Put Petrol in a Diesel Chevrolet Captiva?
Anybody who has put petrol in a diesel Chevrolet Captiva without running the engine ought to keep it switched off, and not run it even to move it away from the petrol pump. Whilst the engine stays off that petrol stays in the tank, so draining it is usually all it takes to put the Captiva right.
There is no reason to shift your Chevrolet Captiva off the forecourt, or from any other place where it stopped, because the drain is done by Petrol in Diesel where the car is. Phone us first and let us talk you through it, instead of trying anything on your own.
Your first moves with petrol in a diesel Captiva
- With petrol inside your tank, a diesel Captiva will usually still fire up and run, and seem perfectly normal for several miles. That is how drivers often drive off without spotting a fault, and why the engine needs to be left off.
- Your ignition has to remain off too, because turning it on starts the fuel pump priming on many diesels, and your pump then draws fuel out of your tank.
- Do not fill the rest of the tank with diesel to thin it. The Captiva takes up to 65 litres, and topping it up only leaves more tainted fuel to drain. Super unleaded is petrol here as well.
- Ask the forecourt staff if the vehicle is blocking a pump. They normally help push the car out of the way once it is in neutral.
- When you phone 0333 366 0103, we need to know which Captiva you drive, where it is, how much petrol you reckon was put in and whether the motor has been run. The exact version helps too when it's on the badging, for instance the Captiva 2.2 Diesel 2WD.
What running your engine does with wrong fuel in your Chevrolet Captiva
Wrong fuel in your Chevrolet Captiva only begins to get to the engine once it is pulled from the tank, which is exactly what starting your motor does. Your high-pressure pump and your injectors on a diesel motor are lubricated by your fuel running through them. With petrol diluting the diesel, that protection goes, and driving any distance on it is then what can do damage.
Once you've driven the Captiva on it, the thing to do is pull over in a safe place then switch your motor off. Even so, we can get all the tainted fuel out, by draining your tank and then cleaning the fuel pipes and the filter. Very few vehicles that are caught early and flushed out thoroughly end up with lasting harm.
Chevrolet Captiva fuel tank capacity
If you fuelled up when the tank was almost empty, the same few litres make up more of the fuel in it, and the risk depends on that share, which means the capacity of the tank matters.
It does not make a difference which version you drive, as each diesel Chevrolet Captiva in our data uses the same tank, taking 65 litres.
| Version | Fuel tank |
|---|---|
| Chevrolet Captiva 2.0 Diesel 4WD | 65 litres |
| Chevrolet Captiva 2.2 Diesel 2WD | 65 litres |
| Chevrolet Captiva 2.2 Diesel 4WD | 65 litres |
What diesel variant of the Captiva do you drive?
Look for the badge on the boot lid, which normally gives the variant, and tell us what it says when you phone.
The Captiva 2.2 Diesel 4WD has the largest engine, at 2.2 litres, and the Captiva 2.0 Diesel 4WD the smallest, at 2.0 litres.
If there is AdBlue in a diesel Chevrolet Captiva
Water and urea go into AdBlue, which some diesel vehicles use to treat their exhaust. It's stored in a tank of its own, with its own filler. The key needs to remain out of the ignition when you have AdBlue in a diesel Chevrolet Captiva through the wrong filler, and that covers moving your vehicle.
Because it's largely water, AdBlue does not burn and offers the fuel pump no lubrication at all. It doesn't blend with diesel either, so it drops to the bottom of your tank where your pump picks up its fuel, and a tank of up to 65 litres does nothing to dilute it the way it would dilute petrol.
Even a small quantity is sucked into your fuel line. Within the system the water dries off and leaves the urea to crystallise, in the filter and injectors among other places, where it attacks the metal it sits against.
If the Captiva has an AdBlue filler, it may well sit beside your diesel filler under the same fuel flap, as it does on plenty of motors. You can typically tell the AdBlue cap by its blue colour and the much slimmer nozzle it fits.
What we do for a fuel drain on your Chevrolet Captiva
There's no garage involved, since we do a fuel drain on your Chevrolet Captiva at the car itself. On the Captiva your tank takes up to 65 litres, and we empty all of it after we have checked what went in and whether the motor has run. Your fuel lines and the filter are rinsed next, then we refill with fresh diesel and prime your system before starting the motor.
Fresh diesel is what the Captiva is running on by the time we have finished, and you can drive off in it.
What AdBlue removal from a diesel Chevrolet Captiva involves
Like emptying petrol, AdBlue removal from a diesel Chevrolet Captiva goes through the same stages. We rinse deposits out of the pipes too if the Captiva has been run, and swap the fuel filter if needed, since AdBlue gathers in the base of the tank rather than mixing in and can leave them there.
Here, AdBlue removal means getting AdBlue back out of a diesel tank it was put into through the wrong filler. Switching off or removing the AdBlue system on a vehicle is not what it means.
Pricing a fuel drain on the Chevrolet Captiva
The work varies from one task to the next, so we do not publish a fixed quote. The chief factors that shape it are these:
- most of all, whether the Captiva has been driven or even started
- the quantity put in, measured against the size of the tank
- whether it was petrol or AdBlue
- the position of the Captiva and how easily we can reach it with the van
We can tell you what the work will probably need once you ring with those details.
Petrol in a diesel Chevrolet Captiva: questions
Do you know the fuel tank capacity of the Chevrolet Captiva?
65 litres on every version in our data.
Does topping up with diesel help with a little petrol in my Captiva?
It isn't something we'd recommend, since putting in diesel does nothing to remove the petrol. It only lowers its proportion, and that petrol is still in the system after you drive off. The Captiva generally requires no more than a drain when only a small quantity was put in, and that takes the petrol out entirely.
Must my Captiva go to the Chevrolet dealer?
No. We are an independent business with no tie with Chevrolet or its dealers, plus we drain and clean your Captiva wherever it has stopped, so there is no need to take it anywhere.
Does the variant of my Captiva matter?
It helps us to know which one you drive when you call, as we have data for 3 diesel variants of the Captiva.
Will my policy pay for wrong fuel in my Chevrolet Captiva?
Some policies carry misfuelling cover and some do not, so it is worth checking yours. Whichever it is, we come out to drain the car for you.
What should I do if my Captiva got diesel in its AdBlue tank?
Do not put your key in your ignition in that case either. Limp mode and a warning are what the majority of cars give you when they are driven in that state, and their AdBlue system will need draining. Which tank your fuel was put in is worth mentioning when you call.
Already driven my Captiva: what now?
Look for a safe place to pull over, then turn the engine off and leave the car that way till we arrive. Where you have pulled over, the fuel system is drained and cleaned there, and caught early like this, it very rarely leaves long-term harm.