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-   -   Accidentally filling Petrol in a Diesel car? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/16467-accidentally-filling-petrol-diesel-car-7.html)

We have been filling fuel at this station for over 40 years now, since my grandfather's 1960's fiat, right down to our present Swift and A Star in Kolkata. The people there are extremely well mannered, and in typical Kolkata style, warm in their way of speaking and dealing with customers. So much so that my Dad is adamant about filing fuel at this station ONLY, even though we live at the other end of Southern Avenue.

Good to see that corrective measures were taken immediately and that your car is running fine. I doubt in Bangalore the same response would have been seen in too many pumps!

Can someone link to an article that may describe the consequences of this/ vice-versa?

Lucky boss - the car's ignition was not started!! Being another Diesel Liva Owner, I could imagine the whole story putting myself on your shoes. This pinch is realized only when such things happens to someone in our known circle. I must be even more careful at Fuel Stations! Thanks for sharing your Lesson-Learnt.

Additionally, Prompt response from Toyota (Service or roadside assistance number??) is something to be appreciated. This is what I (from my personal experience) and many other Toyota owners out there call as "peace of mind".

Cheers!!
M

@Subratasenn,

Your were simply lucky to have avoided any major damage to your car due to the fuel mix up. Also kudos to the Petrol pump attendant and the repairing workshop staff who promptly attended the issues at top most priority.

Doesnt your car have a Diesel sticker of the fuel refulling latch? If not suggest you to get it stuck - one on the inside and one outside. Did you come out of the car when the refueling was happening? I make it a practice to step out of the car esp during refueling to be extra careful. Also the bunks where I normally refuel do have seperate refuelling pumps for Petrol and Diesel, hence a little assurance.

Thankfully you didnt face much bigger problems. Kudos to the pump attendants to handle the situation nicely. Do mention the name of the pump.

How much time was spent cleaning up your car?

I have used this pump even before I shifted to South Kolkata. Now I regularly frequent this pump as it is on way to my office. Very strange they did this mix up. Anyway I have always found them to be courteous & helpful.

I have been a regular visitor to this pump for about 10 years now. Rarely do I go to any other pump. Normally they are very efficient, courteous and I have always found them accountable. It's a HP pump. Shell pumps don't exist in Kolkata, at least not to my knowledge.

After this incident, I'll always be careful. Have refueled twice after that incident and every time I got down from the car to see that the attendant has taken the right nozzle.

It took about 45 minutes to clean the tank. 5-6 litre of petrol in 15-16 litre is quite a lot. About 1/3rd. Enough to ruin a diesel car. My fuel filter, fuel pump would have gone. The engine would have also needed a cleaning!!!


I have been using this station for 10 years now and rarely do I go to other stations. Even after the mishap, I couldn't give up the habit. Had refueled twice from the same place.

I absolutely agree with your "peace of mind" thing with Toyota. It was service centre whom I called (Sunday is a working day in Kolkata) and the response was prompt. They were ready to send a service engineer/pickup service to my rescue but after talking to the mechanics at the workshops they decided not send anyone. They even checked with me after two hours whether my car was running properly or not.

Liva has a diesel sticker on the inside lid, but not on the outside. I must put a sticker on the outside too. Thank you for your suggestion.

It took about 45 minutes. The name of the pump is Lake Auto Service. It's an HP refuelling station.

Yes, they are always like this. Quite efficient too. I was also surprised with their mistake, but thankfully they took immediate measures to help me out.

I am not sure if it is OT or not, but found it amusing. Couldnt find another appropriate thread to share this news.

Even the President's Beast was not able to handle it :)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/w...w/19111010.cms

Ha ha ha. Don't think this is OT. Even Obama's car will break down if you put petrol in a diesel car. We are lesser mortals. :)

Note to Mods: I do not have enough permissions to post it in the Bangalore directory fuel pump thread please merge it as you deem fit.

I want to share my horrible experience that I had in the IOC COCO bunk near Sony junction, Koramangala.

I went there to top up my car with diesel, I was asked to stop near a pump. I asked the attendant to do a full tank. He started it after he said it is zero. I checked the meter it is zero, immediately he started before I could react. To my horror he was pouring in PETROL in a DIESEL car!

I asked him to stop shouting “it’s a diesel car. STOP.” He stopped immediately but the damage is done.

I talked to the manager at the bunk, he assured me that he will rectify it. He called for a mechanic who came shortly and drained out the fuel from the tank and the fuel pipe. In the meanwhile I called up Ravindu Toyota helpline, the mechanic from Ravindu talked to the mechanic working on the problem. He informed me that I should tell the bunk manager that, he should be responsible for anything wrong in the car for this mishap. He also told me that I should turn on the engine and wait in idle for 5 - 10 mins to check if there is any warning lights. There has been no warning lights till now (driven the car for 50 km from then on).

The pump manager Mr. Nagraja, he acted like a gentleman and took ownership of the situation, shared his number and as corrective measure gave discount of 15 litres of diesel (as something like that was present before the fateful event).

My only worry is the engine and other parts of the car. I am planning to take the car to Ravindu service center tomorrow just to check it up. What else can I do? Any suggestions in this matter would be highly appreciated.

Picture of the work in progress at the pump below:

Short answer: Nothing to worry about.

Long answer: Read this thread- dedicated to this problem:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...iesel-car.html

I understand that the time spent during the whole episode must have been traumatic for you but by the looks of it, the pump manager did take responsibility for it and got you out of a soup (even though it was the making of one of his employees)

To me, it looks like an honest mistake for which the manager owned up and got it rectified.

People have met with far worse fate at other pumps.

How much have you driven after this incident? How much petrol went into the tank? If you have not faced any issue so far, then I think you don't have anything to worry about. But i will wait for the experts to chime in.

Also, if the part quoted above is your main concern, then the title of the thread should be renamed to reflect that.


Cheers
Amitoj

Very true. Mr. Nagaraj as mentioned by me acted like a gentleman.

I have driven, after the clean up of the petrol about 50 Kms. I see no warning signs in the dash. Finger crossed nothing should happen.

Yes I will wait for expert voices like yours.

Tried but not happening, a newbie, so may be mod can help.

I follow a very simply rule, everytime I fill fuel wherever it is. I stop the car, unlock the seat belt, unlock the door, then open the fuel lid, then go stand next to it and then tell the attendent the fuel I need and the quantity. Guess, in future you should follow something similar to avoid this unnecessary worry.

If you drained out the fuel from the tank and pipe even before it went to the fuel pump there should be no issues. Was the engine idling at the time of filling?

If it was off and fuel was drained out fully before starting the engine, there is nothing to worry.

There is also a sedimeter which removes water or something less dense than diesel. Petrol I think should be caught by this sedimeter. The sedimeter can be pumped/drained out also.