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Gammy leg
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Bl*$!!dy Women

Post by Gammy leg »

Chaps,

Wife managed to put 20 quids worth of unleaded into my Synergie TD yesterday. Only found out this morning on the way to work when the old bus conked after 30miles. Quite a distance when you think about it!
Luckily it finally stopped about 200yds after a little village garage on the A22. Waited 1/2 hr for the garage to open and left the guy to tow it back to the workshop and drain the fuel system and change the fuel filter. He reckons on getting about 1 - 2 vehicles per fortnight with the same problem, and guestimated an 80% chance of survival. Luckily the gods were indeed smiling and it is back on the road after 1.25hrs labour. Total cost was 247.80 pounds ( i've lost the pound sign on my keyboard ) breakdown as follows:

Filter - 6.57
Replacement Fuel - 37.00
Labour - 53.75
2no Pirelli 205/65/15 P6000 tyres ( fitted ) - 95.90
Tracking - 17.50
VAT - 36.88.

Not a bad price considering what the worst case scenario could of cost me. It is certainly true what they say about the XUD being almost bullet-proof. Would the Hdi version have faired so well??

Regards

Gammy
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AndersDK
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Post by AndersDK »

Was the wheels blocked all the way to the garage since you needed new tyres & tracking done ????
Anders (DK) - '90 BX16Image
James.UK
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Post by James.UK »

I don't understand how the wheels tyres etc were related to putting petrol in your car either..

But I would have thought just adding some thicker oil would have solved your problem? or simply topping it up with diesel to increas e the % ?

I once did the opp, put diesel in a petrol car, but all I did was add more petrol and start it with "easystart" after a couple of coughs the car ran fine.. never had any probs with it. :oops:

I think the garages make a big deal out of it just to make a profit.. :roll:
.
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Dark Blue ZX 1.9D Auto 1994 'L' 5 dr (modified) Aura. 98K miles used daily. Ave mpg 40
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Mandrake
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Post by Mandrake »

James.UK wrote:I once did the opp, put diesel in a petrol car, but all I did was add more petrol and start it with "easystart" after a couple of coughs the car ran fine.. never had any probs with it. :oops:

I think the garages make a big deal out of it just to make a profit.. :roll:
.
Putting petrol into a diesel engine is much MUCH worse than putting diesel into a petrol engine.... :wink:

Regards,
Simon
Simon

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andmcit
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Post by andmcit »

The high octane level of unleaded means too much in a diesel will burn
the injectors and engine innards. It is a far worse scenario for diesel to
get put through a petrol car as Simon states!!

My father realised his error AFTER putting unleaded in his CX DTR T2
and actually rang the AA for help/advice. Their technical department
rang him back and told him that so long as he diluted what he'd put
in down to below 15-20% unleaded he'd be fine. They also said the
car may actually go a bit better! Just as well he hadn't put loads in
and the CX tank is totally massive, easily capable of swallowing whole
chunks of bank balance...

Apparently it is common practice for smaller amounts of unleaded to
get used during the bad winter months in Scandinavian counties to
prevent the diesel (esp in more environmentally vulnerable diesel
tanks of trucks) waxing up and disabling the pump/injectors.

Just to let him feel a bit better I managed to to the exact thing on my
CX TRi estate by filling diesel into the tank!!. Yep, I had to tow the car
away from the petrol station pump and drain the tank... :roll:

Andrew
Last edited by andmcit on 18 Jul 2007, 09:10, edited 1 time in total.
jeremy
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Post by jeremy »

I think the real problem with petrol in diesels is the loss of lubrication in the pump. I recall seven or eight years ago the oil companies started to reduce the sulphur content of diesel - and a number of people claimed then that the new fuel wrecked their pumps - but many cars are still running with the same pumps in them.

Diesels will burn many things - the Chieftan tank was supposed to be able to run on creasote - providing they have injection equipment capable of delivering it.

The HDi engines may be more likely to suffer pump damage due to the extremely high injection pressures requiring a pump with finer tolerances. I do not know if this is true but wouldn't want to find out if it was!
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Xaccers
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Post by Xaccers »

Many owners manuals for older diesel cars will say to add some unleaded in cold climates.
Back when I had my first Xantia, a colleague with a petrol Espace put diesel in it.
My car happily ran on the diesel/petrol mix he had drained out.
50L of free fuel was too good to pass up.
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Gammy leg
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Post by Gammy leg »

Was the wheels blocked all the way to the garage since you needed new tyres & tracking done ????
MOT overdue. New tyres needed. Pirelli P6000 for less than £50 was too good to miss.
I think the garages make a big deal out of it just to make a profit..
I've heard of people paying over £200 at main dealers for the same so I'm quite happy with what I was charged. You must remember that this was 7:30am, no tools, no overalls, no AA cover and no interest in getting covered in cr*p.

Gammy
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Post by Peter.N. »

The XUD engine is indeed almost bullet proof, the most likely problem would be seizure of the injection pump, but this is very unlikely providing there is still some diesel in the tank. Hdi engines, on the other hand, work at extremely high pressures and HP pump and injector failure is much more likely as the lubrication will be much more critical.
weety
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Post by weety »

loads of veggy users put some unleaded in the tank to help the burn.....

might actually be more of a problem with a Lucas pump (for the same reasons you have to twin tank one to use veggy in them)

those injector cleaners that are sold are basically petrol (though somewhat more expensive) :(
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R reg xantia 1.9td 186000 miles veggy power expired
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x reg clio 15d veggy power bottom of the car rotted through
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