What Happens Now: Petrol in a Diesel Car in Kirknewton
Whatever you do, don't switch the engine on, even briefly, to shift it. Stop; leave the car off. Petrol in a diesel that hasn't been run is generally a drain and a flush, done where the car stands, and what you do in the next few minutes settles that more than anything else. Here is the order of things from here, wherever you're in Kirknewton.
Petrol in a diesel? What to do in minute one
In this sequence, all before anything else:
- The keys out of the ignition. Turning your ignition on can be all it takes to prime the system, while priming pulls petrol out of the tank toward the components it harms. Keep the car off completely.
- Don't top it up with diesel. Adding diesel takes out nothing. You are left with a bigger tank of the same mixture.
- Visibility comes first near moving traffic: put the hazards on, and only then think about anything else.
- The attendants will generally help you push it away from the pump. Ask, and move it by hand — never on your engine, even for a few yards.
- The first question we will ask is which fuel you put in and about how much — and the till receipt says both. Keep it.
On the M8, under 3 miles from Kirknewton, the next exit is the location to come off; anywhere, the first sensible location to stop. Don't push on to the services. Then go back to stage one.
Each Kirknewton fuel drain starts here: has your motor run?
Everything after this stage rests on one answer.
Not run, not even once:
- Nowhere but that tank: that's where the petrol still is.
- A drain and flush, on the spot, is normally all of it.
- This is the best case — which is the whole point of step one.
Run at all, even for a second:
- The fuel lines and your filter already carry petrol drawn from that tank.
- A bigger run takes it right through to your high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors.
- The further it went, the larger this job — the lines, your filter, and sometimes more besides.
The line falls there because diesel lubricates your high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors on its way through them — and petrol does not. Petrol sitting in a tank harms nothing. The parts that move it are grinding the moment petrol is being pumped.
Before you call about petrol in a diesel in Kirknewton: what our technicians need
Whether the technician goes round or finds you comes down to a little planning.
- The best place to start is a postcode — one beginning EH27 8 — for where you have stopped.
- A road name is a help: Whitemoss Road, say, or whatever street you have stopped in. A car park does the trick too.
- What a car park serves is the easiest way to find it, so say the landmark — such as the one at Scotmid.
- Make and model of your car, and the fact it's a diesel.
- What was put in. Petrol, or AdBlue. AdBlue is a different job with its own page for Kirknewton, and so say which.
- How much. Litres from the receipt, or how long the nozzle was in the filler.
- Has it run? If so, tell us 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 get there is quicker than after.
Then ring 0333 366 0103. If it can wait — the car is at home with going nowhere — works as well.
The wait for a Kirknewton fuel drain, and what to do in it
The wait is where well-meant help does the damage. Stick to these.
- Where the vehicle has stopped decides where you wait. Somewhere exposed: away from it, clear of the traffic. Safe: with it. Either way, safety ahead of your car.
- Not to roll it a few yards, not to check it is all right, not for a passer-by's kindness: no one starts it.
- Additives stay in your boot. Injector cleaner and two-stroke oil take none of the petrol out once more.
- A DIY drain leaves your fuel that has already gone beyond the tank, and siphoning petrol by the road is hazardous besides.
- Even your radio or your windows are not worth turning your ignition on for.
Van arrived? Your fuel drain, one stage at a time
- Three questions. What went in, how much, and if it has run. Those answers shape this job, which is why the quote comes after them but not before.
- Draining it's how the blend gets taken from that tank.
- Flushing the lines follows, since a car that ran has petrol past the tank, inside your lines themselves.
- Where your car has a usable filter, it's replaced; if not, cleared.
- Clean diesel in, and the system primed.
- The start-up. With fresh diesel in and the fuel system primed, it is started and tested to be sure it runs properly.
Only once it is running on fresh diesel do we leave. The vehicle returns to normal use right away, and lasting damage is very unusual if it has been caught soon.
After the fuel drain: back on the road around Kirknewton
- Nothing special is needed after a start with clean diesel — ordinary driving is all.
- Watch the first miles. A warning light, smoke, a lumpy idle or a flat spot under the throttle tells you to pull over then call us back.
- An insurer, a fleet manager or a hire company may ask what was carried out, so hold on to the documents.
- Next time, go by the petrol pump's label rather than the colour of its handle.
About Kirknewton, briefly
Kirknewton is a village in West Lothian, situated inland at an elevation of 172 metres, approximately 10 miles west of Edinburgh. Kirknewton has a population of around 1360 people, with a predominance of terraced housing. Kirknewton is close to several nearby villages, including Humbie, Linburn, and Camps, and is located about 331 miles north of London.
Fuel drains around Kirknewton and beyond
Most of West Lothian gets the same teams as Kirknewton for petrol in diesel calls, Humbie, Linburn and Camps included. Assuming doesn't help near a border or somewhere hard to describe; a quick ring and a query does.
Petrol in a diesel in West Lothian? Leave it off then ring
Engine off. Keys out. Receipt in your pocket. That is the whole of step one, and Petrol in Diesel takes it from there — by the roadside, on the forecourt or on your driveway.