Have You Put Petrol in a Diesel Jeep Commander?
Anybody who has put petrol in a diesel Jeep Commander without running the motor ought to leave it switched off, and not start it even to roll it away from the petrol pump. The petrol cannot get out of the tank while the motor is off, so the Commander can generally be set right with a drain.
Your Jeep Commander can stay put wherever it ended up, forecourt or not, since Petrol in Diesel drains wrongly fuelled cars on the spot. Hold off trying anything yourself until you have rung us, and we'll explain what to do.
What to do first with petrol in a diesel Commander
- Keep your motor off. Any diesel Commander will generally fire up and run with petrol in the tank, and it may feel normal for a couple of miles, which explains why motorists commonly drive off without realising anything is amiss.
- Turning your ignition on is all it takes, on a lot of diesels, to set the fuel pump priming and draw fuel from the tank towards your injectors, so keep that off too.
- Do not fill the rest of your tank with diesel to dilute it. Your Commander takes up to 78 litres, and filling it up only leaves more contaminated fuel to empty out. Super unleaded is petrol here as well.
- Forecourt staff will usually help roll the car clear in neutral if it's in the way of a pump.
- When you call 0333 366 0103, we want to know which Commander you have, where it is parked, how much petrol you reckon went in and whether the engine has been run. The exact version helps too if it is on the badge, for example the Commander 3.0 CRD.
What starting your engine does with wrong fuel in your Jeep Commander
The engine is not touched by wrong fuel in your Jeep Commander until it is drawn out of the tank, and starting the motor is what draws it out. In a diesel motor, your fuel lubricates the injectors and the injection pump on its way through. With petrol diluting the diesel, that protection goes, and driving any distance on it is then what can do damage.
If you've already driven the Commander, stop where it is safe and turn off. All the same, we can take all of the contaminated fuel out, by draining your tank and then rinsing your fuel lines and your filter. Provided it's flushed out properly after being caught early, it very rarely leaves permanent harm.
Knowing the Jeep Commander fuel tank capacity
The capacity of the tank counts since the risk depends on what proportion of the fuel in there is petrol, so the same couple of litres are more of a problem if the tank was nearly empty when you fuelled up.
In our figures, all of the diesel versions of the Jeep Commander use one tank of 78 litres, so the calculation works out the same for each.
What diesel Commander do you own?
It is useful for us to know the version when you phone, and it's normally on a badge at the back of your car.
All the variants in our records use 3.0-litre engines.
AdBlue in a diesel Jeep Commander by accident
AdBlue is a mix of water and urea that certain diesel cars use to clean up their exhaust, and it has a separate tank and filler. If you've got AdBlue in a diesel Jeep Commander as it went into the incorrect filler, do not turn the key, even to move your car.
Since it is mostly water, AdBlue doesn't ignite and gives the fuel pump no lubrication at all. It does not blend with diesel either, so it sinks to the bottom of your tank where your pump draws its fuel, and a tank of up to 78 litres won't dilute it as it would dilute petrol.
A small amount is still pulled into the system. Deposits of urea build up in the filter, the fuel injectors and the rest of the fuel system as the water dries off, and they eat into the metalwork they sit against.
Where your Commander has an AdBlue filler, it could well lie alongside the diesel filler under the same cover, as it does on plenty of cars. AdBlue caps are typically blue and accept a far narrower nozzle than diesel.
Fuel drain on your Jeep Commander: how we do it
There's no garage needed, because we do a fuel drain on your Jeep Commander at the car itself. Before we fire up the engine, the system is primed and the tank refilled with clean diesel. First comes checking what went in and whether it's run, emptying a tank that takes up to 78 litres on the Commander, and cleaning the pipes and fuel filter.
You can take the Commander away once we have finished, running on fresh diesel.
What AdBlue removal from a diesel Jeep Commander involves
We follow the same steps for AdBlue removal from a diesel Jeep Commander as we do for clearing petrol. AdBlue collects at the bottom of your tank instead of mixing in, and if the Commander has been run it may form crystals inside the pipes, so we clear those out as well and change the fuel filter if it needs it.
AdBlue removal here means taking AdBlue out of your diesel tank once it has gone into the incorrect filler. It doesn't mean removing or disabling the AdBlue system on your vehicle.
What sets the cost of a fuel drain on the Jeep Commander
The work differs from one task to the next, so we don't publish a fixed price. The biggest things that shape it are these:
- whether the Commander has been started or driven, which makes the biggest difference
- a tank's size next to the amount that was put in
- whether it was petrol or AdBlue
- whether our van can safely reach the Commander where it is
With those details on the phone, we can tell you what the work is going to involve.
Your questions on petrol in a diesel Jeep Commander
The Jeep Commander fuel tank capacity: how many litres?
It holds 78 litres, and our figures show the same tank on every version.
Is it OK to add diesel after just a little petrol in my Commander?
Topping up only reduces the proportion of petrol. None of that is removed, so it is all still there when you drive, which is why we wouldn't recommend it. Your Commander normally requires nothing more than a fuel drain if just a modest amount went in, and that gets the petrol out entirely.
Does my Commander have to go to the Jeep dealer?
You don't have to. We have no link with Jeep or any of its dealers, being independent, and the Commander is emptied and cleaned wherever you have stopped.
Will my insurance policy pay for wrong fuel in my Jeep Commander?
Misfuelling cover comes with some policies and not others, so look at yours. We will come out to empty it for you whether it does or not.
What happens if I put diesel in the AdBlue tank of my Commander?
In this case, too, the right thing is to leave the ignition alone. Most cars give a warning and enter limp mode if they are driven that way, and the AdBlue system will need draining. Please say which tank took your diesel when you ring.
I've already driven my Commander. What should I do?
Find a safe spot to pull over, then turn the engine off and keep it that way till we get there. Permanent harm is very rare if it's caught soon like this, plus we drain the system and clean it where you've pulled over.