F@*king Unleaded!

[JustStock..]

Hey guys, the effing missus just put $10 unleaded in my dead empty tank.
Drove about 8-10km, it died, she panicked and kept trying to start it!
I'm in melbourne she's in perth
How ****ed am I??
If she drains the tank and the filter, fills it back up. What's my chance of survival??
CHEERS.

 

[happy john]

No lube for the pump for 10k's and it died?. Mate I hope it recovers but it's slim.
Cheers and good luck.

 

[Old.Tony]

Unleaded does its damage because it has no lubrication qualities. The fuel pump and injectors, which rely on that lubrication, will wear.

It's been driven a fair distance. It would have turned the pump over thousands of times - and since petrol is a solvent and can strip diesel from a surface, not much would be clinging to the inside of the pump.

That said, it might not be all over for the beasty. $10 of unleaded is about what, 8 litres? About a litre would have been combusted ... 7 litres in an 80L tank is probably still a bit much, so yes drain it and refill. Draining the filter is a good idea, not 100% convinced it needs to be replaced but it would be a good idea to let the fuel (which will be petrol) drain back into the tank to mix with the diesel and then reprime. There's still be some petrol in the line from the filter to the pump but it won't be much and won't do much more damage than has already been done.

The good news: she won't do it a second time.

Does your car run the Bosch VP44 pump? There are about a squillion of them on eBay so if it's toast, fixing it shouldn't require a mortgage.

 

[happy john]

Sadly JustStock this does happen every day to the best of us. I've seen plenty recover so fingers crossed mate.

 

[jonney]

i am sure your car wouldn,t have run 8 to 10k,s on petrol so the chances may be better than mentioned so far. if you did have some deisel in the tank which no doubt you did , i would hopefully think as long as you drain the tank / lines / filter , then add the deisel fuel and re prime and see how she goes from there. you must get all petrol out of the system before you try and re start. good luck . you not the only person this has happened to as i can imagine how common this mistake in fuels is.

 

[happy john]

Hopefully it just died in the arse as jonny suggested when the fuel made it's way in.

 

[308bever]

good luck mate, let us know how you go...

 

[bods]

The problem is usually when they keep trying to restart it when it stops... You may still be OK though.

If you can drain the tank, I'd do that first and drop a jerry of fresh diesel in. The remove the line from the fuel filter to the lift pump and pump that sucker until you get diesel through, then change the fuel filter and prime it up again. Probably crack the line from the lift pump to the injector pump and push some diesel through that too. It might take a bit of cranking to get it going after that, but you might be OK...

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

 

[highway man]

Petrol in Tank

Where about are you in Perth, I am in Hillman near Rockingham,"6168", If she needs help instead of abuse, call me!

Cross your Fingers!
Highway man!

 

[Black_Outlaw]

I put 45 litres of "Premium Unleaded" into my Navara. Then drove 187km with it on cruise control. The only time i knew something was amiss is when i went to accelerate and it had no power. Quick "oh crap" moment after I smelt the fuel filler and realised what I had done.

Took to mechanics, drained tank, new filter, fresh fuel., purged system and. Started right back up again. It did 10,000km without skipping a beat.

He's seen TONNES of exactly this happening. The worst case was a lady with a new Ford Ranger that had run hers with Unleaded, and the high pressure fuel rail exploded and cut a hole in the guard like a "plasma cutter" he tells me.

 

[Stelianos]

I put 45 litres of "Premium Unleaded" into my Navara. Then drove 187km with it on cruise control. The only time i knew something was amiss is when i went to accelerate and it had no power. Quick "oh crap" moment after I smelt the fuel filler and realised what I had done.

Took to mechanics, drained tank, new filter, fresh fuel., purged system and. Started right back up again. It did 10,000km without skipping a beat.

He's seen TONNES of exactly this happening. The worst case was a lady with a new Ford Ranger that had run hers with Unleaded, and the high pressure fuel rail exploded and cut a hole in the guard like a "plasma cutter" he tells me.

it all depends on the ratio. yes 45litres of unleaded is a lot but was the tank dry? or was there another 35 litres of diesel? if so thats why the pump lived and didnt just die....

 

[ben85]

Wow 45l is a lot, at minimum its over 1/2.

I remember putting about 5l out of a jerry in a mower (20l tank) about 10 years ago.
Decided to run it n hope for the best, didnt seem to affect it one bit.