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  • Misfuel help

    Afternoon folks

    I've just dragged my mates 59-plate insignia diesel back to the yard following an unfortunate event involving use of a petrol pump instead of a diesel pump to fill the car up. Luckily he didn't start it.

    Any tips for draining the tank? I'm more used to VAGs, which tend to have the filter under the bonnet, I gather its under the back on these? Any issue with hooking the transfer pump up to the input hose for the filter and just pulling it through, or is that likely to cause a problem?

    Cheers

    Steve

  • #2
    Did this on mine when i 1st got my diesal siggy, rung a drain specialist who sorted it, cost me 200 squid tho.
    hope you get it sorted.

    Comment


    • #3
      Thanks for that, yeah, it's an easy mistake to make, which is why I'm being completely understanding and not planning on taking the piss out of him for many months.

      Did you notice where they took the fuel out from? Front or back or under the back seat?

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      • #4
        Can you not just take the pipe off fuel filter and suck it out that way, then fill tank up with diesel , suck some more out, reconnect pipe.
        If they didn't start it the diesel filter should still be full of diesel too.

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        • #5
          Yeah, that would be my normal MO, just wanted to check I'm not going to damage the lift pump by drawing through it?

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          • #6
            Cheers chaps.

            In case anyone else does the same and doesn't fancy spending £200, here's how I did it.

            There is no access to the top of the tank, due to sound deadening (the hard, plastic bonded to car and sprayed over kind).

            - Drain rear fuel filter down into a jar and examine contents. Easy job, just needs a flatblade screwy to unscrew the plug.

            I found no evidence of any petrol here, so decided it wasn't likely to have any further forward.

            - In front of the filter is a set of hose connectors, I released the blue one (have something there to catch any fuel.

            - I pushed a length of clear hose into the plug, and ran it to a 20 litre can (needed 2/3 of these).

            - I removed the fuel cap.

            - I found my pump wasn't getting a good enough seal on the connector to suck the fuel out. If I'd had a scrap vauxhall in the yard, I'd have got a plug off it and attached it to the lines on my pump, but I hadn't, so I improvised.

            - ideally, using an assistant, preferably the one who put the petrol in the car. Turn the ignition key to the second click, to prime the lift pump, when it stops (about 3 seconds later) do it again, and repeat. You probably will flatten the cars battery doing this and powering all the bongs and lights, so either hook up to a battery charger, or be ready to do a jump start when you've finished.

            - Observe what is coming out of the tank. Petrol is fizzy, diesel isn't. Also if you take a sample of fuel in a jar, you'll smell petrol.

            45 minutes later....

            When you get down to a dribble of fuel coming through, you know the tank is as empty as it's going to get.

            Add a can of the right fuel, drain it into a separate container and have a look and a sniff what it is.

            Repeat until you're sure it's just diesel coming out.

            Add half a can of the right fuel, drain it into a separate container, make sure it's just diesel coming out.

            It took us 10 litres of fresh fuel until we were happy it was just diesel coming through, then 5 more to be sure.

            Add a can of fuel.

            Take the drain lines off, reconnect the hose on the car.

            Prime the pump about 10 more times. Drain the filter as before and examine the contents.

            We were happy at this stage, so we refilled the car with fresh fuel (many, many Jerry cans).

            Prime the pump about 10 more times, and started the engine.

            You won't get absolutely all the petrol out this way, that would require removing the tank, but this way makes you as sure as sure can be.

            Keep the car topped up with fuel, so you're diluting any remaining petrol as much as possible.

            I'm planning to have it back in in a week to drain the filter to make sure there's no sign of petrol coming through, but I'm not expecting to see any.

            Obvious disclaimer. I am not a qualified mechanic, technician, fitter, porn star or magician. Use this post purely at your own risk. If you find a better way, pipe up, it might help the next bloke.

            Hope this helps.

            Comment


            • #7
              You said , drain rear fuel filter, so is there a filter at the rear of the car ??

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by MJSROOFING View Post
                You said , drain rear fuel filter, so is there a filter at the rear of the car ??
                Good question, I'd forgotten even doing this until the email notification came through. I was working under the back of the car when I drained it, it might have been a buffer/swirl pot that holds a bit of fuel so the pump doesn't go dry in the corners.

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