Hi - foolishly I have stuck 3/4 tank of petrol into my diesel, and driven off for two miles. I stopped and turned off the engine as soon as the car "tinked" realising what I had done. Landrover assist towed me to my dealership and they are saying £1500 - £4000 dependent on damage. Lots of people including the lovely AA man are suggesting fuel assist to flush the engine... Any thoughts or experiences before I decide? Thanks so much..
Clarey b

The fact you have driven it could mean damage has been done

I believe LR policy is to replace everything to do with the fuel
System.

Check your car insurance policy to see if your covered for missfueling

If you have no cover for this and I doubt you have, then logic dictates you have to go for the cheapest option which will be a complete flush. After that it will be a case of hoping no damage has been done to the fuel line components and engine.

Best of luck

most insurances pay out for the first miss fuelling event At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

Just looked through my LandRover Policy, won't pay out for misfuelling

Last edited by dunroof on 16th Feb 2013 9:39 am. Edited 1 time in total

As service manager with Ford (small local dealer) I have had many experiences of customers missfuel.
I have not had any car with serious damage even when driven a short distance.
Drain tank, remove fuel filter drain and fill with diesel, fill a gallon of fuel to tank, purge system without trying to start from a point after injection pump until clean fuel is coming through, fit new fuel filter (filled with fuel) and then start vehicle.
In addition I would add 300-400 ml of 2 stroke to tank for a few tankfulls.

To best of knowledge none of these cars suffered any damage, local customers I can confirm none.

All manufacturers do advise the full treatment and replacement of parts to ensure a guaranteed repair. All FL2's (3) Gone
2011 Mercedes C180 CGI Gone
FL2 GS Auto SD with heated leather, factory tints, alloy spare and a few other bits.

Flushing would be my first port of call, time is of the essence, the longer petrol is in contact with seals within the system the more damage it will do, get the petrol out quickly and flush through.

Good luck

I once filled a hire car ( Ford Focus) up Petrol instead of diesel, the fuel filler cap on the car was black which should have been a clue, but so it was also black on my petrol Alfa, the tank was nearly empty, I drove it round the M25 at a fair old rate of knots , and my mistake only came to light when it would not start the next morning. The vehicle was recovered to a garage where they carried out the same procedure that druand has listed. I got a bill for £280 from the hire company, and lost a tank full of Petrol which the lads in the recovery yard kindly told me they would "dispose of " . I continued to drive the car for another two weeks with no noticeable problems. Obviously I don't know what thelong term implications were, but i'd like to know how you could do 4 grands worth of damage.... 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

This happened to my old man in his Jag, had to drive it off the forecourt and called Jagassist whom sent an AA recovery vehicle. The AA guy told him he could drive it 30miles to the dealer to which my old man told him to tow it there. He knows the principle dealer and only got charged like £1500 I think as they had to fit a new fuel pump after flushing the system etc, I think they let him off the labour or only charged him for half of it. However he said he was getting at least 1 a week if not more with the same problem. One guy wrecked his engine and would cost £7k to repair!

I thought JLR were putting fuel capping systems in place to stop this... I know my TD4 has a yellow device to unlock the system if you put the wrong nozzel in. The dealers was saying basically Petrol acts like grit on the system compared to diesel which is a lubricant I guess explains why it can cause so much internal damage Freelander 2 TD4 GS Manual MY11 - 61REG Stratstone Mayfair
Sumatra black, cloth, DAB Radio, Park Distance Control Front, Privacy Glass, 17" Full Size Spare Wheel.
Aftermarket: Mudflaps

It was only from the MY2011 model that the mis-fuel devices were fitted, obviously LR realised we weren't to be trusted

It's worth the purchase of a third party device at £20-£30 quidders for previous year models.

dunroof wrote:

How old is the car? What model?

I once filled a diesel A3 from empty with petrol right to the brim and it conked out after 0.5 miles. As it was a Lex Leasing car I called them and they arranged collection and delivery to the nearest main dealer. The recovery driver said that his firm would quote £180 plus vat to drain and flush through but Lex insisted it went to the main dealer. Once there they wanted £350 plus vat so I called Lex again and persuaded them to let the recovery firm do the work. The main dealer then price matched so they got the job in the end. So for £180, including vat as it happened, they drained the system and flushed it through and filled it up again. They even cleaned the car for me. It drove like a dream immediately after that and I kept it for another twelve months without any mishaps.

This is just my experience but I would be wary about paying £000,s for a job that realy should only be a few hundred.

whilst it doesn't help clareyb999

There are one or two things to consider. If you miss-fuel, calling the AA/RAC or L/R assist itas gets reported to the manufacturer who imediatley put a restriction on warranty work ! They are really hard on this & use it as a warranty opt out clause for anything fuel related. Sadly wherever clareyb999 cars goes there will be a flag on it that its been miss-fuelled.

Best course of action is to have it privately recovered somewhere local & just have the fuel drained & refilled, flush the engine oil & filter & change, fit new fuel filter and add a bit of lube to the first tank of derv & if any issue arises deny any wrong doing !

Druand is spot on,, many cars have been filled with wrong fuel;l & survived without any further problems.

Thanks for all of your feedback! I am getting it flushed out and sod the warranty opt out, for £4k! I can't afford it and just need my wheels back. Thanks for the filter changes advice, will find a little garage to assist. Any ideas of a great 4x4 garage in the Gloucestershire area?

Cheers!