Have You Put Petrol in a Diesel Audi A6?
Anyone who has put petrol in a diesel Audi A6 without starting the motor ought to leave it switched off, and not start it even to roll it off the petrol pump. With your motor left off, the petrol remains where it is in your tank, and in most cases a fuel drain is all the A6 needs.
Petrol in Diesel empties wrongly fuelled vehicles on the spot, so your Audi A6 can remain at the forecourt or wherever it ended up. Phone us before you try anything yourself and we'll take you through it.
Put petrol in a diesel A6? What to do first
- Leave the engine off. Any diesel A6 will generally fire up and run with petrol inside its tank, and it may feel fine for a couple of miles, and that is why drivers frequently drive away without noticing anything is amiss.
- Switching the ignition on is all it takes, on many diesels, to set the fuel pump priming and pull fuel from the tank to the injectors, so keep that off too.
- Filling up with diesel to dilute it is a bad idea, even with super unleaded, which is petrol too. The fuel tank on your A6 holds up to 80 litres, and each litre of diesel put in is more tainted fuel for us to drain.
- Ask the forecourt attendants when the vehicle is in the way of a pump. They normally help roll it out of the way after it is in neutral.
- Call 0333 366 0103 then let us know which A6 you drive and where it is parked, roughly how much petrol was put in, and whether the engine has been started. If the precise variant is on the badge, for instance the A6 Avant 2.0 TDI, tell us that too.
Running on wrong fuel in your Audi A6
Turning on the engine is what pulls the wrong fuel in your Audi A6 out of your tank, and only then does it start to affect your engine. In a diesel motor, your fuel lubricates the injectors and the injection pump on its way through. With petrol thinning your diesel, that lubrication goes, and driving for any distance on it is then what can cause harm.
Stop somewhere safe and turn off if your A6 has already been on the road. We drain your tank, then flush the pipes and fuel filter through until no contaminated fuel is left, so it can still be dealt with. As long as it is cleaned out properly after being caught soon, it very rarely leaves lasting damage.
Each version of the A6 is the same in this, the A6 3.0 TDI quattro among them.
Audi A6 fuel tank capacity
If you fuelled up when the tank was almost empty, the same few litres make up more of your fuel in it, and the risk depends on that share, which means the size of your tank counts.
According to the variant, the Audi A6 has a tank of 65 to 80 litres.
The smallest tank in our data is on the A6 Avant 3.0 TDI, and the biggest is on the A6 Avant 1.9 TDI.
The fuel tank on the A6 2.0 TDI e holds 70 litres.
| Version | Fuel tank |
|---|---|
| Audi A6 1.9 TDI | 80 litres |
| Audi A6 2.0 TDI | 70 litres |
| Audi A6 2.0 TDI e | 70 litres |
| Audi A6 2.5 TDI | 80 litres |
| Audi A6 2.5 TDI quattro | 80 litres |
| Audi A6 2.7 TDI | 70 litres |
| Audi A6 2.7 TDI quattro | 80 litres |
| Audi A6 3.0 TDI | 65 litres |
| Audi A6 3.0 TDI quattro | 80 litres |
| Audi A6 Allroad Quattro 2.7 TDI | 80 litres |
| Audi A6 Allroad Quattro 3.0 TDI | 80 litres |
| Audi A6 Avant 1.9 TDI | 80 litres |
| Audi A6 Avant 2.0 TDI | 70 litres |
| Audi A6 Avant 2.0 TDI e | 70 litres |
| Audi A6 Avant 2.5 TDI | 80 litres |
| Audi A6 Avant 2.5 TDI quattro | 80 litres |
| Audi A6 Avant 2.7 TDI | 70 litres |
| Audi A6 Avant 2.7 TDI quattro | 80 litres |
| Audi A6 Avant 3.0 TDI | 65 litres |
| Audi A6 Avant 3.0 TDI quattro | 80 litres |
Which diesel version of the A6 do you drive?
Most of the time the version is badged on the boot lid, and it's useful to us to know when you phone.
Check for TDI on the badging of a diesel A6.
The smallest motor, 1.9 litres, is in the A6 1.9 TDI, and the biggest, 3.0 litres, is in the A6 Avant 3.0 TDI quattro.
You will also find Quattro and Avant versions in the list.
If there is AdBlue in a diesel Audi A6
Water and urea go into AdBlue, which some diesel vehicles rely on to treat their exhaust. It's kept in a tank of its own, with a separate filler. If there's AdBlue in a diesel Audi A6 since it went into the wrong filler, don't touch the key, even to shift the vehicle.
The fuel pump gets no protection whatsoever from AdBlue, which is mainly water and will not burn. It will not blend with diesel either, and settles to the base of the tank, the same spot your pump draws from, so a tank holding up to 80 litres won't dilute it.
Even a little of it is plenty to end up in your fuel lines. Once the water has evaporated, what is left is urea, which forms crystals in the system, filter and injectors among them, and corrodes any metal it rests against.
The same fuel flap frequently hides both fillers, and if your A6 has an AdBlue filler, it might well be next to the diesel one. AdBlue caps are usually blue and take a much narrower nozzle than diesel.
What we do for a fuel drain on your Audi A6
There's no garage needed, as we do a fuel drain on your Audi A6 at the car itself. To begin with we confirm what was put in and whether the motor has been run. Your tank, which holds up to 80 litres on the A6, is then emptied, the lines and fuel filter are cleaned, and the vehicle is refilled with clean diesel and primed before we start your engine.
In the A6 Allroad Quattro 2.7 TDI the fuel tank holds 80 litres.
By the end, the A6 is running on fresh diesel once more and all set for you to take away.
AdBlue removal from a diesel Audi A6
The steps are the same as draining petrol for AdBlue removal from a diesel Audi A6. As AdBlue does not blend in but settles at the bottom of your tank, running the A6 on it may form deposits inside the lines. Those get flushed through too, and your fuel filter is replaced where needed.
AdBlue removal here means getting AdBlue out of the diesel tank once it has been put in the wrong filler. It doesn't mean taking out or switching off the AdBlue system on the vehicle.
What sets the cost of a fuel drain on the Audi A6
The work changes from one job to the next, so we don't publish a set price. The chief things that affect it are these:
- whether anybody has started or driven the A6, the thing that matters most
- a tank's capacity next to the quantity that was put in
- whether it was petrol or AdBlue
- whether our van can easily and safely reach the A6 where it is
The A6 Allroad Quattro 3.0 TDI holds 80 litres when full, for comparison.
Ring with those details and we will be able to say what's likely to be involved.
Your questions on petrol in a diesel Audi A6
What is the fuel tank capacity of the Audi A6?
The table further up lists every variant, with tanks of between 65 and 80 litres.
I just put a little petrol in my A6. Should I fill up with diesel?
We would not advise it. Putting in diesel lowers the proportion of petrol without taking out any of that, so the petrol is still in the system when you drive off. With only a little petrol, a fuel drain to take all of that out is normally all the A6 requires.
Do I need to take my A6 to the Audi dealer?
You do not have to. We have no connection with Audi or any of its dealers, being independent, and your A6 is drained and cleaned where you are.
Does the variant of my A6 matter?
Yes, it helps. Our figures cover 20 diesel variants of the A6, so let us know which one you have when you phone.
Will my insurance pay for wrong fuel in my Audi A6?
Misfuelling cover is part of some policies and not others, so look at yours. We'll come out to empty it for you whether it does or not.
What happens if I pour diesel in the AdBlue tank of my A6?
In that case, as well, leave your key out of your ignition. The AdBlue system will need emptying, and if your vehicle is driven that way, it will most likely show a warning and enter limp mode. Which tank your fuel went into is worth mentioning when you ring.
Already driven my A6: what now?
Find a safe location to pull over, then turn the motor off and leave it that way till we get there. Wherever you have stopped, your fuel system is drained and cleaned there, and caught soon like this, it very seldom leaves long-term damage.