--- title: Petrol in a Diesel Car Old Town — Next Steps canonical: https://www.petrolinadieselcar.co.uk/petrol-in-diesel/old-town-city-of-edinburgh/ location: Old Town county: City of Edinburgh latitude: 55.949060 longitude: -3.194390 service: Petrol in a Diesel Car updated: 2026-10-28 --- # What Happens Now: Petrol in a Diesel Car in Old Town Whatever you do, never switch the engine on, even briefly, to move the vehicle. Stop; leave the vehicle off. Petrol in a diesel that has not been run is typically a simple drain and a flush, done where your car stands, and what you do in the coming few minutes settles that far more than anything else. What follows is the sequence from this point, wherever around Old Town you are. ## Petrol in a diesel, motor off — the first minute In this order, all before everything else: - Take your keys out. Even the ignition by itself can prime the system, drawing petrol out of your tank to exactly the components it damages, and so keep the vehicle off entirely. - Topping up with diesel seems like it dilutes the issue. It does not: nothing gets out, and that tank simply carries more of the same. - Being seen comes before the rest beside moving traffic: switch the hazard lights on, and only then deal with anything else. - The attendants will generally help you roll it away from the pump. Ask, then roll it by hand — never under your engine, even for a few yards. - The first thing we will ask is which fuel went in and about how much — and the receipt shows both. Keep it. Still driving when you realised? Come off the M8 at the next exit if that is where you are, under 5 miles from Old Town, and stop somewhere sensible instead of pushing on to the services. Then start at step one. ## The fork in each Old Town fuel drain: has it run yet? From this stage on, everything comes down to a single answer. Motor not run at all? - All the petrol sits inside that tank, and only there. - Normally it is emptied and cleaned just where the car is. - Stage one counts for exactly this reason: it is the best spot to be in. If it has been started, even for a moment: - The fuel lines and your filter already hold petrol drawn out of that tank. - On a bigger run it has reached the high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors. - The farther it went, the larger the job — the fuel lines, your filter, and now and then more besides. Diesel keeps the high-pressure fuel pump and your injectors oiled as it goes through them. Petrol gives them nothing, and that's why the line is drawn there. Petrol sitting in a tank damages nothing. Move the petrol, though, and it grinds down the very parts doing the moving. ## Calling about petrol in a diesel from Old Town: what to have prepared Whether the technician circles or finds you comes down to a little planning. - Where you are. A postcode beginning EH1 2 is the best place to start. - The street or the car park. A road name is a help — Castlehill, or wherever you have stopped. - Or the nearest landmark. A car park is quicker to find by what it serves, like the one at Maqbool's Supermarket. - The make and model of the car, and the fact it's a diesel. - Say which went in — petrol or AdBlue — because AdBlue is a different job, with a page of its own for Old Town. - How long the nozzle was in, or the litres from the receipt — either tells us how much. - The mileage it did, and how hard, if it has run at all. - The owner may have to authorise the work under some hire and company agreements — which is why it's faster to settle whose motor it is before our technicians get there. Then phone 0333 366 0103. If it can wait — your car is at home with going nowhere — does the trick as well. ## The wait for a Old Town fuel drain, and what to do in it In the wait, the harm comes from well-meant help — which is why these count. - Stay with your car if it's safe where it is — but if it has stopped somewhere unsafe, you come first: away from the traffic, waiting apart from it. - Not to roll it a couple of yards, not to check it is all right, not for a passer-by's favour: no one starts it. - Anything from the boot, oil made for two-strokes or injector cleaner: no additive removes the petrol. - Draining it yourself is out: a can of siphoned petrol on a verge is a danger, and the fuel beyond your tank remains put anyway. - Ignition stays off. Even for the radio or your windows. ## Step by step: the fuel drain when the van gets there - Fuel, quantity, whether it's run: those answers decide the job, and that's why you get a quote after them rather than before. - The tank is drained. The tainted mix comes out of your tank. - Rinsing your lines follows, since a motor that ran has petrol past that tank, in the lines themselves. - The filter is sorted. Cleared, or replaced where the car has a workable one. - Fresh diesel goes in, then the fuel system is primed. - Starting up. After your system is primed with new diesel, our engineers fire it up and make sure it runs properly. Only once it's running on new diesel do our engineers leave. If it has been spotted early, long-term damage is very rare, and the vehicle goes back to normal driving straight away. ## Back on the road around Old Town after the fuel drain - Started on fresh diesel, it asks nothing special of you. Just drive normally. - Pull over and call us back if anything looks wrong early on — a light on your dash, smoke from the 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 done, and so hold on to the paperwork. - Check the label on the pump next time, not the colour of its handle. ## About Old Town itself Old Town is a historic suburban area in the City of Edinburgh, situated on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth, with the city centre nearby. Old Town sits at an elevation of around 99 metres, overlooking the coastal scenery of the Firth of Forth. Old Town is characterized by its predominantly flat-type housing, which reflects the area's urban development. Old Town is closely linked to neighbouring areas such as Roxburghs Court and New Town, with Edinburgh city centre just 0.4 miles away. ## Fuel drains around Old Town and beyond Most of City of Edinburgh has the same teams as Old Town for petrol in diesel calls, Roxburghs Court, New Town and Edinburgh included. Somewhere tricky to explain, or close to a border? Asking beats guessing — ring. ## Leave it off and ring: petrol in a diesel across City of Edinburgh Stage one is the whole of that: engine off, keys out, receipt in your pocket. From there Petrol in Diesel takes over, on the forecourt, by the kerbside or on your driveway.