Marvo
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« on: March 07, 2011, 15:44:40 pm » |
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Right, nobody likes to look stupid but for the purpose that others might benefit from my stupidity, here goes.
On January 17th this year I decided to put some fuel in my car which was getting low. Stopped off at Sainsbury’s on the Weedon Road just before they closed and put £20 of unleaded into my car, just over a quarter of a tank. Unfortunately my car is a year old Mazda diesel. I’m a member of the RAC so I rang them. They asked them if I’d started the car (I hadn’t) and said in that case they could send somebody to empty the tank, the cost would be £250. They said they’d get a local garage to ring me. While I stood there waiting for the phone to ring at the now closed Sainsbury’s, I rang my brother-in-law. He asked how much unleaded I’d put in, then said to wait and he’d be round. He turned up 15 minutes later with a gallon of Diesel and 500 millilitres of engine oil. He put them both in the tank and told me to drive straight to the BP garage and fill up with diesel. I was very apprehensive; the RAC man had told me that if I started the car it would be a very expensive mistake as it would ruin the car. Fortunately (as it turned out) my miserly instincts took over and I drove to the other garage and filled up. Cost was £40. The tank holds about a bit under £80 from empty, though it could be more now the way petrol prices are rising. The car got me home. I drove to work the next day, then filled up the tank again on my return. I then went two days before filling up again. Trying to dilute the unleaded petrol as much as I could. I then let the tank go down to ¾ before filling up again, then 1/2, then ¼ and now I’ve let the tank run down to almost empty with the little warning light on. Only now am I confident enough to say I’ve got away with it and may I say with no detriment to the car whatsoever. It’s done over 2,000 miles since the incident and its even had its first annual service and got a clean bill of health. Apparently 500 drivers a week put the wrong fuel in their car, most ends up paying for it. I’m not saying what I did was right or that I advise anybody else to do the same, just telling you what I did. The AA (who also charges £250) advises that you can get away with no more than 5% unleaded in a diesel car. I reckon mine had about 27%.
Perhaps I’m just lucky but hey ho, make of this what you will.
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Enya_NTFC
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« Reply #1 on: March 07, 2011, 18:43:51 pm » |
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Do you want me to get you a sticker that says "Diesel only"
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