  Bit of a fiddle - was on the S-MAX hire car I had recently which by the sounds of it has that feature.

That explains why it's tricky to fit the nozzle in - you have to get the angle exactly right otherwise it won't go down the hole (ooh err missus!).  Bit of a fiddle - was on the S-MAX hire car I had recently which by the sounds of it has that feature.

Better 2 minutes fiddling with your hole than a bill from the garage !!

I have an interesting as ongoing similar problem to the OP.  I managed (very senior moment) to put 16 litres of unleaded into half a tank of diesel  in my 6 month old Fabia a week ago Friday.  Then, having realised my stupidity stopped and bacause of the layout of the forecourt was compelled to move the car off the pump - even more stupidly I move the car by starting the engine - 35 seconds later it was parked.  Yes, I KNOW, please don't tell me what a numpty I was.

 

Anyway, Skoda Roadside Assist came out and recovered my Fabia to a Skoda dealer who tut tutted sucked in breath etc etc - shook their heads and I left the car with them.

 

They phoned me up on Monday - the cost to fix the engine they say is a STAGGERING £5,500.00.  So now I'm caught between a rock and a hard place - I must have the car fixed, the insurance company say they will send an engineer to inspect etc - presumably they will baulk at all that cost, but when I speak to car mechanic friends that too are appalled at the cost.

 

I spoke to SKoda Customer Service HQ - who woudln't comment nor even offer an opinion.

 

My instinct says to me - get them to suck out the tank and refill with diesel, but there's now the warranty to consider as well as the fact that no doubt Skoda now have this incident flagged against my car.  Has anyone any suggestions please?

 

Thanks

Edited 14 July, 201411 yr by grajay

Really 35 seconds and the fuel just in the tank reached the engine. The pipe and pump still had the old fuel in. When I put petrol in a brand new diesel I got 1 mile. And the cost was 700 pound. Hyundai i30 recovered by the rac and dealership drained flushed and New fuel rail and fuel pump.

Petrol in a diesel is ok, though at 50% it might not want to run. maybe at 20% its ok. I run my cars on SVO and in winter a petrol mix to keep it fluid.

 

The petrol wil lprobably clean all the crap out the pipes so yo might need to replace the fuel filter.

I have an interesting as ongoing similar problem to the OP.  I managed (very senior moment) to put 16 litres of unleaded into half a tank of diesel  in my 6 month old Fabia a week ago Friday.  Then, having realised my stupidity stopped and bacause of the layout of the forecourt was compelled to move the car off the pump - even more stupidly I move the car by starting the engine - 35 seconds later it was parked.  Yes, I KNOW, please don't tell me what a numpty I was.

 

Anyway, Skoda Roadside Assist came out and recovered my Fabia to a Skoda dealer who tut tutted sucked in breath etc etc - shook their heads and I left the car with them.

 

They phoned me up on Monday - the cost to fix the engine they say is a STAGGERING £5,500.00.  So now I'm caught between a rock and a hard place - I must have the car fixed, the insurance company say they will send an engineer to inspect etc - presumably they will baulk at all that cost, but when I speak to car mechanic friends that too are appalled at the cost.

 

I spoke to SKoda Customer Service HQ - who woudln't comment nor even offer an opinion.

 

My instinct says to me - get them to suck out the tank and refill with diesel, but there's now the warranty to consider as well as the fact that no doubt Skoda now have this incident flagged against my car.  Has anyone any suggestions please?

 

Thanks

 

 

grayjay, you need to find a proper garage who will give you proper advice. I seriously doubt your are getting that at the moment. From your post you didn't even leave the garage forecourt so it's impossible for your engine to have been damaged. You will still have had diesel in your fuel system at that point and even if you allowed the engine to run for several minutes it would not have caused any damage whatsoever. In your case it will be just a case of draining tank and fuel line, flushing, changing fuel filter (and then another filter change in a month) and just driving it after it's been refilled with diesel. Total cost just a few hundred pounds at most. It's something I've dealt with for many people over the years and it's an easy job and not mega costly in your case. 

+1 for the above. Id just run the risk if ti was up to 30% petrol personally.

I doubt much damage has been done, but if it has, there is still no point in replacing everything proactively. Get the fuel system flushed out and refilled with diesel.

get it drained, add litre of diesel, run a few mins, drain, refuel with diesel cleaner adde to tankful and drive normally! change fuel filter asap just to be sure. i don't think you will even have bothered the engine for that distance.

£5k is daylight robbery. They are cashing in on your mistake and they know they've got you in a hard position to get out of.

 

Seek advice from Trading Standards and insist on a second opinion from your insurance company.

 

Of course, if that ever happened to me and the bill was that much, I'd be prepared to pay for an independent specialist to prove that this dealership is wrong and take them to court.

I agree with the above in that the way to repair this would be to drain the tank, new fuel filter & run it to see how it is with new filter shortly after..

However, this is a 2012 car thus still in warranty I presume. I work in Motor Trade insurance and seek this mear on every day. Main dealers will quote for an entire new fuel system inc tank, injectors etc. Maybe you can obtain a copy of the estimate or at least the list of parts that they are looking to replace?

When does your warranty run out? It may be worth just proceeding with the quicker repairs and writing the warranty off.

A few years ago, prior to my retirement, wrong fuelling was occasionally a problem  within our company. I won an award for thinking of affixing a sticky label to the dash of all our vehicles stating   " Diesel ( or Petrol) This side".  The label had arrows at each end   and the incorrect end was cut off. This identified both the fuel and where the filler cap was. Simple!!

Grajay - £5500 !! - no way. Drain, refill, change fuel filter and give it a try - at that price you have nothing to lose.

I once filled a Mitsubishi Charisma Diesel with unleaded, and ran this for approx 5 miles until it ground to a halt.

Drained, refilled, and ran car for a further 35000+ miles with no problems.

I think your garage are being ultra cautious, and are trying to avoid any future possible liabilities or comeback on themselves which is quite understandable.

It would be reasonable however for the garage to get you to sign a disclaimer to absolve them from liability in carrying out your specific instructions on this issue.

Edited 15 July, 201411 yr by 2ndskoda

Grajay - £5500 !! - no way. Drain, refill, change fuel filter and give it a try - at that price you have nothing to lose.

I once filled a Mitsubishi Charisma Diesel with unleaded, and ran this for approx 5 miles until it ground to a halt.

Drained, refilled, and ran car for a further 35000+ miles with no problems.

I think your garage are being ultra cautious, and are trying to avoid any future possible liabilities or comeback on themselves which is quite understandable.

It would be reasonable however for the garage to get you to sign a disclaimer to absolve them from liability in carrying out your specific instructions on this issue.

Thanks guys.  I'm still in shock over the whole thing.  The engineer from the insurance company called last friday and has not given the go ahead so I guess he's now researching.

 

The car is 6 months old (1st reg Feb 2014) so I have 4.5 years warranty left (I took the extended warranty option).

 

The good news is that whilst typing this post I've spoken with my dealership who supplied the car and they have confirmed that they will do the work for about £200.  Now I'm seeking help to move the car from the dealership where my poor Fabia is to the supplying one.  Skoda Roadside assist were helpful but unable to help so now I'm trying Customer Care.  The bad news is that Customer Care havenow confirmed via the holding dealership the presence of significant damage to the engine components.  Guess I shall have to live with it now.

Edited 15 July, 201411 yr by grajay

Hi Grajay - you wrote - 

 

' The bad news is that Customer Care have now confirmed via the holding dealership the presence of significant damage to the engine components.' 

 

Does this mean that they have started to disassemble the unit? - I was under the impression that the car was just stored at a receiving point pending a decision on what to do next.

I suspect that they have sat down and wrote out a list of possible  damage rather than actual damage.

 

If they have given a definitive list of repairs required - this can only mean that a repair has been started (with your prior knowledge and permission?) OR if this is not the case, they are playing guessology games with you as the fall guy.

 

Forgive me if I have missed part of the history or some obvious point - but do (if the option is still there), get the car back to the supplying dealer, who sounds more realistic on this matter. Keep the forum up to date on how this progresses & good luck.

They're talking complete rubbish. I really doubt they can prove any 'significant damage'. As above, they would have to have taken it apart already plus, theres no way the petrol would have reached the engine in 30 seconds. I changed a fuel filter on a diesel (not a common rail before you lynch me) a while back and didn't prefill it. It ran for about a minute on the fuel in the pipes after the filter before it spluttered out.

 

However, my only real worry for you is they will have noted all this down, even if its speculative lies and if you have *any* problems with the engine in the next 4.5 years, I'd expect Skoda will immediately point to this report and say 'we told you so' and chuck your warranty in the bin.

With my car that i misfueled they (Hyundai Dealership) took samples from the tank and from the Fuel rail they said and these were stored 

incase they were needed, but not actually tested at that point.

 

Then they went about replacing the parts that they had approval to replace.

It was a car Owned by Motability Finance and i was asked to give them the Fuel Receipt & they had the insurance refund me the price of the Petrol,

& i had to pay the £75 Excess that the Mobility Insurance required which is part of the Lease Agreement.

 

george

 

They're talking complete rubbish. I really doubt they can prove any 'significant damage'. As above, they would have to have taken it apart already plus, theres no way the petrol would have reached the engine in 30 seconds. I changed a fuel filter on a diesel (not a common rail before you lynch me) a while back and didn't prefill it. It ran for about a minute on the fuel in the pipes after the filter before it spluttered out.

 

Agree with this. I'm completely appalled by this dealership. They would need to strip down your fuel lines to ascertain damage which would have cost significantly more in labour than £200. 

 

By doing this, and pretty much ruining any remaining warranty they've now forced you to offload this car to another person.

Just a correction from me.

I have seen the post i made before on here, and i did not drive a mile after the Mis-fuel only a 100 yards or so, 

& the cost of the invoice to the Insurance Company was £850

 

george