Unleaded In A D4D - Advice Needed

[nattyboy]

Morning Folks

This missus filled her D4D with unleaded on Saturday (doh!). The lovely petrol station attendant was clearly concerned at her being upset and told her to start the engine and move it of the forecourt (which fortunatley meant it was only started/driven for about 30 seconds).

After ringing around we contacted an website who claimed to specialise in this type of thing (charging £150), and the nightmare began !

They turned up in a shonky old van and cutting a long story short;

- He claimed he had lost some tools so had to drain it from the engine bay.

- He then reversed his transit into the front of the RAV. He didnt have his insurance details but I'll obviously persue this.

- AFter an hour, the car started, a few clouds of blue smoke came out of the back, and we drove it to the pump to fill up.

- It wouldnt start again, and as making a horible clanking noise from the engine.

- He then called the AA, and while aiting, phoned a mate (we had took the kids to mcdonalds over the road for tea by then as it was getting late), who said it just needed bleeding and a prime button needed to be pushed on the fuel pump.

- It then started and we drove it home - it seemed OK.

As you probably suused, I didnt have much confidence in this guy/company and wondered if someone could advise me;

- What are the chances of any longer term damage ?

- Should I replace the fuel filter to be safe ? If so is tis an easy job ?

- Is it worth buying some injector cleaner too or is this stuff a aste of time ?

Thanks in advance. The wife is really upset/embarrassed and didnt sleep much last night after reading some horror stories on the web !

Can you beleive that car has had 3 people drive into it in 3 months now !?

All the bst

Nat

[mike xt-r]

Hi, much more common than anybody will admit to, the main issue with Petrol in a Diesel is that the petrol dose not lubricate the injector pump that has fine tollerances,so the ideal is not to run the engine until the mixed fuel has been replaced. my guess is that as you run the engine so little you'll have done NO damage, If it's running fine now then happy days, a new filter won't harm, even if it only makes you feel better. I would expect any damage to be evident in the running of the engine if there was any. Mike

[nattyboy]

Hi, much more common than anybody will admit to, the main issue with Petrol in a Diesel is that the petrol dose not lubricate the injector pump that has fine tollerances,so the ideal is not to run the engine until the mixed fuel has been replaced. my guess is that as you run the engine so little you'll have done NO damage, If it's running fine now then happy days, a new filter won't harm, even if it only makes you feel better. I would expect any damage to be evident in the running of the engine if there was any. Mike

Thanks Mike - appreciated. Seems to be OK now - fingers crossed. Is filter replacement easy do you know ?

[mike xt-r]

Hi, much more common than anybody will admit to, the main issue with Petrol in a Diesel is that the petrol dose not lubricate the injector pump that has fine tollerances,so the ideal is not to run the engine until the mixed fuel has been replaced. my guess is that as you run the engine so little you'll have done NO damage, If it's running fine now then happy days, a new filter won't harm, even if it only makes you feel better. I would expect any damage to be evident in the running of the engine if there was any. Mike

Thanks Mike - appreciated. Seems to be OK now - fingers crossed. Is filter replacement easy do you know ?

Hi, not sure but I think Anchorman has done one of his "how to ....." I think its easy . I'm sure he'll read this and will reply in good detail soon. Mike

[oriana]

It will be fine my wife did this 18 months ago and she drove 5 miles, we drained the tank and changed the fuel filter we have had no problems at all.

I would make sure you change the filter ASAP so don't worry.

[anchorman]

It will be fine. I think you've purged any petrol out of the filter by now so unless its due for changing forget about it. If it is due then as Mike says the instructions are pinned.

[crofter]

I think the "horrible clanking noise" would be most probably caused by the mixture of petrol and derv causing it to burn faster than just derv.

This is the oil burners equivilent of "pinking" in a petrol engine.

I used to hear the same noise when using an easystart product on lorries (before antifreeze was added to derv)

[nattyboy]

Thanks a bunch again guys. Really appreciated (especially by the wife who was worring herself silly!)