Freelander 1 Filled a diesel Freelander 1 TD4 with petrol - is it terminal?

Hi,
I have owned a Freelander 1 TD4 for 14 years. In a senior moment I have filled it with petrol and ran it for about 2 miles before it stuttered. It was over a quarter full with diesel before I topped it up with petrol. My insurance company tell me that their policy will be to write-off a vehicle over 10 years old after a miss-fueling. I like the car and want to keep it running for as long as possible. Any idea if a drain off and filter change will likely fix it?

get It checked by an independent garage for damage etc before ‘writing it off’

If you do go down that route, but it back off the insurance company and get it repaired.

I mean worst case would new engine/engine swap

Not sure on the TD4. But years ago I did this to a Golf TDI. It was only when the car stuttered to a halt I realised what I’d done.

Towed the car back home and siphoned all the fuel from the tank. Gaining access from the rear seats. (Same on a Freelander 1), then filled with a few jerry cans of diesel. After priming the system again it was fine, and started. There seemed to be no apparent damage.

You’ll probably want to change the under rear arch fuel filter, which will give you the opportunity to drain even more of the duff fuel out the system l.

I wouldn’t write it off yet. It was just an inconvenience getting the old stuff out.

Good luck.

Get the mixed fuel drained out ( there are specialist companies that do this). Then refill with fresh diesel and 250ml of mineral 2 stroke oil. Then drive it and see how it goes. You'll probably find that it goes better than it did as the injectors will be cleaner then before the petrol went in the tank.

It is not the worst thing in the world drain the tank, change the fuel filter add some diesel quarter tank at least run it through maybe add a little injector cleaner, once you have done that, and you feel it is running ok do it again this may take a week or depending how many miles you do to run through enough diesel to sort it out, petrol in diesel is not good but it is worse the other way round diesel into a petrol tank, which is almost impossible as the filler nozzle is larger on a diesel so should not fit into a petrol tank, but alas as you know a petrol nozzle fits into a diesel tank.

Do not start the car or drive it anymore until you have at least drained the tank, try these below, they may help solve it or at least give you sound advice as to if draining will solve the problem.

https://www.fuelfixer.co.uk/Service...MIocGswo382wIVCr7tCh0VWQ2EEAAYASAAEgKB4fD_BwE

It'll be fine I put petrol in mine all the time. .like nodge says it will run better. I drained my tank by clipping a hose to the under bonnet fuel pump and letting it do the work into 2x 20l jerry cans a 1x 25l empty jacto gear oil tub....ran out of jerry cans.

You are far from being alone,we must do at least 4 mis-fuelling jobs every week over the April to September period

Thanks for your reassuring comments. The car is with my local Landrover independent and I should know next week. I know that Defenders are pretty resilient and normally recover with a draining, but have no idea whether the Freelander BMW TD4 engine is as robust.

Keith Hawkins said:

Freelander BMW TD4 engine is as robust

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The engine will be fine. Only some fuel system components can suffer minor damage, but normally survive just fine with the occasional mis-fuel. Normally the petrol cleans the injectors and so work better.
I wouldn't even take it to anyone else to sort, or tell the insurance company.

My personal experience was after my wife misfuelled and drove monde tdci for a week. It was stuttering and misfiring but she just drove it harder and harder to get over that.... Poor car. Anyway I drained it and refuelled and it ran OK then developed a slight stutter. Eventually ended up getting the injectors replaced as the petrol wears them out if used for prolonged period. Used to go into limp mode but would reset itself until eventually it remained in limp mode all thetime. Car was OK after injectors changed . However later it jumped its timing and suffered head damage. Garage said it was unconnected however I think wife mercilessly thrashing poor stuttering misfiring car probably knackered timing chain or sprockets. When I got in car to drive it after misfuel I was completely shocked that she had even managed to drive the car as it was virtually u drivable ... Thats the only reason I found out lol. She now refuses to fuel up our cars now... Good luck for what it's worth I think you'll be ok if your drain and refuel. If not get bits sorted as and if they break but if too expensive you may have to bite bullet. Good luck

Just to give what I hope is closure on this thread. My Landrover Independent (Paul Light, Hordle) was able to drain it quicker than expected at a reasonable price (less than my insurance excess). After flushing, it started and seems to be going fine. Fingers crossed there won't be any long term issues. Hopefully this thread might help the next person who puts the wrong nozzle in their tank.

Good to hear its back up and firing again.

Life must be back to fine and dandy in the "original" Christchurch

On Monday I accidentally put about 9 pence worth of petrol in my diesel pajero
It hasn't caused any problems but was told to drain fuel and change both diesel filter and filter in the tank
Apparently it's more of a problem if you put diesel in a petrol engine

DCUNNINGHAM said:

On Monday I accidentally put about 9 pence worth of petrol in my diesel pajer

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Nothing to worry about there. Just top it up with diesel to dilute the petrol.

DCUNNINGHAM said:

It hasn't caused any problems but was told to drain fuel and change both diesel filter and filter in the tank

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No need with such a small amount of petrol. Just do as above.

DCUNNINGHAM said:

Apparently it's more of a problem if you put diesel in a petrol engine

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Petrol in a diesel is potentially more damaging than diesel in a petrol vehicle. The diesel needs draining off as a petrol engine can't burn diesel off. Once fresh petrol is added, there shouldn't be any long lasting problems.

DCUNNINGHAM said:

Apparently it's more of a problem if you put diesel in a petrol engine

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....which is why the nozzles are the way they are - makes it much harder to put Diesel into a petrol car. Doesn't stop the Yanks from trying tho.....but apparently their hoses are coloured the other way, so they deliberately use the black hose thinking it is petrol. Gotta love the tourist season!!!

I like the Ford smart fill system. It's impossible to put the wrong nozzle in the filler.

Did this about a year ago in my Astra, filled it from almost empty to full with petrol then drove home (about a mile) starter sounding really dodgy and engine running rough. parked the car up, drained every last drop out and filled it with Diesel - car still runs fine - I just think of it as a very expensive way to clean my diesel injectors

I think I saw an episode of top gear or something where they tried petrol in diesel and vice versa.

I believe petrol in a diesel car had no lasting damage and it even ran ok.

Diesel in petrol was to a lesser extent ok. I know it'd be different on all vehicles but fingers crossed

Bute said:

I think I saw an episode of top gear or something where they tried petrol in diesel and vice versa.

I believe petrol in a diesel car had no lasting damage and it even ran ok.

Diesel in petrol was to a lesser extent ok. I know it'd be different on all vehicles but fingers crossed

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pertrol in a diesel can cause issues in extremely high pressure injection pumps and injectors through lack of lube,diesel in a petrol car will just stop it with no harm

jamesmartin said:

pertrol in a diesel can cause issues in extremely high pressure injection pumps and injectors through lack of lube,diesel in a petrol car will just stop it with no harm

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Ah either I got it the wrong way around or it was an ancient non turbo diesel.

Either way I stand corrected.