Filled up with the wrong fuel – what now?

Frits Pieper
01 Mar 2018

Filling up with the wrong fuel can have serious consequences for your car. Filling up with the wrong fuel is not likely to happen to you in your own car. If you borrow or rent a car, it will happen even faster. And that can happen to the best of us, we know from experience.

Filling up your diesel car with petrol

If you fill a diesel engine with petrol and drive away, you will damage the fuel system. Petrol does not have the lubricating function that diesel does. If you discover in time that you have filled the tank incorrectly, i.e. before you have driven away, it is best to call roadside assistance. They will then come with a special installation to drain the fuel.

Fueling your petrol car with diesel

Refueling a petrol car with diesel is much less common. Even if you have driven away, the damage is often still manageable. You will soon notice that the engine is running worse and the oil level is rising. It is then important to pull over as quickly as possible and call roadside assistance. Also take into account further repair costs.

Other fuels

In our neighbouring countries Belgium and Germany you will encounter the fuel E10. This is in fact petrol that has been diluted with (10 percent) bio-ethanol. For your diesel car this fuel is practically as harmful as regular petrol. With a petrol engine you can usually fill up with this alternative fuel 'normally'. Read more about this in this blog post.


Be honest: have you ever filled up with the wrong fuel? Apparently it happens to you on average once in your life. So don't be ashamed.

A rent a van in Kerkrade and surroundings of Adrem? Make sure you fill up with the right fuel! 

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