Engine: D52447: Petrol in a diesel car – misfueling.

[NCS XC90]

Originally Posted by Cheshire

When I drained the tank the first 20 litres or so was a bit cloudy so I figured it was best to replace the filter to make sure it wasn't clogged, no other debris as such. Any idea what might cause that?

Hi, Just picked up on your post. I did not change the filter at the time. As you said fuel was a bit cloudy to start with. I changed the filter at the last service.
I have had no problems with the car up to now. Whilst I don’t think I will make the same mistake again I have also bought a fuel angel a few months after my moment of madness.
Neil
.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Cheshire

When I drained the tank the first 20 litres or so was a bit cloudy so I figured it was best to replace the filter to make sure it wasn't clogged, no other debris as such. Any idea what might cause that?

Either water emulsified into the fuel or minute air bubbles ...
I remember in a volvo manual in the 1970's they suggested a way to remove water from a petrol tank . put a litre of white spirit in the tank , it has the effect of mixing the water into the fuel so it gaets carried away and burnt ..
Not sure how a lambda probe would react though .. although Volvo did invent the lamda probe and catalytic converter in 1976 !

[Cheshire]

Originally Posted by Clan

Either water emulsified into the fuel or minute air bubbles ...
I remember in a volvo manual in the 1970's they suggested a way to remove water from a petrol tank . put a litre of white spirit in the tank , it has the effect of mixing the water into the fuel so it gaets carried away and burnt ..
Not sure how a lambda probe would react though .. although Volvo did invent the lamda probe and catalytic converter in 1976 !

Thanks for that.
I wonder if the same would apply to a diesel tank? That said, draining the tank should have cleared most of the problem I might be pushing my luck by adding anything other than diesel except maybe some additive such as DWD solution which amongst other things is a "water dissipating agent" that I found on google. See: http://www.uniteddiesel.co.uk/dwd-solution.php. (no promo intended).

[Cheshire]

Originally Posted by NCS XC90

Hi, Just picked up on your post. I did not change the filter at the time. As you said fuel was a bit cloudy to start with. I changed the filter at the last service.
I have had no problems with the car up to now. Whilst I don’t think I will make the same mistake again I have also bought a fuel angel a few months after my moment of madness.
Neil
.

Hi Neil
It may be worth looking into an additive just to cover yourself, I will, provided I can get it running (see my reply to Clan). I have the filter now so I'll find out tomorrow. Update to follow.
Tim.

[Cheshire]

Originally Posted by Clan

Either water emulsified into the fuel or minute air bubbles ...
I remember in a volvo manual in the 1970's they suggested a way to remove water from a petrol tank . put a litre of white spirit in the tank , it has the effect of mixing the water into the fuel so it gaets carried away and burnt ..
Not sure how a lambda probe would react though .. although Volvo did invent the lamda probe and catalytic converter in 1976 !

Got up this morning, started pumping last of petrol from tank and the battery has become almost flat (probably why its taken so long). Can I simply remove it to charge and put it back in or are there any electrcal complications that need to be taken into account?

[NCS XC90]

Originally Posted by Cheshire

Got up this morning, started pumping last of petrol from tank and the battery has become almost flat (probably why its taken so long). Can I simply remove it to charge and put it back in or are there any electrcal complications that need to be taken into account?

I have disconnected the battery before on my XC90 without an issue (this was to do some work on the reversing sensors. On reconnecting there was no problem but the CD disk selector did go through quite a long routine of selecting each disk in order but I did not need any codes or anything.

On the additive I would stick to draining the tank completely and just filling it up with diesel. If you do this I cannot see the need for additive and it would only put anther factor into the equation.

Neil

[Cheshire]

Originally Posted by NCS XC90

I have disconnected the battery before on my XC90 without an issue (this was to do some work on the reversing sensors. On reconnecting there was no problem but the CD disk selector did go through quite a long routine of selecting each disk in order but I did not need any codes or anything.

On the additive I would stick to draining the tank completely and just filling it up with diesel. If you do this I cannot see the need for additive and it would only put anther factor into the equation.

Neil

The car is now refuelled with diesel a new fuel filter has been fitted and it's ready to go all being well but the battery is flat and won't turn it over. I'm giving it an overnight charge and will try again tomorrow. The guy at the fuel station (ex Lucas) said that if its left too long the injector pump can seize up, thats all I need to hear. Update to follow.
Tim.

[NCS XC90]

Just for information, it took quite some cranking to get mine started after draining and refilling with diesel. I think this was simply pumping it through (and the air out). I did it in spells and not continuous cranking. I'm just pointing this out as I was getting to the point were I thought it was not going to start and could quite easily have given up and called in a garage to help.
Neil

[Clan]

Originally Posted by NCS XC90

Just for information, it took quite some cranking to get mine started after draining and refilling with diesel. I think this was simply pumping it through (and the air out). I did it in spells and not continuous cranking. I'm just pointing this out as I was getting to the point were I thought it was not going to start and could quite easily have given up and called in a garage to help.
Neil

You shouldnt need to crank for more than 10 - 20 seconds to get it going ...

You need to let the tank pump do the work , when you turn the ignition on the tank pump will run for about 15 seconds , so keep turnining ignition off and on for this period which will prime the system , doing this 4 or 5 times is enough to get the engine going with minimal cranking ...

[Cheshire]

SUCCESS!
On the third short attempt it started, no coughing or spluttering not even any puffs of smoke. I let it idle for about 20 mins, took it up to the garage topped up and went for a gentle drive of about 10 miles. All seems to be well, just had to re-set the clock.

My sincere thanks to you both, Neil and Clan for guiding me through on this one. without your help I would have been...... well, you know.

Happy Easter!

Tim