A colleague has just managed to put £65 of unleaded into a '99 TD5 Discovery. She drove approx 1/4 mile before it ground to a halt, then she proceeded to try and restart it, pouring more petrol through the system.....
I'm aware that with some cars this is worse than with others. Does anyone know if the TD5 can get away with a flush out or are we talking new pumps, injector seals etc?
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No doubt you've already done a forum search and found
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=22681&...f
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Erm, no. ::sidles sheepishly towards door::
I'll pop back for my coat later.
::runs::
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Your colleague is not the first by a very wide margin and certainly won't be the last to fill up with the wrong fuel.
I know car delivery drivers who are on the road all day, every day and fill up vehicles with fuel hundreds of times annually - yet, just occasionally, with the mind on something else, concentration goes and the wrong fuel line is picked up....
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She'd been driving her other half's V8 Defender for the last 2 weeks. Easy mistake given that she must have filled up at least 7 times in that time.
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Why oh why aren't fuel-tank openings made to fit fuel-pump nozzles of different sizes? I think I recall that in the USA the unleaded nozzle fits snugly into a narrow pipe, into which it is impossible to insert a diesel nozzle (or, in the old days, a leaded nozzle).
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in the USA the unleaded nozzle fits snugly into a narrow pipe
Yes. And you should see how long it takes to fill up some of those big ol' American cars through a nozzle that size. One occasion I was filling up my Galant (not a huge car by American standards) and it was taking ages so I clipped the pump on and walked round to the back of the car to have a butchers at Denver airport (just across the way). Of course, I had picked the pump with the cut-off not working, so I looked back at the car to find petrol spilling all over the forecourt.
It wasn't a big deal. Petrol was dirt cheap over there.
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>>One occasion I was filling up my Galant (nota huge car by American standards) and it was taking ages so I clipped the pump on and walked round to the back of the car to have a butchers at Denver airport (just across the way).
Ah my old stomping ground. DIA or Stapleton?
Interesting that we have those clips disabled in this country!
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Terry
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Ah my old stomping ground. DIA or Stapleton?
Interesting that we have those clips disabled in this country!
DIA I think. Basically, a big tent. It was only a few years ago. I was working in Boulder for a week or so.
Anyway, disabled or not, I'll never use one of those clips again. Hugely embarrasing running back to a car spewing petrol all over the forecourt. It's only a mistake you make once.
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My colleague filled a Diesel A Class Merc Hire car with Petrol in Gibralter (on Business). Returning through the border the car stopped accompanied by a VERY loud bang with smoke. Our organisations Credit Card bill was in excess of £2K and he still works here. His excuse was he could not have imagined it was a diesel as it was so fast and so quiet.
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Hang on......
How would having a small nozzle stop you putting unleaded into the "big" filler on a diesel?
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A square filler for diesels is the answer! Or a nice star shape!!
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As a photographer I've used many types of cameras - as most people know a single lens reflex has either a screw mount (early Pentax etc) and Nikon and other marques a bayonet mount.
If car designers and petrol companies introduced a bayonet mount on, say, a diesel car's fuel pipe's filler cap section with the pump's lead's nozzle having a matching bayonet insert, retaining the present petrol nozzle design (or vice versa) it would be impossible to mix the two up.
Only when the fuel nozzle has been correctly inserted and turned, say 20 degrees, would a contact become active and allow fuel to be put in the tank.
Many cars already have bayonet type filler caps - it would just be an extension of the principle for a slightly different reason.
Certainly instances of petrol being put in diesel cars or diesel in petrol drivn vehicles is far more widespread than most people realise.
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How would having a small nozzle stop you putting unleaded into the "big" filler on a diesel?
It doesn't... but you've got half an hour while you're waiting for it to fill to realise you've messed up.
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Should be OK , Drain refill bleed fuel through to the front and fire it up. If she attempted to start the engine a lot I would chase the oil as I suspect a fair bit of fuel has slipped passed the rings. Diesel in Petrol is the worst way round at you can list the head or even blow holes through the pistons. It sounds as you came to half pretty quicky so no real time to damage pumps and injectors but do bleed clean diesel through to the front. Regards Peter
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As an aside, reading the above.. and thinking.. Some people advocate liquid hydrogen at around -220C for cars...
Imagine missfilling one of them or a petrol car with liquid hydrogen..
Large bang.. evacuation?
If we can't get petrol/diesel right....
madf
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>>If we can't get petrol/diesel right....>>
Such hydrogen powered cars already exist - Honda has had several operating on lease in Los Angles for quite some time.
The safety precautions in every area far exceed all potential hazard situations according to a recent story in Top Gear.
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PS
It costs though. Apparently each Honda car has cost around £2m to build....:-)
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Doesn't Reykjavik have hydrogen buses?
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Terry
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London has an experimental Hydrogen fuel cell bus, exhaust is just a cloud of steam.
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>>exhaust is just a cloud of steam.
There are several of them. The 'exhaust' looks unbelieveable. It is a huuuuuge cloud of steam. I'm astonished that idiots haven't campaigned against the 'smoke' that they emit!
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They have.
It is the most dangerous substance known to man and linked to all known cancers and disease.
For the full lowdown read www.dhmo.org
I promise that it will bring tears to your eyes.
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I recommend www.dhmo.org/facts.html#SEX
I predict a spate of bus-sniffing in the SE1 region tomorrow morning.....
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On several occasions, I have suffered desquamation of the skin due to over exposure to this.
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On several occasions, I have suffered desquamation of the skin due to over exposure to this.
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To diesel, Sooty? Blimey I am dreading my own desquamation then. Can it annihilate a whole person or just the skin? ;)
For the record I am always terrified of using wrong fuel. Haven't done it yet, but having said this, probably will soon. ;)
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Regarding dhmo....free falling form keeps stopping me working at night!
StarGazer
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I am really, really sorry, but I can't resist it.
Pedant mode on.
It isn't steam, it's water vapour.
Pedant mode off.
Walks away with hands behind back and a smug grin on face. TIC.
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So smug grin, what actually is the diference between water vapour and steam?
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So smug grin, what actually is the diference between water vapour and steam?
I can answer that. (smug grin) Water vapour is two words and steam is one word. Haha.
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Seriously, steam is given off when water has reached boiling point, whereas water vapour is, well, water evapourating.
I'm not a physicist so I presume it's temperature difference, although I guess they are both chemically the same compound.
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As a layman, here goes....
Steam is water heated to 100 degrees C or above, where the pressure is at, or greater, than one atmosphere and is invisible.
Water vapour is water heated to 100 degrees, or below, at atmospheric pressure and is visible.
It was just a joke, honest!
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Nah. Steam differs in that it has been transformed into the gaseous phase by absorption of latent heat of vaporisation. Therefore it gives you a far nastier burn.
Regarding the dihydrogen monoxide saga (also known as hydrogen hydroxide): this evil chemical is also emitted in large volumes in vehicle exhausts. Heaven help us if ever hydrogen is adopted as a vehicle fuel ;o)
Oz (as was)
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ND
To answer your original question...
I made exactly thesame mistake in an unregistered Vauxhall Bravo pickup, although I only put £5 worth of petrol into the vhehicle. Yes I was one of those delivery drivers that got it wrong;)
Advice as follows;
Drain the whole contents of the tank (into the V8 as there won't be any diesel in there to contaminate it, or very little)
As someone else said, change the oil. But only for a good flushing oil first that allows you to run the car for a few hours or so. Express factors do these at reasonable prices IIRC
Now petrol is less viscous than diesel so your injectors may be OK. Just to be on the safe side you may try putting a few litres of diesel then adding a good trade supplied injector cleaner first and turning the engine over. Once started run it like cazy for a little while. In the longer term, get the emmisions checked - this will give you some indication as to the injector condition.
Once this is sorted, change the oil again for the correct grade of oil and see how things go.
Alternitively if she wants to sell the car and get another V8 to avoid making the same mistake again, e mail me with the spec, mileage etc and asking price. I may be in the market for a TD5!
Hugo
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