Petrol in a Diesel Car in The Braids: What Happens Now
Pause, and leave the motor off — not on, and not for a moment to move it. Petrol in a diesel that has not been run is normally a simple drain and a flush, done where the vehicle sits, and what happens in the next few minutes settles that far more than anything else. From now on, in order, wherever you are around The Braids:
Minute one: petrol in a diesel, motor off
Do the following first, in this order.
- Priming the system draws petrol from the tank towards the components it harms, and switching the ignition on can be enough to do that. So your keys come out, and your ignition stays off completely.
- No diesel on top. More fuel in removes none of that petrol — it just makes you with more of the same mixture.
- Get the car easy to see first — hazard lights on — if there is moving traffic anywhere near you.
- Off the petrol pump by hand. On a forecourt, get the attendants to help you roll the car away from the pump. Do not fire it up to move it, however short the way.
- The first question we will ask is which fuel you put in and roughly how much — and the till receipt says both. Hold on to it.
On the M8, under 5 miles from The Braids, the next exit is the place to come off; elsewhere, the first sensible spot to stop. Do not press on to the services. Then go back to stage one.
Has it run yet? The fork in every The Braids fuel drain
One answer is what everything after this stage depends on.
Not run, not even once:
- The petrol is still inside that tank and nowhere else.
- Where your car stands is normally where this work is done: a drain, then a flush.
- Step one matters for precisely this reason: it is the best spot to be in.
If your motor has run, even briefly:
- Your lines and the filter already carry petrol drawn from your tank.
- A bigger run takes it right through to the high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors.
- The farther it went, the bigger this job — the fuel lines, the filter, and now and then more besides.
The reason the line falls there: diesel lubricates the high-pressure pump as well as the fuel injectors as it flows through them, and petrol doesn't. Petrol resting in a tank damages nothing. The parts that move it are wearing the moment petrol is being pumped.
What to have ready when you call about petrol in a diesel from The Braids
Get ready a little, and the technician finds you instead of circling.
- The ideal place to start is a postcode — one starting EH10 6 — for where you are.
- A road name is a help: Braid Farm Road, say, or whichever street you have stopped in. A car park works too.
- Car parks are found more easily by what they serve: say the one outside M&S Foodhall, and it's easy.
- Tell us what the vehicle is — make, model — and confirm it is diesel.
- Which went in counts: AdBlue is a separate job from petrol, plus The Braids has a page just for that. So say.
- About how much — in litres from the receipt, or by how long the nozzle was in.
- Whether it has run. Then if it has, how far plus how hard.
- Sort who owns your car ahead of when our engineers turn up: some hire or company agreements want the owner to authorise the work, and doing it faster beforehand.
Next, 0333 366 0103. Not pressing, the car parked at home with nowhere to be? Then works as well.
Waiting for a fuel drain around The Braids: what to do
Help, however well meant, is what does the damage while you wait. So hold to these.
- Safety before your car. If it has stopped somewhere unsafe, get yourself clear of 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: nobody starts it.
- No additives. Two-stroke oil, injector cleaner, something from the boot — none of that takes the petrol back out.
- No DIY draining. Siphoning petrol into a can by the roadside is dangerous, and it leaves the fuel that has already gone beyond that tank.
- The ignition remains off. Even for your radio or your windows.
When the van arrives: your fuel drain, step by step
- First, three queries: which fuel was put in, the quantity, and has it run? Those replies set this job, and so our price follows them.
- Clearing it is how the mixture gets taken from your tank.
- Your lines are flushed. If it ran, that petrol has shifted beyond your tank, and your lines are carrying it.
- Cleared, or swapped if your car has a usable one: the fuel filter is dealt with next.
- Clean diesel in, and your system primed.
- The start-up. With clean diesel in and the fuel system bled, it's started and checked to be sure it runs properly.
Until it runs on new diesel, our technicians remain with it. Permanent damage is very uncommon if it has been noticed quickly, so your car can go right back to normal use.
After the fuel drain: back on the road around The Braids
- Nothing special is needed after a start with fresh diesel — normal driving will do.
- Pull over and ring us back if anything seems wrong early on — a light on the dash, smoke from the exhaust, an idle that runs rough, or a throttle with a dead spot.
- The paperwork answers the query a rental company, fleet manager or insurer may ask: what work was carried out. Keep it.
- Read the label on the pump next time, not the colour of its handle.
About The Braids
The Braids is a suburban area located on the outskirts of Edinburgh, situated near the riverside and approximately 2.5 miles from the city centre. The Braids sits at an elevation of 134 metres, overlooking the surrounding landscape. The Braids is characterised by its predominantly detached housing stock, which is typical of many suburban areas in Scotland. The Braids is close to nearby places such as Greenbank, Morningside, and Blackford, and is home to a population of around 2231 people.
Fuel drains in The Braids and the spots nearby
Petrol in diesel call-outs in The Braids and in Greenbank, Morningside or Blackford all go to the same teams, which reach most of City of Edinburgh as well. Guessing does not help near a border or somewhere hard to describe; a quick ring and a query does.
Ring, and leave it off — petrol in a diesel across City of Edinburgh
Petrol in Diesel takes it from there — on your driveway, by the roadside, on the forecourt — once you've done step one: keys out, motor off, receipt in your pocket.