Warning. Misfuell at Eucla

solomonsdog · Member

Warning. Misfuell at Eucla

Whenarewethere · Guru

Land Rovers with a diesel engine, the tank has a sensor to detect the wrong fuel so you will only get about 2 litres in before the tank closes a valve. Then you have to get a tool out of the boot & reopen the tank.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

solomonsdog wrote:
I have heard that petrol has gone into the diesel tank at Eucla service station. Lots of diesel cars now in trouble.

Trouble????

Border Village is just 12km away. confuse

Cheers,

Peter

solomonsdog · Member

My understanding from Wikicamps is that a fuel tanker put unleaded into the diesel storage tanks at Eucla. Seems a few cars filled up with the mixture before it was noticed.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

First it is "lots", now it is "a few". confuse

Wikicamps? Now there is an authority to be reckoned with. biggrin

Cheers,

Peter

Brodie Allen · Guru

One is lots if it's yours !!

peter67 · Guru

Dead right Brodie. That would be bad enough in the city let alone out there, I wonder how much time and money that has cost those people.

solomonsdog · Member

Only trying to help mate. Add this to the info:

https://www.kalminer.com.au/news/kalgoorlie-miner/caltex-eucla-running-tests-following-a-spate-of-cars-reportedly-breaking-down-after-fuelling-up-at-the-station-ng-b881845325z

yobarr · Guru

solomonsdog wrote:
I have heard that petrol has gone into the diesel tank at Eucla service station. Lots of diesel cars now in trouble.

Depends on the percentage of diesel v petrol in both the servo tank and the car's fuel tank.If no more than about 10%,just add a bottle of 2 stroke engine oil to the fuel tank,and you'll be OK.Too much petrol will damage the injectors,particularly on common rail engines,but small amounts are of little concern.Cheers

-- Edited by yobarr on Tuesday 13th of April 2021 07:03:29 PM

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

solomonsdog wrote:
Only trying to help mate. Add this to the info:
https://www.kalminer.com.au/news/kalgoorlie-miner/caltex-eucla-running-tests-following-a-spate-of-cars-reportedly-breaking-down-after-fuelling-up-at-the-station-ng-b881845325z

Thanks. That site is pay only :(

Now we have a "spate", so they are probably guessing too?.

I guess the facts will come out eventually.

Cheers,

Peter

Mamil · Senior Member

Whenarewethere wrote:
Land Rovers with a diesel engine, the tank has a sensor to detect the wrong fuel so you will only get about 2 litres in before the tank closes a valve. Then you have to get a tool out of the boot & reopen the tank.

The mis-fuelling device is a mechanical device which operates on the size of nozzle inserted, not a sensor, so wouldn't be any help in this case where the diesel nozzle was dispensing a mix of petrol and diesel.

Whenarewethere · Guru

Thanks for clarifying that.

I have a petrol engine & put 98 in it when possible. Hopefully I would notice the different fumes.

Mamil · Senior Member

Whenarewethere wrote:
Thanks for clarifying that.
I have a petrol engine & put 98 in it when possible. Hopefully I would notice the different fumes.

One of my cars is petrol, the other diesel. I'm just dreading the day I'm off with the fairies and put the wrong fuel in one or other cry

Whenarewethere · Guru

It would make it easier if all outlets were consistent & used RON instead of marketing crap.

I pretty much always have to cross reference with the display that I have got 98. It is a waste of time & completely avoidable.

Bicyclecamper · Guru

Al the nozzles are the same size now except, the High Flow nozzle, since I have gone back to petrol, am dreading one day , of forgetting and putting in diesel, so long as it is not much, I don't think their would be much of a problem, just sluggish.

Hetho · Senior Member

All nozzles the same size. really.

-- Edited by Hetho on Tuesday 13th of April 2021 09:31:09 PM

Ger08 · Senior Member

It seems that this incident has escalated to WA Consumer Affairs and the Federal department that monitors fuel quality. I really feel for the poor people affected by this.

thewest.com.au/news/consumer-protection/eucla-caltex-shuts-down-diesel-bowsers-over-contamination-fears-following-reported-breakdowns-ng-b881845904z

Trevor 57 · Senior Member

A small amount of petrol in your diesel will not kill it, in fact back in the day they used to shandy diesel all the time to make trucks go harder, it is only a BIG problem when the mixture gets too high, if anything it will premature explode in the cylinder and may cause damage

I know a bloke who put over 50 litres of petrol in a Holden Colorado standard tank and just drove it out, not recommended but he did it and it is still running

How big was the underground tank of diesel?

How much petrol did he put in? Was it a 100% fill of petrol, a 50/50, 70/30 etc, all this will make a big difference to the outcome

People get a little too emotional about this subject, most times the engine will NOT explode like some peoples imagination

Trevor 57 · Senior Member

yobarr wrote:

solomonsdog wrote:
I have heard that petrol has gone into the diesel tank at Eucla service station. Lots of diesel cars now in trouble.
Depends on the percentage of diesel v petrol in both the servo tank and the car's fuel tank.If no more than about 10%,just add a bottle of 2 stroke engine oil to the fuel tank,and you'll be OK.Too much petrol will damage the injectors,particularly on common rail engines,but small amounts are of little concern.Cheers

well said, some common sesnse

Ger08 · Senior Member

Trevor 57 wrote:
A small amount of petrol in your diesel will not kill it, in fact back in the day they used to shandy diesel all the time to make trucks go harder, it is only a BIG problem when the mixture gets too high, if anything it will premature explode in the cylinder and may cause damage

I know a bloke who put over 50 litres of petrol in a Holden Colorado standard tank and just drove it out, not recommended but he did it and it is still running

How big was the underground tank of diesel?

How much petrol did he put in? Was it a 100% fill of petrol, a 50/50, 70/30 etc, all this will make a big difference to the outcome

People get a little too emotional about this subject, most times the engine will NOT explode like some peoples imagination

Clearly its caused issues with a number of vehicles, we dont now the exact number yet, but next roadhouse organisEd towing etc and the remoteness of Eucla make it even more important that fuel quality be maintained. Modern common rail diesels have very fine tolerances to any contamination

dogbox · Guru

Trevor 57 wrote:

A small amount of petrol in your diesel will not kill it, in fact back in the day they used to shandy diesel all the time to make trucks go harder, it is only a BIG problem when the mixture gets too high, if anything it will premature explode in the cylinder and may cause damage

I know a bloke who put over 50 litres of petrol in a Holden Colorado standard tank and just drove it out, not recommended but he did it and it is still running

How big was the underground tank of diesel?

How much petrol did he put in? Was it a 100% fill of petrol, a 50/50, 70/30 etc, all this will make a big difference to the outcome

People get a little too emotional about this subject, most times the engine will NOT explode like some peoples imagination

back in the day before CRD you could get away with it ,the new CRD fuel system run at extremely high pressures compared to the old pump /injectors

Trevor 57 · Senior Member

I have put 17 litres of petrol in a 70 litre diesel tank of my former PK Ranger and just drove it out, as soon as it got to 3/4's full I just filled it with diesel, so just kept diluting it, never hurt the car

yobarr · Guru

Trevor 57 wrote:
I have put 17 litres of petrol in a 70 litre diesel tank of my former PK Ranger and just drove it out, as soon as it got to 3/4's full I just filled it with diesel, so just kept diluting it, never hurt the car

Fair bit of common sense there,Trevor,and I have done similar! And Maaate,didn't the car go like a rocket until the fuel was diluted?Cheers

Mamil · Senior Member

Bicyclecamper wrote:
Al the nozzles are the same size now except, the High Flow nozzle, since I have gone back to petrol, am dreading one day , of forgetting and putting in diesel, so long as it is not much, I don't think their would be much of a problem, just sluggish.

Not so. Standard diesel nozzles are larger than unleaded petrol nozzles (and incidentally are the same size as the old unleaded petrol nozzle). So, it's very difficult to mistakenly put diesel in a petrol car as the nozzle just won't fit. It is easier to put petrol in a diesel car because the petrol nozzle will go in. Hence the mis-fuelling devices on some diesel cars. They differ in design, but one such device has a flap blocking off the fuel fill pipe unless the larger diesel nozzle in inserted and contacts two flanges flanges on the outside of the fill pipe and releases the flap. The smaller petrol nozzle will fit between the flanges and so not release the flap. The down side is that when filling from a jerry can the narrow spout won't release the flap, so the car manufacturer provides a special funnel that has the required diameter to allow filling from a jerry can.

GandD Travellers · Newbie

I refuelled at Eucla on the 12April 2021 from the diesel bowser. Before we drove away from the roadhouse someone drove in and said he had spoken to three people who had broken down, each had refuelled at Eucla. Thanks to him we made the decision not to drive. Knowing there may be problems with the fuel we did not continue travelling. We checked the smell of the fuel in our tank, it definitely did not have the smell of diesel, the roadhouse Manager also sniffed the fuel tank and agreed that it did not smell like diesel. Another couple (A) had filled up at about the same time. We contacted RACQ who organised for our vehicle to be towed as there was no service available at Eucla. We had our caravan towed to the roadhouse's caravan park to await a tow truck.There were two other vehicles in the caravan park affected, one couple (B) had driven five km stopped their vehicle then when they tried to start again the vehicle would not start. Couple A had to be towed to Ceduna , couple B had to be towed to Kalgoorlie, we were towed to Norseman. We had our fuel, fuel lines and filter cleared of the suspect fuel, and had no problems with our vehicle and fortunately our insurance and RACQ covered the cost of towing and service. I have just been told that Ampol (Caltex) have advised couple B that all tests on the fuel have been inconclusive and clear of any contamination. The Roadhouse's insurance company have paid compensation to couple A for their out of pocket expenses. We have not had anything yet from Ampol or Eucla Roadhouse.

peatop · Senior Member

Im not sure what the diesels of today are like but in years gone by if you put petrol in the tank it was better to drain it than suffer a blown motor, not sure what ratio was considered safe but it wasn't high as for the other way around a petrol motor seemed to run ok on a decent mix of the 2 but it wouldn't turn off lol

Eaglemax · Guru

solomonsdog wrote:
I have heard that petrol has gone into the diesel tank at Eucla service station. Lots of diesel cars now in trouble.

Thanks for this alert. And welcome here. New members endeavors sadly means taking the risk of over critical eyes if you get one word out of place.

Don't let it deter you.

Tony.

yobarr · Guru

peatop wrote:
Im not sure what the diesels of today are like but in years gone by if you put petrol in the tank it was better to drain it than suffer a blown motor, not sure what ratio was considered safe but it wasn't high as for the other way around a petrol motor seemed to run ok on a decent mix of the 2 but it wouldn't turn off lol

As long as there is not more than about 10-12% petrol in the car's diesel tank,add MINERAL 2 stroke engine oil,and all is good.Cheers

-- Edited by yobarr on Friday 13th of August 2021 07:43:20 AM

Wizardofoz · Guru

Mamil wrote:
Whenarewethere wrote:
Thanks for clarifying that.
I have a petrol engine & put 98 in it when possible. Hopefully I would notice the different fumes.
One of my cars is petrol, the other diesel. I'm just dreading the day I'm off with the fairies and put the wrong fuel in one or other

Yes Mamil, I did it, my NSW vehicle is petrol and when returning to my home in Port Douglas QLD where I have a deisel, I accidentally did it the 1st time that I drove it again...cost me all day in Cairns and just over $1000 covering lifts back and forth to the hospital for my wife, tank pump out and refill with deisel.

The lesson is a hard one but well learned and it won't happen again (hopefully) biggrin

-- Edited by Wizardofoz on Friday 13th of August 2021 07:57:38 AM

Leshill · Veteran Member

I had 17 ltrs of petrol in my tank also , when drained the diesel drained first then towards the end of draining the tank the petrol started showing. It seems the petrol was floating on top of the diesel and had not mixed.