Gas in diesel tank! Help!!
 

Hi

My dad has made a bit of a mistake tonight. He was filling up the S320 at a gas station and accidentaly put 18 litres of premium unleaded into the diesel tank :eek:

Luckily he noticed and called mercedes who have towed his car to a yard overnight and will take it to a merc service centre in the morning for the fuel to be removed.

Firstly, will this cause a problem? (the engine hasn't been started)

Secondly, I'm worried that some fool might start the engine in the yard or when they get it to the service station - will this ruin the engine??

Thanks in advance!!

All they need to do is drain the fuel tank and put in enough diesel to get back to a station. DO NOT let them try to pull everything apart, 'clean' the injectors, replace the seals, or even replace the fuel filter.

Gasoline mixed with diesel fuel, in appropriate quantity, will not damage the system. In fact, in the early 80's, GM recommended mixing gasoline with diesel fuel in their cars up to 20%(!) when outside temps remained below freezing. Ask me how I know.

I agree, drain the tank, refill with diesel and drive it. #1 diesel is similar to mixing #2 diesel and gasoline to keep it from gelling. In an emergency, the earlier MB diesels will run on 100% gasoline with a much reduced power output.

If the tank was near empty, and assuming it's something in the range of 70-100 liters capacity, filling it up with diesel will yield no more than about 30 percent gasoline, which probably won't harm anything.

Nevertheless, draining the tank and filling it with diesel will ensure that no damage is done.

Duke

Thanks for the replys guys!

This has put my dad's mind at rest.

We've just had a call from Mercedes saying we can pick the car up this afternoon. It was £300 to drain the tank and refill! Plus the towing cost of £200!

What an expensive mistake :rolleyes:

300 Gbp???
 

At this a.m.'s exchange rate that would be $574.17USD to drain the fuel tank?!!!

If Halman's figures are right, that is a rediculous amount of money for a simple task.

Peter

I think somebody got a " Royal " ( pun intended ) screwing.
Maybe there is another term for it in G.B. ;)

Back before we all became more aware of our impact on the environment, dumping the tank would have been relatively cheap. However, the company that will assume the responsibilty and liability for disposing of that mixture of diesel fuel and gasoline in an evironmentally friendly manner may very well eat up the major portion of that charge.

Or somebody may just put it in their vehicle & use it up. ;)

What are you kidding that fuel has value. I bet the shop mixed it in with all of their used oil and sold it with the rest of it. Some ship will be burning it as bunker fuel.

Or they dumped it in another car with a few quarts of motor oil and ran it.

A few years ago I was riding with a buddy in a tow truck while he was on the job. He went to fill up and accidentally pumped in 75 gallons of gas in the diesel tank that had 15 gallons of diesel in it. He saw his mistake and shut the engine off and called his boss. They towed it down the street to a gas station they owned, positioned it over the unleaded fill and drained the tank into it. 15 gallons in a 3000 gallon tank wasn't a big deal to them, but I wonder if it affected driveability of any of the cars that used it.

BTW, the towing company charged my buddy the cost of the gas against his paycheck - even though they sold it.

yes its called "are you taking the piss? thats a rip off" :eek:

I live in merseyside in GB. Next time it happens. Call me and ill travel the country. drain your tank for ya. and refill it outside your home for £500 and be back home for tea. Christ almighty. shame this forum hasnt got a helpline!