Fuel filling is not a rare incident, especially when the driver uses a rented or borrowed car or is fueled by a wrong gas station employee. If not handled properly, just one wrong filling can cause serious damage to the fuel system and engine.
According to a technician at Ninety Eight Auto Repair, Maintenance and Care Center (Cat Lai ward, Ho Chi Minh City), as soon as you detect the wrong fuel filling, the first thing to do is not to start the car.
If the engine is running while refueling, the engine must be turned off immediately to avoid wrong fuel being pumped into the entire system.
For vehicles using diesel engines, pouring gasoline by mistake is particularly dangerous. Gasoline is not as lubricating as diesel, so when passing through a high-pressure pump, it can damage the pump, then continue to damage the injection pin and details in the fuel system. If you still try to operate the vehicle, the repair cost may increase very high.
The safest solution is to call a rescue vehicle to bring the vehicle to the garage. Here, the technician will vacuum up the fuel in the tank, clean the entire fuel system, wash the pipes, filters and related details before the vehicle is put back into operation. Complete cleaning helps to avoid the amount of wrong fuel remaining from continuing to cause damage.
To limit risks, drivers should carefully check the type of fuel before refueling, especially when using vehicles that are not their own. On most cars today, manufacturers write the recommended fuel type on the inside of the fuel tank cap or fuel tank door. Many diesel car owners also attach the label "Diesel" right on the tank cap for easy recognition.
According to Ninety Eight Auto, just one wrong fuel injection can cost car owners about 10 million VND or more for cleaning, checking and fixing the fuel system, not to mention the case of a serious engine damage.
