Wrong fuel

[wigeon jim]

Hi , my brother in law has stupidly managed to put diesel in his petrol Vauxhall zafera, is there any way to drain the tank without dropping it out, we have a transfer pump, would it draw the fuel to the front through the fuel line? Any help appreciated,   Jim.

Edited June 14, 2021 by wigeon jim

[Farmboy91]

Did he brim the tank or just a splash?

[scarecrow243]

Hi look to see if the tank has a drain plug  if not it will need to be drained another way  if he started the car it will need cleaned thru out pipes etc etc people use to wash thru fuel system with parrafin  spark plugs removed and spark off  and a good few batteries to keep turning it over

[harrycatcat1]

Just now, Farmboy91 said:

Did he brim the tank or just a splash?

I was going to say if it's just a bit of diesel fill it up with petrol. I did this with an old Cavalier but might not work with the newer vehicles with fancy gizmos on. 

[Farmboy91]

Just now, harrycatcat1 said:

I was going to say if it's just a bit of diesel fill it up with petrol. I did this with an old Cavalier but might not work with the newer vehicles with fancy gizmos on. 

Yeah that was going to be my suggestion if it was an older motor. 

[harrycatcat1]

Just now, Farmboy91 said:

Yeah that was going to be my suggestion if it was an older motor. 

Just as a side issue, my old Mercedes ml handbook said to put a gallon of petrol into a full tank of deisel when it was severe cold. 😅

[ditchman]

should be a drain plug

[GingerCat]

Can you disconnect the fuel filter and syphon off on pump  without starting the engine? Replace filter after. The petrol will clean the pump after. 

[ditchman]

try this

 

https://www.vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk/threads/how-to-drain-tank-on-petrol-zafira-please.158832/

[wigeon jim]

Think he put £30 worth diesel into a 1/4 tank of petrol,

also no hatch under seats to access fuel pump,

also no drain plug 

Edited June 14, 2021 by wigeon jim

[strimmer_13]

17 minutes ago, harrycatcat1 said:

Just as a side issue, my old Mercedes ml handbook said to put a gallon of petrol into a full tank of deisel when it was severe cold. 😅

I used to do that in my van just to clean the system after using veg oil for a few months. 

 

[harrycatcat1]

So full tank is 12.8 gallons, if he put 30 quid of diesel in that's about 6 gallons so if he topped it up with petrol would it run with 50/50 petrol/diesel?

Not sure, mine was less percentage when I did it.

[strimmer_13]

I wouldn't risk it. Most new cars would shut you down straight into limp mode anyway. 

Has he got aa or rac? I think they charge but cheaper than a garage bill 

[harrycatcat1]

Don't suppose from all the comments that it's possible to shove a small plastic pipe down the filler to empty it?

Or pull a pipe off under the bonnet connect a fuel pump and pump it out? Or does this just work on older cars?

[snow white]

You can run a Diesel engine if you put a couple gallons of petrol in tank then dilute it with diesel but not the other way round petrol engines don’t like it for some reason 

[Rob85]

Disconnect at the fuel filter, should be an in line filter, take out the fuse to the spark plugs then turn it over so it empties into a basin, problem is it will likely drain the battery.

Another way is to lift the back seat and remove the sender unit from the tank and you may have enough space to take it out with an empty jam jar on a string. Thats how I had to remove 60 litres of diesel from a car one night... sad times

[harrycatcat1]

24 minutes ago, snow white said:

You can run a Diesel engine if you put a couple gallons of petrol in tank then dilute it with diesel but not the other way round petrol engines don’t like it for some reason 

I've done it with an old car and it just run a bit rough but it ran.

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, I would just put a plastic tube through the petrol cap till it reaches the bottom and suck out the first gob full 🤢 then let it drain into a large container, 

[Keith RW]

1 hour ago, harrycatcat1 said:

Don't suppose from all the comments that it's possible to shove a small plastic pipe down the filler to empty it?

Or pull a pipe off under the bonnet connect a fuel pump and pump it out? Or does this just work on older cars?

manual vacuum pump same as used for oil changes might work, on the bay for about £25 and cheaper than the hundreds charged/quoted by other services,

[harrycatcat1]

15 minutes ago, Keith RW said:

manual vacuum pump same as used for oil changes might work, on the bay for about £25 and cheaper than the hundreds charged/quoted by other services,

Job sorted 👌

[wigeon jim]

Thanks, he has an electric transfer pump and was wondering if it would suck the fuel through the filter inlet from the tank?

[rbrowning2]

Check his car insurance he may find miss fuelling is covered in his insurance policy, I learnt this the hard way after miss fuelling  and paying for a company to remove the mixed fuel from the tank etc, then many months later spotted it was covered by the insurance, like a windscreen.

Edit to say the fuel tanks have an anti syphon / anti accident spill flap that has to be negotiated to be able to syphon the fuel out.

 

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by rbrowning2

[ditchman]

torch the car and claim on insurance....do it over the phone using a thick eastern european accent............you will be fine 

[Keith RW]

16 minutes ago, wigeon jim said:

Thanks, he has an electric transfer pump and was wondering if it would suck the fuel through the filter inlet from the tank?

only if you can get the pipe down past any anti syphon gizmo that might be built into the filler neck,

once had to do this with a tank full of petrol put in a megane diesel that got right to front door as it conked out, just made it back home on what was in fuel lines and filter, fortunately sender unit under rear seat, that was around 40K miles ago so must have been lucky that day.

 

[wigeon jim]

Was talking about front end at filter inlet,