While fuelling the tank of a car, attention must be given to the type of fuel because the wrong fuel can cause serious damage to mechanical parts of the vehicle. It is simply a mistake, but it costs heavily. Just imagine if the car engine became corrupted and stopped working because of filling the wrong fuel in the tank.
Most people think it is somewhat impossible, but it happens, and the number of such incidents has increased. People realise their mistake of wrong fuelling at different stages and the damage keeps increasing to destroy the engine. You can fill petrol in your diesel engine car’s tank and diesel in your petrol engine car’s tank.
While committing the mistake, every signal is ignored. It is beneficial for you to pay attention to early signals like the misfit nozzle on the fuel pipe in the tank opening. Even before this, the dispenser body shows the type of fuel you are going to fill. The fuel name or code is conspicuously written.
The two fuels are naturally different too, so you can pay attention to the strong smell of petrol and stop filling up the wrong fuel. Car fuel tank opening also differs, and with so many signals to alert a person filling fuel, the person persists in making the mistake. It is simply because of ignoring all alerts and continuing with the wrong fuel, mainly due to hurry.
Sometimes you fill one type of fuel in a routine, so when driving a car running on another type of fuel, you fill the same fuel and commit the mistake. This situation becomes irreversible when you try to start the engine or get it started. Petrol in diesel tank or vice versa are both equally damaging when this action takes place.
The driver should be conscious of the fact that he/she is driving a new car or someone else’s car. Particularly when filling fuel in the tank, this reality must be kept in mind. There is no need to do this routine job in a hurry and waste time due to the blunder. It is a mistake that makes you feel ashamed.
It is not reported quite often, but many wrong-fuel incidents happen in the UK. Due to the increasing number of these incidents, mobile units now present empty fuel tanks and clear fuel injection pumps. The technicians decide according to the situation, and the driver describes the exact incident to get the best possible help.
Draining the fuel tank is rather easy and does not cost you much. It resolves the problem when you just filled the wrong fuel in the tank and did not try to start the engine. Even if the filling has not been completed, you can stop this and call for help to drain the tank.
Sometimes the mistake is realised before five per cent of the fuel is filled, and in this case, you just fill 95 per cent of the right fuel and keep running the car. Experts assure that no damage will be done to the engine in case of five per cent wrong fuel but if you want perfection then just drain the tank and fill the right fuel in the tank.
It will be done in a couple of hours or even before that so you can carry on with your routine driving job. Wrong fuelling in a vehicle can disturb the schedule of the whole day or even days, so be careful while filling the tank.
The strong smell of petrol can stop you from filling it in the tank of a diesel-engine car. The large size of the nozzle of the diesel dispenser could stop you from fitting it into the small opening of the fuel tank of the petrol engine car. Wrong fuelling happens by ignoring these signals and one keeps filling petrol in diesel or diesel in the petrol tank.
The best thing one can do after committing the mistake is to accept it and stop immediately. By doing this, one can minimise the damage and cost of the mistake. If one does not start or try to start the engine, then the engine and fuel pumping system remain safe from damage. But if you start the power unit, the system injects the wrong fuel through the fuel pump and you cannot reverse it.
The mechanic will decide whether to clean the fuel pump or replace it for proper functioning. Petrol in diesel engine cars causes more damage than the other way around. Diesel in petrol engine cars does not let the engine start, so it remains safe from maximum damage. Petrol burns and produces extra heat to damage diesel engine parts.
Diesel has lubrication, while petrol makes parts drier and higher friction damages them too. On the other hand, diesel in petrol tank cars does not burn and you cannot turn the engine off Replacing your car’s engine is the biggest possible damage after filling it with the wrong fuel.
Both fuels come from the same source, but their characteristics are different, and engines are made to produce energy by using only one type of fuel. This is why the wrong fuel causes damage to both types of engines. Just make sure you do not commit this blunder, and if it happens to you accept it so that a solution can be sought. Call the wrong fuel service provider and fix your car. Never take the fuelling of the tank for granted, particularly when you shift from a diesel engine car to a petrol engine car or vice versa.
