07-25-2015, 09:15 AM
Diesel
My wife and I have a diesel car. On a Saturday at the end of a long road trip we pulled into a Shell service station at a place called Warwick and discovered they didn't sell diesel. So we went a long the road to the Caltex station, figured the aisle with diesel and pulled into it. I got out and filled the car (which was very empty indeed) and we drove off.
Got about three blocks and the car started coughing and spluttering.
"You didn't fill the car with petrol?" my wife asked. Very mildly, I may add.
"Of course not."
The car rolled to a stop beside the road.
"Are you sure you didn't fill the tank with petrol?"
"Yes," I replied, but got out of the car and popped the filler cover.
Oh, that smell. A whole tank full of the highest octane premium petrol.
We enjoyed the 80km drive to Toowoomba, sitting up there proudly in the front of a truck with the car on the back. We enjoyed the 300+ km hire car trip home and I felt like a complete fool.
Luckily, the car sustained no damage. They drained the fuel tank, flushed the system and I drove back a couple of days later and picked it up.
I've a theory that I was lucky. Because the tank was really empty and I filled it with petrol, it took almost no time to bring the engine to a stop. I've always wondered whether, if there had been more diesel in there, the engine would have taken longer to stop and sustained more damage.
Anyway, if you want to read a much cleverer account of a similar event, try [url=http://www.smh.com.au/comment/diesel-dilemma-a-breakout-hit-20150724-gigy54]here.
My wife and I have a diesel car. On a Saturday at the end of a long road trip we pulled into a Shell service station at a place called Warwick and discovered they didn't sell diesel. So we went a long the road to the Caltex station, figured the aisle with diesel and pulled into it. I got out and filled the car (which was very empty indeed) and we drove off.
Got about three blocks and the car started coughing and spluttering.
"You didn't fill the car with petrol?" my wife asked. Very mildly, I may add.
"Of course not."
The car rolled to a stop beside the road.
"Are you sure you didn't fill the tank with petrol?"
"Yes," I replied, but got out of the car and popped the filler cover.
Oh, that smell. A whole tank full of the highest octane premium petrol.
We enjoyed the 80km drive to Toowoomba, sitting up there proudly in the front of a truck with the car on the back. We enjoyed the 300+ km hire car trip home and I felt like a complete fool.
Luckily, the car sustained no damage. They drained the fuel tank, flushed the system and I drove back a couple of days later and picked it up.
I've a theory that I was lucky. Because the tank was really empty and I filled it with petrol, it took almost no time to bring the engine to a stop. I've always wondered whether, if there had been more diesel in there, the engine would have taken longer to stop and sustained more damage.
Anyway, if you want to read a much cleverer account of a similar event, try [url=http://www.smh.com.au/comment/diesel-dilemma-a-breakout-hit-20150724-gigy54]here.