Wrong Fuel - E320 -Help Please

[bulltog]

Hi ,

I accidently (hanging head in shame) put 3.3 litres of petrol in my Deisel E320 - 2009 model today. I havent turned the engine on but have turned the ignition on to put the gear to neutral (it is an automatic).

I got a quote from my local Mecedes garage which says it will cost about £450-£500. I recently got a quote from RAC who said it will cost about £200.

I was wondering whether it is safe to get it repared by the RAC rather than the official garage.

The second question is I have a funny feeling the recovery driver might have turned the key too far for just about 2 seconds (he said he didn't though) while he was trying to put the car into neutral. If this happened, how serious is this and would the RAC guy would be able to find out that this has happened or is it safe to replace everything which could have been affected by this.

Would appreciate a quick and detialed answer. Thanks a lot in advance

 

[47p2]

If the engine hasn't been turned over it will be a case of draining the tank and filling with the correct fuel. If it has been started for a few seconds the same procedure. If it has been run any linger it will require the fuel filter to be changed and the system purged before fresh fuel is put in the tank.


If the vehicle is still under warranty MB will not guarantee and affected parts due to miss-fuelling, e.g. pump, injectors, etc.

 

[Chrishazle]

How empty was the tank? If it was just about empty, can you brim it with diesel on top of the 3.3L of petrol and be OK???
I don't know whether this is an option with current common rail high pressure stuff - it was almost 30 years ago I was told to use a little petrol in my diesel (citroen CX) in winter to overcome waxing problems!

 

[amb67]

Use the RAC for sure as they are much cheaper, make sure that the fuel filters replaced too.

Next purchase is a fuel safe device, Google it, a sound purchase if like me you run a petrol and diesel car.... :-(

 

[antijam]

If it was literally just over three litres of petrol, you will probably get away with just topping up with diesel and as it's used, continually diluting the mix further.

At least you've done it the right way round, diesel in a petrol motor would be a lot more problematical.

In a similar lapse of concentration, I've put five litres of petrol in a seventy litre diesel tank without any discernible lasting (after three years) effect, but obviously you have to do whatever is going to give you peace of mind.

If you are going to take action, simply draining and refilling the fuel tank should be adequate, even if the ignition has been momentarily turned on.

 

[television]

As all of the others, that amount of petrol will not matter if you fill the tank up with diesel

 

[Rory]

The second question is I have a funny feeling the recovery driver might have turned the key too far for just about 2 seconds (he said he didn't though) while he was trying to put the car into neutral.

Do you mean turned the key to the start position? You can't do that on Merc without the car going through it's starting sequence, which means the engine will start.

In some countries that put petrol in diesel in cold weather. As others have said, if you fill it with diesel the dilution will be such that the petrol content is negligible.

 

[bulltog]

Thanks for those quick replies. Eventhough the tank was pretty low (it was on reserve already) I don't want to risk just by topping it up with deisel and running it. I would be definitely draining it with help from the RAC or Mecr Garage.

I was concerned about using RAC as the quote was quite low compared to the Merc Garage one, was thinking whether they would be doing a lower level job on the car. You guys don't think the official garage will be doing anything special for that higher price they are charging do you?

@47p2 If anything the ignition was turned for 2 seconds not more, so I will go for the draining and just to be sure will ask to change the fuel filter as well. What does purging the system means (sorry I am not very technical). Also did you mean even if I use the mercedes garage the warranty will be lost? or were you saying I couldn't get it replaced it under warranty.

@amb67 Will definitely be looking for that fuel safe device as I do have a petrol car as well. Don't want to go through the agony I had today.

Thanks again guys.

 

[bulltog]

@Rory yes, I am worried it might have gone into the start position, I have no way of knowing for sure, as I saw him turning it back and also was in a very noisy petrol station with my two year old crying his eyes out.

Do you think if that happened it would cause much damage. I am concerned as read on google that these latest CDI engines are very vulnerable to this fuel problem as it could affect the seals etc

 

[RobWheatley]

It is common to add a few litre's of petrol to a tank of diesel to stop it waxing in the winter, it will cause no harm to the engine, unless the engine was turned over (starter operated) then the petrol would only be in the tank.
3 litres of petrol to 85 litres of diesel is nothing.

 

[RobWheatley]

Even if the engine was run for a few seconds there will only be a small amount in the fuel lines, again it will cause no harm.

 

[Xtractorfan]

Will do absolutely no harm whatsoever just fill with at least 3 or 4 gallons of diesel and the car will run ok without any harm.. You would be surprised if you worked in any garage Merc and BMw included at the number of times wrong fuel is put in and then they just fill up with the proper stuff...

 

[teddycatkin]

Will do absolutely no harm whatsoever just fill with at least 3 or 4 gallons of diesel and the car will run ok without any harm.. You would be surprised if you worked in any garage Merc and BMw included at the number of times wrong fuel is put in and then they just fill up with the proper stuff...

I agree---at our little garage in the village we have an old fuel pump connected to 2 long thin rubber hoses (in and out)and two wired crocodile clips (to conect to power /battery--the many may times this happens -and we go out to the vehicle drain the tank-remove fuel inducion pipe at the engine and turn it over on the key till its empty --then refill with correct fuel---usually with no further problems.

 

[Flanaia1]

Complete waste of money getting it drained just brim the tank to dilute it and all will be fine, I can't understand the paranoia of all this I think it is created by people profiteering from other peoples mistakes and I wouldn't trust the RAC or AA with a dinky car let alone my real motor some of the work I have seen from these cowboys in so called "roadside Repairs" beggars belief.

 

[Rory]

Will do absolutely no harm whatsoever just fill with at least 3 or 4 gallons of diesel and the car will run ok without any harm.. You would be surprised if you worked in any garage Merc and BMw included at the number of times wrong fuel is put in and then they just fill up with the proper stuff...

It can potentially cause problems, and insurance companies will pay the £6K or so that BMW & MB dealers demand to replace the entire fuel system.

It's suugested that high pressure pumps can fail sometime later so the fact that the car is OK after being drained and refilled doesn't necessarily mean all is OK.

Having said that, in my last company misfueling was at epidemic proportions, and that was based on the events that drivers reported - we ran the cars to 90K miles and I'm not aware we had any long term issues.

 

[flyinyam]

I once put £15 of petrol in my Terrano diesel

Didn't start it, just brimmed it with additional £45 diesel.

No problem. Jeep never missed a beat.

Alot of scaremongering re petrol in diesel cars,

Diesel in petrol cars however!!

Mate once brimmed his 2.8 inj capri wit diesel some years ago! Drained tank on forecourt, brimmed it with petrol and smoked:lol: away,

Cheers

Russell

 

[Parrot of Doom]

Just fill it with diesel and continue as before. 3.3 litres of diesel in a 60+ litre tank is not worth worrying about, it will cause absolutely no damage.

I'm firmly of the opinion that the dangers of misfuelling a diesel car are vastly overstated, and that garages keen to earn a fast buck are responsible for this.

 

[dieselman]

I'm firmly of the opinion that the dangers of misfuelling a diesel car are vastly overstated, and that garages keen to earn a fast buck are responsible for this.

Common rail pumps can suffer terribly from petrol contamination, but I would tend to agree about 3 litres in a tankful being Ok, especially if some added lube is put in.

 

[rayhennig]

Diesel in petrol cars however!!

My wife put about a quarter of a tank of diesel in our old 280TE. Then she filled it with the usual 95. It was a bit smoky so when it got to 3/4 I filled it again. Seemed better and it suffered no long term problems.

I don't think a one-off mistake is likely to be a problem as long as it's in 'reasonable' concentrations.

RayH

 

[pollawyn]

Had this problem 2 yrs ago with 280 CDi. Stupidly thought driving wifes petrol car and filled up with petrol when fairly low. Drove about 200yds then called AA. They pumped out, no work done to car, seals etc. Has driven perfectly ever since. AA said 98% certain no damage to engine. But I would not even have started the car if I had realised what I had done.