Gillygooly: Petrol in a Diesel Car? Here Is What Happens
Stop, and leave your motor off — not on, and not for a moment to move it. Drained then rinsed, right where it is: that is generally all an unrun diesel with petrol in it takes. Whether it remains that simple depends on the minutes to come more than on everything else. From now on, step by step, wherever you are in Gillygooly:
Minute one: petrol in a diesel, motor off
Work through the following in sequence, first.
- Ignition off, keys out. Switched on, your ignition can prime the system — and priming is what moves petrol out of the tank towards the components it damages.
- No diesel on top. More fuel in takes away none of that petrol — it only leaves you with extra of the same blend.
- Hazards on. If you are anywhere close to moving traffic, make your car easy to see before you do anything else.
- The attendants will normally help you roll it clear of the pump. Ask, then roll it by hand — not on the engine, even for a couple of yards.
- Keep the till receipt: the fuel and the rough amount are printed on it, and they're what our technicians ask for first.
If you were still driving when you realised, pull over somewhere sensible rather than pushing on for the services — on the M77, over 50 miles from Gillygooly, that means the next exit. Stage one follows.
Has it run yet? The fork in every Gillygooly fuel drain
One answer is what everything after this stage rests on.
Not run, not even once:
- No place but the tank: that is where the petrol yet is.
- Usually it's emptied and rinsed just where the car stands.
- Stage one counts for exactly this reason: it is the best position to be in.
Run at all, even for a second:
- Some petrol has left your tank already, gone through the filter, and got into the lines.
- Run it further and that petrol gets to the injectors, having passed through your fuel pump first.
- The further it went, the bigger the job — the fuel lines, your filter, and now and then more besides.
Diesel keeps the high-pressure fuel pump and your injectors lubricated as it runs through them. Petrol gives them nothing, and that is why the line is drawn there. Petrol resting in a tank harms nothing. Petrol being pumped is grinding down the parts that move it.
What to have ready when you call about petrol in a diesel from Gillygooly
A van that circles versus a technician that finds you: a little preparation is what separates them.
- Your whereabouts: a postcode starting BT78 5 works best.
- Wherever you have parked, the road's name helps — whether that is Crown Street or somewhere else — and so does the name of a car park.
- Name a car park by what it serves — the one outside the local shops, for example — and it's far quicker to find.
- The car. Make, model, plus that it's a diesel.
- Petrol or AdBlue? Tell us which. They are different jobs, and AdBlue has its own Gillygooly page.
- How long the nozzle was in, or the litres from the receipt — either tells us how much.
- The distance it did, and how hard, if it has run at all.
- Settle who owns your car before we get there: some hire or company contracts want the owner to approve the work, and doing it faster first.
Then ring 0333 366 0103. If it can wait — the vehicle is at home and going nowhere — works too.
Gillygooly fuel drain on its way? While you wait
Stick to these: kindly meant help causes the harm during the wait.
- Safety before your car. If it has stopped somewhere unsafe, get yourself away from the traffic and wait away from it. If it's safe where it stands, wait with it.
- Not to roll it a couple of yards, not to check it is all right, not for a passer-by's kindness: no one starts it.
- Anything from your boot, oil made for two-strokes or injector cleaner: no additive lifts the petrol.
- Siphoning petrol into a can at the kerbside is risky — and it also leaves whatever fuel has already gone beyond the tank. Don't drain the car yourself.
- Not for the radio, not for the windows: your ignition stays off.
Van arrived? The fuel drain, one step at a time
- The quote comes after three queries, not before them — what was put in, how much, and whether it has run — because the replies decide this job.
- Draining it is how the blend gets taken out of the tank.
- If it ran, your lines are carrying petrol that has shifted beyond your tank — so they're rinsed.
- Where the car has a serviceable filter, it's swapped; otherwise, cleared.
- The fuel system is primed on clean diesel.
- Starting up. After the fuel system is primed with clean diesel, our engineers fire it up and make sure it runs properly.
Your car has fresh diesel running through it before we go. Lasting damage is very rare when it has been noticed soon, so your car can go right back to normal driving.
Gillygooly, after your fuel drain: back on the road
- After it's been started on fresh fuel, there's nothing special to do: drive normally.
- Pull over and call us back if anything looks wrong early on — a light on the dash, smoke from your exhaust, an idle that is lumpy, or a throttle with a dead spot.
- An insurer, a fleet manager or a hire firm may ask what was carried out, and so keep your documents.
- Next time, go by the petrol pump's label instead of the colour of its handle.
About Gillygooly, for a moment
Gillygooly is a small locality in County Tyrone, situated inland at an elevation of 77 metres, and is located near the cities of Derry and Omagh. Gillygooly has a population of around 580 people, predominantly living in detached housing. Gillygooly is part of a wider rural area, with nearby places including Knockmoyle and Campsie.
Gillygooly and nearby: fuel drains across the area
Most of County Tyrone has the same vans as Gillygooly for petrol in diesel jobs, Omagh, Knockmoyle and Campsie among them. Ring and ask rather than guessing if you're somewhere hard to explain or near a boundary.
Petrol in a diesel anywhere in County Tyrone? Off, then ring
Keys out, engine off, the receipt in your pocket: that is step one done. The remainder is for Petrol in Diesel, wherever your car is — forecourt, roadside or driveway.