We asked one of our customers to share their experience of putting the wrong fuel in their vehicle and how they found the whole experience, sometimes when you're stuck in the middle of nowhere in your vehicle and need help, it's not so bad when you're in a camper van. Here's a story about one family that needed our help and thanks to Alex and family for writing this article for us.
"Many people say that it won't happen to them until it happens to them, we laugh at others that accidentally put the wrong fuel in their cars but when it's you, you realise how much you need help and that feeling of helplessness and the punch in the stomach when you realise you've done something stupid!
We set off for our Scotland adventure and hired a campervan for the first time and we were all excited about hitting the highlands and the lowlands for 10 days to get out their in the countryside. We set off early morning from Manchester and headed up the M6 towards Glasgow with a full tank of diesel, according to our guy we were told that we could expect to get 300 miles on the tank which was more than enough to get us to our destination up to Fort William on the east coast of Scotland.
"Many people say that it won't happen to them until it happens to them, we laugh at others that accidentally put the wrong fuel in their cars but when it's you, you realise how much you need help and that feeling of helplessness and the punch in the stomach when you realise you've done something stupid!
We set off for our Scotland adventure and hired a campervan for the first time and we were all excited about hitting the highlands and the lowlands for 10 days to get out their in the countryside. We set off early morning from Manchester and headed up the M6 towards Glasgow with a full tank of diesel, according to our guy we were told that we could expect to get 300 miles on the tank which was more than enough to get us to our destination up to Fort William on the east coast of Scotland.
We stopped off at Loch Lomond on the way and then set off the next morning further north to where the lowlands met the highlands and got as far as Lochbroom Filling Station when we decided that we should fill the camper back up ready for the next leg of our journey touring the islands off the east coast. It was a complete blonde moment when my husband asked me to fill up while he sorted the bike racks and took the children into the cafe nearby and being so used to putting petrol in my car, I picked up the green nozzle and just began filling. I didn't even notice, I filled the tank up completely and even went in and paid still unknowing as to what I had done!
We moved the camper van to the other side of the forecourt while we had some dinner in the restaurant and it turned over fine, there were no issues whatsoever and we still hadn't realised my error. Then, when we set off again we began to notice weird signs that we had put the wrong fuel in the tank, the acceleration felt jumpy and the camper van didn't feel responsive, after 30 seconds it began to jump and my husband decided to rev the engine a little which seemed to make things worse and so decided to pull over, right there in the middle of nowhere around 9pm.
We moved the camper van to the other side of the forecourt while we had some dinner in the restaurant and it turned over fine, there were no issues whatsoever and we still hadn't realised my error. Then, when we set off again we began to notice weird signs that we had put the wrong fuel in the tank, the acceleration felt jumpy and the camper van didn't feel responsive, after 30 seconds it began to jump and my husband decided to rev the engine a little which seemed to make things worse and so decided to pull over, right there in the middle of nowhere around 9pm.
"WE BEGAN TO NOTICE WEIRD SIGNS THAT WE HAD PUT THE WRONG FUEL IN THE TANK"
I remember the sinking feeling when my husband asked me what fuel I put in, it was that moment that I realised I had filled up the tank - and a very big tank at that with petrol! We sat there for a moment and thought about what we could do when I remembered a friend of mine back in Manchester had mentioned Fuel Doctor when she had also filled her car up with wrong fuel so I googled (with very poor reception) and managed to get the phone number and called them and that's when we knew were going to be ok. The lady on the phone assured me that they had a fuel doctor in the area that could be with us in 2 hours, which is amazing considering where we were so in true British style we put the kettle on and played cards with the kids while we awaited our knight in shining armour.
We received a call from an amazing man called Gerry and that he would be with us within 20 minutes which was great news and ahead of time too, he parked up the van next to the camper, then he found the petrol tank and placed his nozzle thing in the tank and began to drain, it was so quick, we offered a quick cup of tea and thanked him profusely and within 20 minutes he had drained the fuel from our camper and added £10 worth of diesel which was enough to get us back to the filling station where we had come from so we can fill it back up again.
We thought we might have ruined the engine but Gerry was great, he assured us that by turning the engine on without turning it over it would flush out the wrong fuel and let the diesel run through and even added some lubricant. He then began to turn the engine over and after around 4-5 times of trying it sparked into life with a lot of smoke but this died down after a minute or two and we knew we would be ok.
Gerry didn't stop there though, he then followed us back to the filling station to make sure we got there safely! Sometimes people are amazing and go beyond and we are so made up with Gerry for this.
When we got back to the filling station, it was closed until the morning so we parked up at the side, setup the beds and made hey until the morning. We spent the night at a filling station in the middle of the highlands but it was all part of the adventure, we laughed it off and got on with our holiday.
Every time I fill up now, I make a point of thinking about what I am putting in my car!
We received a call from an amazing man called Gerry and that he would be with us within 20 minutes which was great news and ahead of time too, he parked up the van next to the camper, then he found the petrol tank and placed his nozzle thing in the tank and began to drain, it was so quick, we offered a quick cup of tea and thanked him profusely and within 20 minutes he had drained the fuel from our camper and added £10 worth of diesel which was enough to get us back to the filling station where we had come from so we can fill it back up again.
We thought we might have ruined the engine but Gerry was great, he assured us that by turning the engine on without turning it over it would flush out the wrong fuel and let the diesel run through and even added some lubricant. He then began to turn the engine over and after around 4-5 times of trying it sparked into life with a lot of smoke but this died down after a minute or two and we knew we would be ok.
Gerry didn't stop there though, he then followed us back to the filling station to make sure we got there safely! Sometimes people are amazing and go beyond and we are so made up with Gerry for this.
When we got back to the filling station, it was closed until the morning so we parked up at the side, setup the beds and made hey until the morning. We spent the night at a filling station in the middle of the highlands but it was all part of the adventure, we laughed it off and got on with our holiday.
Every time I fill up now, I make a point of thinking about what I am putting in my car!
If you have any stories to share about experiences of putting the wrong fuel in your car, van, bike, tractor or lawnmower! Why not share them below in the comments, we love to hear about how you got through it.
RSS Feed