The Next Steps, in Order: Petrol in a Diesel Car in Bryans
Whatever you do, don't switch the motor on, even for a moment, to move the car. Stop; leave the car off. The next few minutes settle it more than anything else: petrol in a diesel that has not run normally comes down to draining then purging, on the spot. Here's the order of things from here, wherever you're in Bryans.
Engine off: minute one with petrol in a diesel
Go through these in order, before you do anything else.
- Keys out of the ignition. Turning the ignition on can be enough to prime the fuel system, while priming pulls petrol out of the tank towards the components it harms. Keep the car off completely.
- Don't top it up with diesel. Adding diesel takes out nothing. You end up with a fuller tank of the same mixture.
- Make the vehicle easy to see before anything else — hazards on — if there is moving traffic anywhere near you.
- Off the petrol pump by hand. On a forecourt, get the attendants to help you push it clear of the petrol pump. Do not start the car to move it, however short the distance.
- Keep the receipt: the grade and roughly how much are printed on it, and they are what we ask about first.
Realised on the move? Get off at the next exit if you're on the M8, under 15 miles from Bryans, and stop somewhere sensible — not at the services further on. Stage one starts after that.
The fork in each Bryans fuel drain: has it run yet?
Everything after this stage depends on one answer.
Motor never run at all?
- No place but your tank: that's where the petrol still is.
- Where your car stands is usually where this work happens: a drain, then a flush.
- No spot is better, and it is why the first step counts so much.
Run at all, even for a second:
- Petrol has been pulled from that tank, past the fuel filter then into the lines.
- Run it further and the petrol gets to the fuel injectors, having passed through your fuel pump first.
- Flushing the lines, the filter sorted, and sometimes more: this job grows as the distance does.
Diesel keeps the high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors protected as it runs through them. Petrol gives them nothing, and that's why the line is drawn there. In that tank, sitting still, petrol harms nothing. As soon as it is pumped, petrol starts wearing whatever moves it.
Calling about petrol in a diesel from Bryans: what to have prepared
Prepare a little, and the technician finds you rather than circling.
- Where you have stopped. A postcode starting EH22 5 is the ideal place to start.
- Name the street — Blackcot Road or wherever you have stopped — or the car park.
- Or the nearest landmark. A car park is easier to find by what it serves, such as the one outside Scotmid.
- The car. Make, model, and that it is a diesel.
- Tell us which went in — petrol or AdBlue — because AdBlue is a separate job, with a page of its own for Bryans.
- How long the nozzle was in, or the litres on your receipt — whichever tells us how much.
- Has it run? If so, say how far it got, and how it was driven.
- Hire or company car? Some agreements want the owner's go-ahead for the work, and sorting it before our technicians arrive is faster than afterwards.
Next, 0333 366 0103. Not time-critical, the vehicle left at home with nowhere to be? Then will do as well.
The wait for a Bryans fuel drain, and what to do in it
Help, however well meant, is the thing that does the harm whilst you wait. So stick to these.
- Your safety comes before the car. Somewhere unsafe? Get away from the traffic then wait away from it. Fine where it sits? Stay with it.
- Nobody starts it. Not a passer-by being kind, not to check it is all right, not to roll it a couple of yards.
- Additives stay in the boot. Injector cleaner and two-stroke oil draw none of the petrol out once more.
- No DIY emptying. Siphoning petrol into a can at the kerbside is risky, and it leaves your fuel that has already gone beyond that tank.
- Ignition stays off. Even for the radio or the windows.
Step by step: the fuel drain when our van gets there
- Fuel, volume, whether it's run: the replies set this job, and that is why we give a quote after them rather than before.
- Clearing it is how that blend gets taken out of that tank.
- If it ran, the lines are carrying petrol that has shifted beyond your tank — so they're purged.
- The fuel filter is sorted. Cleared, or replaced where the vehicle has a serviceable one.
- Fresh diesel goes in, and your system is primed.
- Starting the car. Once the fuel system is primed with clean diesel, our engineers start it and make sure it runs smoothly.
Your car has clean diesel running through it before our technicians leave. Long-term damage is very unusual when it has been spotted early, so your car can go right back to normal driving.
Once the fuel drain is done: driving in Bryans again
- Once it has been started on fresh fuel, there's nothing unusual to do: drive normally.
- Give the first miles your attention. Smoke showing, a warning light coming on, your idle going lumpy or the throttle stumbling: pull over and call us back.
- An insurer, a fleet manager or a hire firm may ask what was done, and so hold on to the documents.
- Check the label on the petrol pump next time, not the colour of the handle.
About Bryans itself
Bryans is a locality in Midlothian, situated inland at an elevation of 131 metres, approximately 8 miles from Edinburgh. Bryans is characterized by its terraced housing and is part of the wider Edinburgh urban area. Bryans is close to nearby places such as Mayfield, Monkswood, and Newtongrange, and is home to a population of around 1621 residents.
Fuel drains about Bryans and beyond
Mayfield, Monkswood and Newtongrange are covered by the same vans that take petrol in diesel calls around Bryans — and so is most of Midlothian beyond. Somewhere tricky to explain, or close to a border? Asking is better than assuming — ring.
Petrol in a diesel around Midlothian? Leave it off and ring
Engine off. Keys out. Receipt in your pocket. That's the whole of step one, and Petrol in Diesel carries on from there — by the roadside, on the forecourt or on your driveway.