Wrong fuel!

When I bought my 2.2 TD4 Freelander it was a bit sluggish, ie. poor acceleration. I was disappointed as everything felt okay on the inner city test drive, but once out on fast ‘A’ roads it was a different matter. I took it back to the dealer and they checked it over, declared everything ‘normal’, and tried to hand it back. “Have any of your mechanics actually driven it?” I asked.
They hadn’t. I went with a mechanic in the driving seat and asked him to boot it from 30 to 60 on a clear stretch of road. Several attempts later he agreed things weren’t right. Too slow picking up and acceleration just petered out too soon.
The cure? Change the fuel filter.

Since then my car has been filled up with petrol twice (careless I know). In both cases the car stopped dead a few hundred yards from the garage. In both cases draining the tank and filling with diesel got it going again. In both cases the old sluggish symptoms returned and were cured by replacing the fuel filter.
It appears that petrol turns whatever binds the filter fibres together into a gummy substance that blinds the filter.
My engine seems none the worse for the experience.

Sounds like you need a large 'diesel fuel only sticker' by the filler cap

Or one of the gizmos that prevent you inserting the unleaded nozzle before you do some expensive damage.

Or confiscate the wife’s set of keys!

Freelander 2 I assume

Diesel is an oil based fool which helps lubricate where it flows. Petrol is a solvent type fool which doesn't lubricate. Solvents are good for cleaning. Hence the cause of the damage to the fool filter. The chemical nature of petrol will clean and melt some plastics/materials.

I always thought it was difficult to put a petrol fool pump nozzle in a Freelander 2 diesel.