New Swanage: Petrol in a Diesel Car? Here Is What Happens
Whatever you do, don't switch your engine on, even briefly, to shift the car. Pause; leave the car off. Has not been run? Then petrol in a diesel tends to be a simple drain-and-flush job wherever your car has stopped — and nothing settles that more than these next few minutes do. Below is the order from here, anywhere in New Swanage you happen to be.
Petrol in a diesel? What to do in minute one
Work through these first, in this sequence.
- Ignition off, keys out. Turned on, the ignition can prime the system — and priming is what draws petrol out of your tank into the parts it damages.
- Don't top it up with diesel. Adding diesel removes nothing. You end up with a bigger tank of the same mixture.
- Being seen comes first beside moving traffic: switch the hazard lights on, and only then deal with anything else.
- Off the petrol pump by hand. On a forecourt, get the attendants to help you roll the car clear of the petrol pump. Do not fire it up to shift it, however short the way.
- The first thing you will be asked is which fuel you put in and roughly how much — and the receipt says both. Hold on to it.
If you were still on the move when you realised, stop somewhere sensible instead of pushing on for the services — on the M27, under 50 miles from New Swanage, that means the next exit. Step one comes next.
Has it run yet? The fork in every New Swanage fuel drain
From this point on, everything comes down to a single answer.
If it has never been started:
- The petrol remains inside the tank, and only there.
- Draining and flushing, on the spot, is normally the whole job.
- Step one matters for precisely this reason: it is the best position to be in.
If it has been started, even for a moment:
- Petrol has been pulled from that tank, through the filter then into the fuel lines.
- On a bigger run it has got to your high-pressure pump as well as the injectors.
- Lines flushed, your filter sorted, and sometimes more: this job expands as the distance does.
Petrol does not lubricate. Diesel does, oiling the high-pressure pump and injectors as it flows through, which is why the line falls where it does. In your tank, sitting still, petrol harms nothing. Once it is pumped, petrol starts wearing down whatever moves it.
Calling about petrol in a diesel from New Swanage: what to have ready
Whether the van goes round or finds you comes down to a little preparation.
- BH19 1 plus the remainder of the postcode is the ideal way to start telling us where you are.
- A road name is a help: Redcliffe Road, say, or whatever street you have stopped in. A car park works too.
- Describe a car park by what it serves — the one at Budgens, for instance — and it's far easier to find.
- Tell us what your vehicle is — make, model — and check it's diesel.
- Which went in matters: AdBlue is a separate job from petrol, plus New Swanage has a page just for that. So tell us.
- How much. Litres from your receipt, or how long the nozzle was in.
- If it has run, how far and how heavily — and whether it's run at all.
- Hire or company car? Some agreements need the owner's authorisation for this work, and sorting it before we turn up is faster than afterwards.
Next, 0333 366 0103. Not pressing, your car parked at home with nowhere to be? Then will do too.
New Swanage fuel drain on its way? Whilst you wait
The wait is where kindly meant help does the harm. Stick to these.
- Your safety comes before the car. Somewhere dangerous? Get away from the traffic and wait away from it. Safe where it is? Stay with it.
- Not to roll it a couple of yards, not to check it is all right, not as a passer-by's favour: no one starts it.
- Additives remain in the boot. Injector cleaner and two-stroke oil draw none of that petrol out once more.
- Siphoning petrol into a can by the kerbside is dangerous — and it also leaves whatever fuel has already gone beyond the tank. Do not drain the car yourself.
- Even the radio or the windows aren't worth switching your ignition on for.
Step by step: your fuel drain when the van arrives
- Three queries. What went in, how much, and whether it has run. The replies set this job, which is why our quote comes after them and not before.
- Next the tank is emptied, so the tainted fuel comes out.
- If it ran, the fuel lines are holding petrol that has shifted beyond the tank — so they're cleaned.
- The fuel filter is seen to. Cleared, or changed where the vehicle has a workable one.
- Priming comes once fresh diesel is in.
- Our technicians start the engine only after clean diesel has gone in and bled the system, then confirm that it is running correctly.
Only once it is running on clean diesel do we head off. Long-term damage is very rare when it has been spotted early, so the car can go straight back to normal driving.
Once your fuel drain is done: driving around New Swanage once more
- Once it's been started on clean fuel, there's nothing special to do: drive normally.
- Pull over and call us back if anything seems wrong early on — a light on your dash, smoke from the exhaust, an idle that runs rough, or a throttle with a dead spot.
- The paperwork covers the query a rental company, fleet manager or insurer may ask: what work was carried out. Keep it.
- The handle's colour is not the guide to go by next time — the label on the petrol pump is.
About New Swanage, for a moment
New Swanage is a coastal suburban area in Dorset, situated near the town of Swanage and overlooking the sea. New Swanage has a population of around 1696 people and is characterised by detached housing. New Swanage sits at an elevation of 22 metres, close to nearby places such as Ulwell and Glebeland Estate.
Fuel drains round New Swanage and beyond
Petrol in diesel jobs around New Swanage and in Ulwell, Swanage or Glebeland Estate all go to the same teams, which cover most of Dorset as well. Guessing doesn't help close to a boundary or somewhere hard to explain; a quick ring and a query does.
Petrol in a diesel around Dorset? Leave it off and ring
Keys out, motor off, the till receipt in your pocket: that's step one done. The rest is for Petrol in Diesel, wherever the vehicle is — forecourt, kerbside or driveway.