Put Petrol in a Diesel Car in Broxburn?
If you have not started the engine yet, don't. A fuel drain and nothing else is nearly always what a motor needs while the petrol is still sitting in that tank and your engine has not yet run, which is why it is the following few minutes that matter, not how much was put in. Petrol in Diesel comes to the car wherever it has ended up in Broxburn or the remainder of West Lothian, on the forecourt, at the roadside or on a drive, and drains and cleans it there. Call us so our engineers can show you what happens after that before you attempt anything else.
The next five minutes: petrol in a diesel
- Feed a petrol motor diesel and it will normally fail to run at all, so the person stops there and so does the harm. Feed a diesel petrol and the engine starts, it idles, it drives off — fine for several miles. Drivers have that reversed, which is the bit they get wrong about petrol in a diesel in particular. So never fire it up. And once started, do not rely on it: the fuel system is wearing while you drive.
- Turning the ignition on usually primes that system, and priming is what draws petrol out of that tank and into the pump and injectors. Those are the components diesel keeps protected on its way through, before it ignites. Petrol does the burning and none of the lubricating. Leave the ignition alone.
- That advice supposes a diesel fuel system copes with petrol by percentage. It does not. Put diesel on top and nothing at all is taken out; what you have is a larger tank of the same blend. And no, the type makes no difference — super unleaded is simply petrol.
- A car that has not moved is the easiest one to deal with, so remain where you are if you reasonably can. Parked on the verge on Greendykes Road? Hazards on, and keep it there. An awkward spot works for us better than a started diesel.
- Find out where you are before phoning. A postcode that starts EH52 5, and the name of whatever is nearest to you. Otherwise our van circles instead of turning up.
- Ring 0333 366 0103. Expect three things — what went in, approximately how much, and if your car has been turned over. Those replies decide all that follows.
The drive back would more or less double it, for no reason at all. One commute has already pushed a real amount of petrol-thinned diesel through your high-pressure pump of your Renault Megane. So keep it where it sits. Phone us from the platform if that's simpler — nobody needs you standing over your car at Uphall whilst our engineers get it done, and tonight trumps finding out on Monday.
We'll come out to you, empty the tank, clean those fuel lines and put clean diesel in so you can drive home. So if petrol went into your diesel Volkswagen Tiguan in Broxburn and you are sat at Scotmid with a boot packed with shopping, ring us — and never start the vehicle a second time to get out of that space. A mile or so at easy throttle pulls very little fuel, so these are usually the simple ones.
Hazards on. Motor off. Call us. It's twenty to nine by the local primary school, you're late, and your receipt reads unleaded — and though three miles in the Peugeot 308 seems like nothing, fuel is supplied on demand, and a frantic drive asks for plenty of it.
Why so blunt about leaving your keys alone? Because your pump is ahead of your injectors, and a worn one sends whatever it gives off downstream with the fuel. Ring us. Leave the Dacia Duster close to Broxburn Parish Church.
Switch off where you have stopped, and do not start it to find somewhere better — by St. Nicholas or anywhere at all. Rattling, a ragged idle, white smoke and a dead throttle are a misfuelled diesel BMW 5 Series telling you what's wrong.
Pump-side drains for petrol in a diesel
It kicks off at the pump, mostly. Frequently the work finishes there too. Still at Shell? Then that's usually where it gets done. Petrol station forecourts are routine for us, with the agreement of the site.
At the forecourt, it is spotted with the motor never started, and no place else does that. Our technicians can still put it right where it sits, even away from the forecourt. In a car park, on a drive or in a lay-by, the car has been started and driven there, and that sucked fuel through your filter then into the high-pressure pump, all the way from the tank. None of that is a calamity, although the flush then has to go past that tank to your lines and the filter, and the few seconds between reading your receipt and reaching for the key are what determine that.
Clear of the petrol pump, the next driver can get through — so yes, let the staff help you move it. Worth doing. Cranking the car just to move four vehicle lengths isn't.
Broxburn plus the areas next to it
Being a riverside town, Broxburn has a routine visit, and the areas close by come with it on that same run: Burnside and Faucheldean, Uphall and Upper Uphall, Uphall Station.
If yours isn't on the list it doesn't mean we do not come — there are pages for most places across West Lothian, and the ones listed above are merely the nearest neighbours. Ring us and ask rather than guessing — county lines particularly, and wherever the satnav can struggle with.
This map outlines the area this page covers. Roadside, forecourt, private drive, car park: all of that is territory our engineers work on, and none of it needs the vehicle to travel to us.
Kerbside stops across Broxburn
Not everybody has a safe spot to pull over. If you noticed after setting off and finished up on the verge beside East Main Street, or in a lay-by somewhere with the hazards flashing, that is a routine call for us instead of an odd one.
Out of the vehicle while it isn't wise to wait inside, beside it if it is. Don't fire up the engine to nurse the car somewhere safer — a diesel running on petrol will often oblige, and every mile it obliges for is drawing that mix further into the fuel system. Carrying on does the car far more harm than a van coming out to an awkward location, and that is no problem for us.
Petrol in a diesel, and the vehicle has moved
Here is where the local M8 comes into it — under a mile from Broxburn. Some distance along, and onto it in the first place: a misfilled diesel will frequently do both before anything feels wrong. What you get then is seldom a tidy stop. Power drains away, the idle gets uneven, and there may be some smoke.
Pull off at the first sensible exit, switch off, and do not start the car to move it. It alters what our technicians bring, so mention it when you phone: on a longer run — anything close to the under 10 miles to the nearest city — take it the contamination has been through your filter, the pump and your injectors.
About Broxburn
Broxburn is a town situated on the banks of the River Almond in West Lothian, with a mix of modern and traditional housing, predominantly detached homes. Broxburn sits at an elevation of 71 metres, near the towns of Uphall and Burnside, and is approximately 9.5 miles from Dunfermline. Broxburn has a population of around 9288 people, and its riverside setting provides scenic views and outdoor spaces. Broxburn is located about 334.9 miles north of London, making it a commuter town with access to major cities.
Our visit around Broxburn, step by step
- Our technicians check what got in, how much, and whether the engine has run. The responses alter the work, which is why our technicians ask before quoting.
- Our engineers empty the tank of all the contaminated fuel.
- Lines flushed, filter cleaned. Whatever is left later isn't the thing that started the issue.
- Your system gets bled, on fresh diesel.
- We turn it on and check it runs smoothly on new diesel.
That leaves the car ready to set off. We do everything wherever the car has ended up, which means it never has to be taken to a workshop, and if it has been spotted soon, it is very unusual for there to be long-term damage.
AdBlue in your diesel tank instead, in Broxburn?
AdBlue rather than petrol? Then the first rule is unchanged — the motor remains off — whereas this problem beneath it is a different one altogether. Petrol does two things to diesel: dilutes it, and removes the protection your fuel system depends on. AdBlue is urea dissolved in water, and in a diesel tank it brings corrosion and deposits in its place.
Our engineers handle both, and AdBlue removal around Broxburn has its own page with the details — including why it is frequently the more serious of the two.
What a petrol-in-diesel fuel drain will cost in Broxburn
Frankly, no single number fits on a page like this. The job varies. Here's what varies it:
- Started? Driven? Either answer matters more than anything else on this list.
- Wrong fuel in, against what that tank takes — that proportion.
- Whether it's unleaded or AdBlue.
- Where the vehicle is, and whether a technician can sensibly get to and work on it.
The vehicle, the quantity, whether it has run — give us those and the answer comes back straight instead of as a range. For the car at home that is going nowhere and isn't time-critical, works too.
Questions our engineers get about petrol in diesel around Broxburn
At a petrol station in Broxburn, can you do a fuel drain there?
Yes, and it's where a big share of this work gets done. We work at Esso and the other forecourts nearby regularly, with the station's agreement — tell us which one you are at when you ring and we'll tell you if we can work there.
A couple of litres of petrol in a diesel — too much?
It hinges on the proportion instead of the litres, and far more on whether your engine has run. Five litres into a nearly dry tank isn't five into a full one, no. But both land on the same question in the end: has that mixture been sucked right through, or has it not?
Already driven it with petrol in the diesel? What now?
Stop somewhere sensible, turn off, then leave the car off. Driving moves the problem along — out of the tank, into your pump and injectors. Motorists fear it a good deal more than the recovery rate warrants, mind. The one really useful thing left to you isn't restarting the car.
Will a fuel drain void my warranty?
No. Carried out correctly, clearing and rinsing is no modification at all, and the warranty from your manufacturer is unaffected by it. Running a diesel on petrol is the thing more likely to cause a dispute with one, which is another good reason to leave it turned off.
Could I put some two-stroke in and just drive?
No. It belongs to a separate fault from a bygone era, and petrol has diluted something no oil of that kind puts back. Your tank still has petrol in it later, and your pump still has to live with it.
A main dealer for petrol in a diesel — necessary?
Not at all. Our engineers drain and clean the vehicle wherever it is, so there's no need to take it to a main dealer.
You, and the car, still together?
Turned off is the way the car remains.
Driven it already? Then somewhere sensible, stop, switch off, and no restarting the vehicle afterwards. Cold, still, going nowhere: that is the best position to be in. Drivers fear this far more than they need to.
At the kerbside, on the forecourt or at home — on-site fuel draining in Broxburn and throughout West Lothian.