What Happens Now: Petrol in a Diesel Car in Craigleith
Stop. Engine off. Leave it that way — no second on, no moving it anywhere. Petrol in a diesel that has not been run is normally a simple drain plus a flush, done right where the vehicle stands, and what happens in the next few minutes decides that more than anything else. Here's the order of things from here, anywhere you are in Craigleith.
Engine off: minute one with petrol in a diesel
First, these — following this order.
- Keys out of your ignition. Switching the ignition on can be all it takes to prime the fuel system, while priming draws petrol out of your tank towards the components it damages. Keep it off completely.
- Do not top it up with diesel. Adding diesel removes nothing. You are left with a bigger tank of the same mixture.
- Hazard lights on. If you're at all close to moving traffic, make the vehicle easy to see before you do anything else.
- By hand, not on your engine: that is how it comes off the petrol pump. Ask the forecourt staff to help you push, whatever the distance.
- The first thing we will ask is which fuel you put in and about how much — and the receipt shows both. Keep it.
On the M8, under 5 miles from Craigleith, the next junction is the location to come off; elsewhere, the first sensible spot to stop. Don't push on to the services. Then go back to step one.
Each Craigleith fuel drain starts here: has the engine run?
One answer is what everything after this stage depends on.
If it has not once been started:
- Just your tank has petrol in it for now.
- Where your car stands is usually where the work happens: a drain, then a flush.
- Being here is the best case — which is the whole point of step one.
Motor run, however for a moment?
- Out of that tank, past the fuel filter, into your lines: that's how far that petrol has got.
- On a longer run it has reached the high-pressure pump and the injectors.
- Flushing your lines, the filter dealt with, and sometimes more: this job grows as the miles does.
The line falls there because diesel lubricates the high-pressure fuel pump and the injectors on its way through them — and petrol doesn't. In your tank, left alone, petrol does no harm. Move that petrol, though, and it grinds down the very parts doing the moving.
What to have ready when you call about petrol in a diesel from Craigleith
Whether the technician goes round or finds you depends on a little preparation.
- EH4 2 and the rest of the postcode is the ideal way to start telling us where you are.
- Give the road — North Werber Park or wherever you have stopped — or the car park.
- What a car park serves is the easiest way to find it, and so say the landmark — like the one at Morrisons.
- That it's a diesel, plus the make and model of your car.
- Petrol or AdBlue? Say which. They are different jobs, and AdBlue has a separate Craigleith page.
- The quantity: the receipt's litres, or else how long you had the nozzle in.
- If it has run, how far and how hard — as well as if it has run at all.
- Whose motor it is. Some hire and company contracts want the owner to authorise the work, and that's quicker settled before our engineers turn up than after.
Then phone 0333 366 0103. If it can wait — the car is at home and going nowhere — does the trick as well.
Craigleith fuel drain on its way? Whilst you wait
Help, however well meant, is the thing that does the damage whilst you wait. So stick to these.
- Safety before the vehicle. If it has stopped somewhere unsafe, get yourself clear of the traffic and wait away from it. If it is safe where it is, stay with it.
- Nobody — however kind — starts it, whether to see if it runs or to shift your car a short way.
- Something from the boot, oil meant for two-strokes or injector cleaner: no additive removes the petrol.
- No home-made draining. Siphoning petrol into a can at the kerbside is hazardous, and it leaves your fuel that has already gone beyond that tank.
- Not for the radio, not for your windows: the ignition remains off.
The fuel drain, step by step, once our van gets there
- Fuel, quantity, whether it has run: the answers decide the job, and that is why we give a price after them rather than before.
- Then your tank is drained, and the polluted fuel comes out.
- Petrol that has moved beyond the tank sits in the fuel lines if it ran, and your lines are rinsed to shift it.
- Cleaned, or changed if the vehicle has a workable one: the filter is sorted next.
- Clean diesel goes in, and your system is primed.
- Our engineers start the engine only after new diesel has gone in and primed the system, then check that it's running smoothly.
Until it runs on clean diesel, our technicians remain with it. If it has been caught quickly, long-term damage is very unusual, and the vehicle returns to normal driving right away.
Back on the road in Craigleith after your fuel drain
- Nothing unusual is needed after a start with fresh diesel — normal driving is all.
- Keep an eye on the first miles. A warning light, smoke, a rough idle or a flat spot under your throttle tells you to pull over and ring us back.
- An insurer, a fleet manager or a hire firm may ask what was done, so keep the documents.
- The handle's colour isn't the thing to go by next time — the label on the petrol pump is.
About Craigleith and where it is
Craigleith is a coastal suburban area in the City of Edinburgh, situated approximately 1.9 miles from Edinburgh city centre. Craigleith sits at an elevation of 38 metres, overlooking the Firth of Forth, and is characterised by its predominantly flat-type housing. Craigleith is bordered by nearby places such as Orchard Brae, Comely Bank, and Drylaw, and is home to a population of around 5174 residents. Craigleith is relatively close to the city's amenities, with Edinburgh being the nearest city.
Fuel drains across Craigleith and nearby
Orchard Brae, Comely Bank and Drylaw are covered by the same vans that answer petrol in diesel jobs in Craigleith — and so is most of City of Edinburgh beyond. If you are near a boundary or somewhere hard to describe, ring and ask instead of assuming.
Ring, and leave the car off — petrol in a diesel in City of Edinburgh
Motor off. Keys out. Receipt in your pocket. That is the whole of step one, and Petrol in Diesel takes it from there — at the roadside, at the forecourt or on your driveway.