Volvo Owners Club Forum - View Single Post - Engine: D52447: - Petrol in a diesel car

NCS XC90 · Jul 4th, 2009, 21:54

Just thought I would post this in case anyone else is stupid enough to make the same mistake as me and put petrol into a diesel D5 tank on an XC90.
Last night I decided to top up the tank as I was going on a long journey today. I have no defence or reason but picked up the petrol nozzle and put 26L of petrol into my car. This raised the fuel level in the tank to the brim.
Not realising I drove the car home (about 1 to 2 miles). No problems or unusual engine issues on the way. Got inside and put the receipt away when I noticed the “unleaded” on the receipt. I went out to look at the car about an hour after I came home and tried to crank for a normal period of time and the car did not start (I was going to put it in the garage so I could look to drain the tank).
With guidance from Mike (big thanks) and others on here I drained the tank by taking of the small finger tight nut at the bottom of the fuel filter situated in front of the back wheel on the off side. I managed to drain approximately 45L through this hole (it took about 3 hrs to do this) by just putting containers underneath it and letting the fuel flow out. After the 45L the flow stopped. This left 25L still in the tank. When looking under the car there is only one tank but its split into two as it goes over the propshaft onto each side. I decided that the remaining 25L was still in the tank on the far side but could not see a way of getting it out.
Others may not agree with this but I am simply relaying my experiences. The get the remaining 25L out I had to turn the ignition on so the fuel pump would pump the fuel from the near side to equal the level on both sides of the propshaft (which I believe it does normally). It took another 1.5hrs to 2 hrs to get the remaining 25L of fluid out of the car.
From here I have simply filled it back up with diesel (won’t make the same mistake again) and started the car. To be fair the car did need a bit of cracking which I did in short bursts. It made one attempt to start and then died again. After this a few more cranks and the car started and settled down quickly. I left it ticking over for 15mins and then went out in it. All seems normal to me but wife says it sound quieter (it isn’t but it did make me laugh).
I realise there will be people who feel I have not done this correctly but I just thought I would write down my experience for future reference. At present the car seems just fine. If this changes in the coming months I will attach an update to this to warn others. If no update please assume I got away with it and all is well.
Hope it helps someone – but the best advice I can give is spend that extra second to check you are holding the right nozzle when it comes to filling up. That way you don’t spend a day sh!tting yourself that the engine is knackered.

Jul 4th, 2009, 21:54	#1
NCS XC90 Member Last Online: Oct 15th, 2018 21:19 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Warrington	Petrol in a diesel car – misfueling. Just thought I would post this in case anyone else is stupid enough to make the same mistake as me and put petrol into a diesel D5 tank on an XC90. Last night I decided to top up the tank as I was going on a long journey today. I have no defence or reason but picked up the petrol nozzle and put 26L of petrol into my car. This raised the fuel level in the tank to the brim. Not realising I drove the car home (about 1 to 2 miles). No problems or unusual engine issues on the way. Got inside and put the receipt away when I noticed the “unleaded” on the receipt. I went out to look at the car about an hour after I came home and tried to crank for a normal period of time and the car did not start (I was going to put it in the garage so I could look to drain the tank). With guidance from Mike (big thanks) and others on here I drained the tank by taking of the small finger tight nut at the bottom of the fuel filter situated in front of the back wheel on the off side. I managed to drain approximately 45L through this hole (it took about 3 hrs to do this) by just putting containers underneath it and letting the fuel flow out. After the 45L the flow stopped. This left 25L still in the tank. When looking under the car there is only one tank but its split into two as it goes over the propshaft onto each side. I decided that the remaining 25L was still in the tank on the far side but could not see a way of getting it out. Others may not agree with this but I am simply relaying my experiences. The get the remaining 25L out I had to turn the ignition on so the fuel pump would pump the fuel from the near side to equal the level on both sides of the propshaft (which I believe it does normally). It took another 1.5hrs to 2 hrs to get the remaining 25L of fluid out of the car. From here I have simply filled it back up with diesel (won’t make the same mistake again) and started the car. To be fair the car did need a bit of cracking which I did in short bursts. It made one attempt to start and then died again. After this a few more cranks and the car started and settled down quickly. I left it ticking over for 15mins and then went out in it. All seems normal to me but wife says it sound quieter (it isn’t but it did make me laugh). I realise there will be people who feel I have not done this correctly but I just thought I would write down my experience for future reference. At present the car seems just fine. If this changes in the coming months I will attach an update to this to warn others. If no update please assume I got away with it and all is well. Hope it helps someone – but the best advice I can give is spend that extra second to check you are holding the right nozzle when it comes to filling up. That way you don’t spend a day sh!tting yourself that the engine is knackered.