Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I put the wrong fuel in my tank
I blame it on the heat that I tanked 20 liters of regular in stead of diesel
So my tank had to be drained..
I had to call road assistance who sucked the regular out of my car. The poor guy had a hard time finding a decent place to attach his sucking device. He had to jack up the car, crawl beneath it, and find a fuel line underneath..

This small mistake cost me €35,- in fuel and €35,- in removal costs..

Would there have been a smarter way to drain the gas-tank?

 

We all make mistakes and hopefully should learn from them, 6 years ago at 68 years young I too made that same mistake after having a diesel since they first appeared in the UK. Luckily for me the Shell station I filled up at was 400 yards from my ex employer [6 ramps, 8 mechanics and a lot of big pro kit] who had a 100 gallon vacuum tank. My car was back on the road in 15 minutes and the work was free for me.

I'd just put £85 in the tank and lost it to the vacuum, then had to put £85 diesel in when I left. My ex employer made £85 in high grade used fuel for the air blown winter heating and I learned a lesson - show me the man who has nothing to learn - and I'll show you the village idiot.

The tank side of the fuel line where it attaches to the hand priming pump.

 

You'd think pushing a flexible down the filler and sucking out the wrong fuel would be a good idea, but the makers have already been there! They put an obstruction in the filler pipe so you just can't...
I learned this when my diesel Jag decided to blow-up its engine, when I'd just filled it with diesel to the brim. It was an economic write-off so I wanted the diesel back for my next motor, and I already had plenty jerrycans to keep it. No such luck.

Leedsman.
BTW., I see it as now questionable as to whether one saves money with a diesel in the current climate of fuel-wasters such as EGR, DPFs and the horrendous cost of diesel engine parts (e.g. £600 EACH for piezo-electric injectors for Golf TDi, a known trouble source). I think you now have to do something like 30,000mile per annum to gain any diesel advantage. Even the fuel itself costs more than petrol. In the 1960s diesel was half the price of petrol, mainly to help the road transport industry. But then you had to have a Peugeot...
Especially with an older car, I reckon an LPG converted petrol jobbie is a better bet economically than diesel. ATM it's 58p/litre in Leeds. I've had a propane-powered car for a couple of years, and there's nothing wrong with LPG. -- Like whoever heard of a spark-plug costing £600?

 

I had my Mercedes 2.3 190E on LPG for 3 years and I loved it, no noticeable power loss and very cheap on costs per km (LPG is 50% of diesel price over here) and also very friendly to the environment!

Then our government changed the rules dramatically and I suddenly had to pay huge taxes for riding on LPG and they also added extra tax on the LPG itself

I quickly removed the LPG installation and my Benz is back on petrol now, which by the way could also be the reason for me to get mixed up at the tank station.. One day tanking petrol in my benz, the next day tanking diesel in the Chrysler and then again petrol in my motorbike... confusing

 

What is a hand priming pump?

 

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