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  1. #1
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    Feb 2013
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    Default Petrol in my diesel bakkie balls up

    Hi all

    So on friday I put some fuel in my bakkie.

    I leave the fuel station not suspecting anything out of the ordinary.

    About 8km down the road my bakkie starts feeling very sluggish and unresponsive.

    I thought it might be that i possibly bought dirty diesel at first and that the issue would pass. It got worse.

    I was planning on taking the bakkie for a service this coming week so I went home and swapped vehicles.

    Today i was thinking about what had happened and remembered how zonked the petrol attendant seemed. He was extremely slow and delayed in his interaction with me when I asked him to top me up and to make matters worse he couldn't even use the card machine properly when I wanted to pay.

    After mulling this over in my head I thought I should probably go and open the fuel cap and smell if he accidentally put petrol in my bakkie.

    He had..

    Now I am very concerned about my bakkies engine. Tbis is a work bakkie, not mine.

    I drove about 40km home after things started feeling strange as i had no other option and didn't realise i had petrol in my tank.

    I called the station and complained. The manager told me to come to the station with the till slip.
    He said he will make the attendant pay if he is found to be liable.

    I have some questions for people who may have had similar experiences:

    Firstly, what are the chances of engine damage?

    Secondly, are there specific legal channels I can follow if for whatever reason they refuse to pay for the damages if there are in fact damages?

    Thanks.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Petrol in my diesel bakkie balls up

    I don’t have the answers, but what were you doing while he was filling up?

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Petrol in my diesel bakkie balls up

    In the shop.

    These guys are paid to fill vehicles they should know what the correct fuel is. Besides, I asked for diesel.

    The fuel cap has a large sticker saying diesel on it as well.

  4. #4
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    Feb 2013
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    Default Re: Petrol in my diesel bakkie balls up

    Quote Originally Posted by MJC View Post
    In the shop.

    These guys are paid to fill vehicles they should know what the correct fuel is. Besides, I asked for diesel.

    The fuel cap has a large sticker saying diesel on it as well.
    Typically ultimately your responsibility to ensure the correct fuel. Is being dispensed

    Sent from my WAS-LX2 using Tapatalk

  5. #5

    Default

    It seems as if you got the worst end of the stick (with petrol in a diesel at causing more damage than the other way round). However, it does seem like the car was moving, and you did mention it was a “top up”, so maybe there was a lot more diesel than petrol. Hopefully this means that the damage isn’t as bad.

    Here is an article from Wheels24:
    https://m.wheels24.co.za/Fuel_Focus/filled-up-with-the-wrong-fuel-heres-what-sa-motorists-should-do-20160722

    My mate had this done to his car. It’s honestly such a balls up and an inconvenience. The fuel station covered the extraction costs so at least they accepted responsibility.

  6. #6
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    Jul 2012
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    Pretoria
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    Default Re: Petrol in my diesel bakkie balls up

    I believe you will have substantial damage to the injectors and pump.This problem can only be adressed by a qualified technician.If it was a petrol engine with diesel poured into it,you could get away with a tank flush and fuel filter change.(I once had an attendand put diesel in my petrol Land Cruiser)The other way around is a different kettle of fish.And yes i was also not paying attention to what the attendand was doing,but does that mean i must check the doctor on what medicine he prescribes every time i visit him? Until the time arrives for self service filling stations,the onus lies with the filling station to make sure they deliver in a satisfactory way what you ask and pay for.Pouring faulty grade/type fuel into your vehicle, is the filling stations fault.I contacted the owner on the spot and he later refunded the petrol and consequetial expenses in full.Get the vehicle to a qualified technician for a quotation and immediately take it up with the fillingstaion owner in writing.Good luck.

  7. #7
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    Dec 2015
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    Eastern Cape
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    1,028

    Default Re: Petrol in my diesel bakkie balls up

    Happened to a friend of mine in Jhb. Garage claimed driver responsibility to ensure what you get. My friend got a statement from reputable mechanic that state petrol instead of diesel is in tank.(Mech should also state if damaged have occurred so far or what future damaged might be expected.) Friend phone garage owner with complained and owner did not want to take responsibility. Friend state if they wont fix he would report him to the Petrol group he belonged. Friend also state that the garage jockey is the "specialist" of dispensing fuel. Long story short. My friend was invited to the garage while they drop the tank. clean it and fill it up diesel all free of charge and had a free lunch at the restaurant next door while he wait for his car.

    Ps. Long time ago I put about 10 liters of diesel in my petrol car by mistake. I fill up the tank with petrol. Every 2 days of driving I fill up with petrol till I got about 600 km on the clock. Except heavy smoking nothing occured

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Petrol in my diesel bakkie balls up

    Diesel engines are actually very robust. I've personally never seen or heard of a diesel engine with petrol in it that suffered any long term damage.

    Most important is to have the tank and fuel lines flushed and replace the diesel filter. From there just monitor it, but it should be fine. If you want fill up when the tank gets to half again to dilute any leftover traces of petrol.

    Have seen this on everything from TDI VW's, to BMW'S, Mercedes and a host of other brands, including bakkies.

    Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

  9. #9
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    Sep 2017
    Location
    Port Elizabeth
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    Default

    From what i have heard, this is how ypu suppose to be helped by a petrol attendant
    You ask for fuel & value
    Attendant should repeat value & type of fuel
    You should confirm & agree....
    You entrust the attendant to do their job correctly.

  10. #10
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    Oct 2012
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    Default Re: Petrol in my diesel bakkie balls up

    The petrol or diesel/petrol mix should not do any harm to the engine itself. The only risk of damage is possible accelerated wear to the fuel pump. This will depend on the percentage of diesel left in the mix. The lower the % diesel, the more likely that some wear has happened. But do note, that we are talking about slightly accelerated wear, not any serious damage.

    If you can reduce the petrol content to below 10% you should be fine. You may have some power loss, but nothing serious. Just draining and refilling the tank should be sufficient.

    When this happened to me, I rigged a 2 litre coke bottle with diesel fuel and drove back to the filling station. At first the manager/owner was all defensive and denied any responsability. I explaind to him that I was just asking him to help me get the bakkie going again. He helped me to drain most of the fuel mix out and refilled it with diesel. When I offered to pay, he said "don't worry, we will just use it to wash parts". I now religiously check every time...

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