How to drain wrong fuel from a car

ToxicBunny said:
That is decidedly obvious now...

I could never just trust the guys in that respect, I always used to check... thankfully now I use a garage that only supplies Diesel, and the pump I go to only has 50ppm.. so there is no way they can cock it up.
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That's actually a pretty good idea, it would be nice if places had a "diesel" lane. I always check these days too after I caught the guy a little too late to stop him pumping about two litres of petrol into my diesel. :X3:
 
eg2505 said:
apparently it can be corrected with putting in the correct fuel,
fifth gear actually tried this once.

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Petrol in a diesel is less of an issue than diesel in a petrol, like in this case. Remember petrol burns easily - diesel doesn't. Diesel is also an oil, so it's an issue if it gets inside a petrol engine.
 
Cray said:
That's actually a pretty good idea, it would be nice if places had a "diesel" lane. I always check these days too after I caught the guy a little too late to stop him pumping about two litres of petrol into my diesel. :X3:
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Yeah, thats what happened to me the once.. pulled into a strange garage (was in dire need of go-juice), and asked for Diesel and then my attention lapsed for a little bit and caught the little tosser trying to put the petrol nozzle back and pretend like he hand't made a mistake and put 4 litres of petrol into my Diesel....... He was decidedly unhappy with me when I made them replace every last litre of Diesel that had to be drained out of the system to get rid of the Petrol.. (was over 35l for some reason).


I have now shifted my pattern, and only use a Truck Stop near my house, and will fill up before I desperately need it... Diesel is WAY cheaper, and they can't fsck it up... also helps that the attendants are lekker okes and we chat whenever I'm there.
 
Toxxyc said:
Petrol in a diesel is less of an issue than diesel in a petrol, like in this case. Remember petrol burns easily - diesel doesn't. Diesel is also an oil, so it's an issue if it gets inside a petrol engine.
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so whats the best solution then?
removing the tank and draining it?
or do cars have a easier way of draining the tank?
 
Kosmik said:
Yah, nevermind if you actually tried to start your car. The diesel won't ignite but will now be in all your engines chambers :(
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that’s not too bad, the diesel will clean out the fuel system nicely.

Best bet is to speak to the manager owner and get him to cover it. He has insurance for these things.
 
It's an old car therefore process should be less complicated, the diesel is in the tank, fuel lines and filter, drain it out of the tank, open the injector rail and let it drain out from there, change the filter and put in some petrol, the car would need some persuasion but it will eventually start, might need to tow it or push start it, there will be lots of smoke but it will ultimately come right.

You could also need to have the injectors cleaned.
 
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This happened with my diesel bakkie, where they put petrol in. The garage had all the stuff to drain the tank. Disconnected diesel line before pump and sucked tank clean. They added extra diesel after initial drain and sucked that out as well until i was happy that bo petrol left in the tank
 
I never make a mistake of filling up and i dont step out of the car to catch with the person helping.
Where i stay, i usually get handed over the tag to fill up for myself as i am a regular at that Station.
 
eg2505 said:
so whats the best solution then?
removing the tank and draining it?
or do cars have a easier way of draining the tank?
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I honestly don't know. All I know is that it's not good. They have different compression ratios or something and one works with the other, but the other not with the one, or something like that.
 
Odwa_M said:
So, yesterday I had an unfortunate incident of having diesel put into my petrol car. I would like to to know how to drain the fuel from the car and what damages are likely to have occured. The car is a Hyundai Getz, if that makes any difference.

TIA
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The easiest way to drain the tank (assuming you don't have an extraction pump) is to let the fuel pump do the work. Get yourself a deep funnel and attach a length of hose to the end of it. Stick the hose in a suitable container then undo the fuel line from the fuel rail in the engine and put it in the funnel. Now remove the fuel pump relay from the engine fusebox and link the terminals on the relay socket in the fusebox to make the fuel pump run. The diesel should be pumped out of the tank and into your container. While the pump is doing it's thing, remove and clean the spark plugs. They'll probably be soaked in diesel. Once the diesel stops flowing remove the link from the fusebox to stop the pump and reconnect the fuel line to the rail. Add a couple of gallons of petrol to the tank and refit the spark plugs. Turn the ignition on and off a few times to prime the fuel rail and have a go at starting the engine. Hopefully it starts after a few cranks. It'll probably emit a lot of smoke out the exhaust for a good while once it's running but that should eventually clear once all the diesel is burnt off.
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Hyundai forum.

https://www.hyundai-forums.com/threads/getz-diesel-in-petrol-tank.474361/
 
Remove the cover above the opening where the float and/or the fuel pump sits in the tank, most probably under the back seat or boot. Remove the complete unit as can be seen in the attached picture (might look a bit different though) and syphon or pump the diesel out.
Just ensure that you don't damage the seal ring.

1582557246648.png
 
How much diesel was added? How big the tank?

An ICE engine is pretty much an ICE engine. Incorrect fuels have an impact on the fueling system.
Diesel does contain much more water than ideal meaning you may have a bead or 2 of water in the bottom of the tank.

Diesel is esentially oil. If you dilute it enough the engine will just combust it up and on the plus side lubricate the top sleeve and rings better. Valves and the like will carbon more from engine oil leakage than a tank of diesel.

The question just is how will the injectors handle dirty diesel which is thicker and full of water.

Secondly the cat if you have one. That is basically fscked he moment you start the car with incorrect fuels.

My old cars dont care much. They run on 50/50 diesel petrol mix.
 
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I filled up on my back to Welkom a few years ago and only noticed that the bakkie was smoking when I turned into my street at home. Next day I had difficulty in starting the car and took it to the dealer who found diesel in the petrol.
We had the fuel analysed and it was found that there were around 15% diesel in the petrol.
The source was traced back to the road side petrol station.
In any case what had to be done apart from the tank being drained were a completed oil and oil filter change and a engine flush. Some of the unburned diesel find its way past the piston rings and end up in the sump diluting your engine oil and can result in mayor damage to the engine bearings.
 
thechamp said:
It's an old car therefore process should be less complicated, the diesel is in the tank, fuel lines and filter, drain it out of the tank, open the injector rail and let it drain out from there, change the filter and put in some petrol, the car would need some persuasiom but it will eventually start, might need to tow it or push start it, there will be lots of smoke but it will ultimately come right.

You could also need to have the injectors cleaned.
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jesus save this man
 
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