Ashcott: Petrol in a Diesel Car? Here Is What Happens
Whatever you do, don't switch the motor on, even briefly, to shift the vehicle. Pause; leave the vehicle off. The coming few minutes settle it more than anything else: petrol in a diesel that has not run usually comes down to emptying then flushing, on the spot. What follows is the sequence from this point, anywhere in Ashcott you happen to be.
Petrol in a diesel? What to do in minute one
Go through the following in sequence, before you do anything else.
- Bleeding the system draws petrol from the tank toward the components it damages, and switching your ignition on can be all it takes to do that. So the keys get taken out, and the ignition remains off altogether.
- Don't top it up with diesel. Adding diesel removes nothing. You end up with a bigger tank of the same mixture.
- Close to moving traffic? Then the hazards come on before anything else, and so your car is easy to see.
- The staff will normally help you push it clear of the petrol pump. Let them, and move it by hand — not on your engine, even for a couple of yards.
- Hold on to your receipt. It shows which fuel was put in plus roughly how much, which is the first thing we'll ask.
Still driving when you noticed? Come off the M5 at the next junction if that's where you are, under 10 miles from Ashcott, and stop somewhere sensible rather than pressing on to the services. Then begin at stage one.
The fork in every Ashcott fuel drain: has it run yet?
What comes next turns on one answer, and just one.
If it has not once been started:
- The petrol is still in the tank and nowhere else.
- Where the vehicle sits is normally where this work happens: a drain, then a flush.
- This is the best position to be in, and the whole reason stage one counts.
Run at all, however briefly:
- Petrol has been drawn from that tank, past the filter then into your lines.
- Run it further and the petrol gets to your injectors, having passed through your pump first.
- Distance is what turns it into a larger job: the lines flushed, a filter seen to, and at times more than that.
The reason the line falls there: diesel protects the high-pressure fuel pump as well as the injectors as it flows through them, and petrol doesn't. Nothing is damaged by petrol that is only resting in a tank. Once it is pumped, petrol begins wearing whatever moves it.
Before you call about petrol in a diesel around Ashcott: what we need
A little planning is the difference between a technician that finds you and a van that goes round.
- TA7 9 and the remainder of the postcode makes the best way to start telling us where you are.
- Name the road — Bath Road or wherever you have pulled up — or the car park.
- What a car park serves is the quickest way to find it, so mention the landmark — such as the one outside Lidl.
- That it is a diesel, along with the make and model of the vehicle.
- Petrol or AdBlue? Say which. They are different jobs, and AdBlue has its own Ashcott page.
- About how much — in litres from your receipt, or by how long the nozzle stayed in.
- If it has run, how far plus how hard — as well as whether it's run at all.
- Hire or company car? Some agreements want the owner's go-ahead for this work, and sorting it before our technicians turn up is faster than after.
Then call 0333 366 0103. If it can wait — the vehicle is at home and going nowhere — works too.
The wait for a Ashcott fuel drain, and what to do in it
During the wait, the damage comes from well-intended help — so these count.
- Where the car has stopped settles where you wait. Exposed: away from it, clear of the traffic. Sensible: with it. Either way, safety before the car.
- A helpful passer-by doesn't start it. Nor does anyone wanting to check it still works, or moving it a couple of yards.
- Additives remain in your boot. Injector cleaner and two-stroke oil draw none of the petrol out a second time.
- Siphoning petrol into a can by the kerbside is risky — and it also leaves whatever fuel has already gone beyond your tank. Don't drain it yourself.
- Even the radio or the windows aren't worth turning the ignition on for.
The fuel drain, step by step, after our van gets there
- Fuel, quantity, whether it's run: the replies decide the job, and that is why we give a price after them instead of before.
- The tank is cleared. The contaminated mix comes out of the tank.
- If it ran, your lines are carrying petrol that has moved beyond your tank — so they're rinsed.
- Cleared, or swapped if your car has a workable one: the filter is seen to next.
- Bleeding your system follows once fresh diesel is in.
- Our engineers start the car only after clean diesel has gone in and primed the system, then check that it's running correctly.
Until it runs on clean diesel, we stay with it. When it has been noticed quickly, long-term damage is very rare, and the car returns to normal driving at once.
Back on the road in Ashcott after your fuel drain
- Nothing unusual is needed after a start with clean diesel — normal driving will do.
- Give the first miles your attention. Smoke showing, a warning light coming on, your idle going lumpy or your throttle stumbling: pull over then ring us back.
- An insurer, a fleet manager or a hire company may ask what was done, so hold on to the documents.
- Next time, check the petrol pump. The label, not the colour of its handle.
About Ashcott itself
Ashcott is a small village in inland Somerset, situated near the towns of Wells and Glastonbury, at an elevation of around 45 metres. Ashcott lies within a rural area, surrounded by nearby places such as Pedwell, Berhill, and Buscott. Ashcott has a population of approximately 603 residents, with predominantly detached housing. Ashcott is located about 9 miles from Wells, the nearest city, and around 119 miles from London.
Fuel drains across Ashcott and nearby
Most of Somerset gets the same vans as Ashcott for petrol in diesel call-outs, Pedwell, Berhill and Buscott included. Ring and ask instead of assuming if you are somewhere hard to describe or close to a border.
Ring, and leave it off — petrol in a diesel across Somerset
Engine off. Keys out. Receipt in your pocket. That is the whole of stage one, and Petrol in Diesel carries on from there — at the roadside, on the forecourt or on your drive.