HELP - filled up the wrong fuel

Shock · 13 Oct 2011 at 20:42

Hello,

Like a complete ******* idiot, I filled my 306 HDI with 40 litres of unleaded yesterday.

I realised straight away (didn't start the car) and got the AA to tow me off the forecourt to a garage where they drained the tank for £100. I collected the car last night and drove it a few hundred yards before it decided to cut out. The garage towed it back and said they'd have another look today.

The same has happened today. The garage told me it was fine but it stalled again going down the same hill and this time the garage had closed. I managed to get it going after a few minutes but it stalled about another 5 times on the 1 mile drive home. It just loses all power at any speed.

So far I've brimmed it with diesel and disconnected the battery for a few hours and driven it 10 miles but it's still stalling - usually when going down a hill. I then have to wait about 30 secs before it will start again. It's also in limp mode and won't go over 2.5k revs.

Can anyone hazard a guess what the problem is here? I'm really annoyed the garage have given me the car back in limp mode and I'm worried they didn't drain the tank properly and damaged the pump.

sovietspybob · 13 Oct 2011 at 20:49

Contaminated fuel filter?

4T5 · 13 Oct 2011 at 20:50

If your lucky then the system just needs bleeding through properly, If you're unlucky then the rubber diafram (sp?) has split so it'll never bleed properly until it's replaced, Just that peace of rubber is about 45 quid from a rip off Pug dealer. :mad:

Bare in mind my car knowledge is out dated.

Mickie · 13 Oct 2011 at 21:00

what diesel is it ? whats the car i mean..

Shock · 13 Oct 2011 at 21:03

Peugeot 306 HDI. They've already replaced the fuel filter. Is bleeding the system the next logical thing to do?

4T5 · 13 Oct 2011 at 21:06

They would have bled the system when they changed the filter but there are quick ways of doing it & the proper way of doing it, Most try to just fill up the new filter with derv & hope the engine pulls it through, 2nd option is a hand operated pump under the hood to pull the derv through, Now because you have took it back twice they probably used the pump the 2nd time, Trouble with these pumps is they are only used once in a blue moon & the rubber goes brittle hence once they are used they split leaking air causing this kind of issue.
Once again though everything I have said could be well out of date.

ChrisGTL · 13 Oct 2011 at 21:23

How much diesel did they prime through the system?

I'd prime quite a bit if I was doing this......petrol will sit on the top of diesel because of its lighter density. Now where is the pump located in the tank? Bottom I presume, if your going downhill the petrol could be tilting into the pump (if you get me).

When the engine is running ok does it seem to have same power previous to filling it up with petrol?

Dr Who · 13 Oct 2011 at 22:03

4T5 said:
If your lucky then the system just needs bleeding through properly, If you're unlucky then the rubber diafram (sp?) has split so it'll never bleed properly until it's replaced, Just that peace of rubber is about 45 quid from a rip off Pug dealer.
Bare in mind my car knowledge is out dated.

Yes... Likely needs bleeding or new diaphragm.

PS. It's bear not bare

Dr Who · 13 Oct 2011 at 22:04

Mickie said:
what diesel is it ? whats the car i mean..

what part of 306 HDi was hard to understand

Shock · 13 Oct 2011 at 22:19

Just been Googling and found some people with exactly the same problem including over run when switching the engine off:

At the outset, I am not an expert by any means. I bought a new Peugeot 306HDi in 2001, and suffered a catalogue of problems all related to the engine management light coming on, the engine going into limp mode and then eventually cutting out whilst driving. In addition, when I switched the engine off, it would run on for two or three seconds.

So, I am sure you want to know what they did? Remember I am not a techie, so I will do my best to explain. It seems that in the high pressure pump, there is some sort of very fine filter, the job of which is to remove any tiny contaminants before the fuel goes into the pump and common rail/injectors. It was this filter that was blocking up, and the diesel specialists said that they had found that it was a very tricky job to get the main fuel filter element (the one that goes inside a canister before the high pressure pump) to seat and seal properly. Many are replaced in the course of a normal service, but not fitted correctly, so what happens is that unfiltered fuel bypasses around the side and then goes on to clog up the really tiny filter in the high pressure pump. The Peugeot HDi engine requires the fuel to be perfectly clean by the time it enters the high pressure pump. Even though I always buy BP or Total diesel, there is always some contamination present, either from the bottom of my tank or in the fuel itself. It was this, passing around the main fuel filter, that was blocking the very fine filter in the high pressure pump. They said that this problem had reared its head many times, and that they had even had some Peugeots in and found that some poor desperate mechanic in the past had taken to hacksawing the high pressure pump filter off entirely.

David
Thanks for the additional info; that fault, blocking of the filter in the tip of the pressure regulator, is why I've always said that the fuel filter element should never be replaced on an HDi - only the complete housing as a unit.

The fuel filter housing should be considered as disposable. It's opening it that causes a lot of the trouble on HDis.
Other manufacturers use sealed filters that have to be hacksawed to check for debris.

So it sounds like the replacement fuel filter may be the cause of the problem. I hope the garage can sort it out, don't want to scrap the car.

Mickie · 13 Oct 2011 at 22:21

1900 diesel ? pretty sure petrol doesnt sit on diesel, it mixes..

i dont know a whole lot about diesels but mine was doing the same thing and it turned out to be the solenoid actuator valve.. which jammed after changing the diesel filter.

mine run rough, hard to start

cm1179 · 13 Oct 2011 at 22:24

i thought that if you put unleaded into a diesel, you could put diesel in and it would be ok?

Six6siX · 13 Oct 2011 at 22:29

Doesn't the HDi use a more modern method of electronic fuel injection compared to the older DTurbo which was the mechanical effort?

I may be mistaken but if that's the case wouldn't it cause more of a problem?

Dogbreath · 13 Oct 2011 at 22:47

cm1179 said:
i thought that if you put unleaded into a diesel, you could put diesel in and it would be ok?

You can get away with a small amount of petrol in an old mechanically injected diesel engine as long as it's diluted down with sufficient diesel. On a common rail engine such as the HDi, it doesn't take much petrol to cause damage to the high pressure pumps.

cm1179 · 13 Oct 2011 at 23:27

Dogbreath said:
You can get away with a small amount of petrol in an old mechanically injected diesel engine as long as it's diluted down with sufficient diesel. On a common rail engine such as the HDi, it doesn't take much petrol to cause damage to the high pressure pumps.

oh well, my friends transit will soon be going BANG then

Haze · 13 Oct 2011 at 23:29

i thought the nozzles were differnt(apart from the colour) as well, so ppl carnt do this

Mickie · 13 Oct 2011 at 23:31

Haze said:
i thought the nozzles were differnt(apart from the colour) as well, so ppl carnt do this

the diesel pump is bigger, so wont fit in most petrol cars, but obviously petrol pumps are smaller and will fit into diesels

TheVoice · 13 Oct 2011 at 23:31

Haze said:
i thought the nozzles were differnt(apart from the colour) as well, so ppl carnt do this

They could make the nozzle a different shape entirely and have it scream at you that it's the wrong fuel and people would still find a way.

ubersonic · 14 Oct 2011 at 09:03

TheVoice said:
They could make the nozzle a different shape entirely and have it scream at you that it's the wrong fuel and people would still find a way.

Should have made diesel nozzles square...

Kutter · 14 Oct 2011 at 09:16

What happened to the 40 litres of unleaded?