Mixing unleaded with Diesel in 2012 Jetta TDI

Sweetmeat

New member
Joined
Jan 24, 2013
Location
Kansas City
TDI
2012 Jetta TDI
Hello, all. I am new to this forum and this is my first post.

Something happened to me a couple of days ago, and I thought I would share my story so others may be able to benefit from it in case they have the same problem.

I have owned my 2012 Jetta TDI since ~September 2011. Although I will admit that I don't go many places, I have never been to a gas station where the diesel handle wasn't green. A couple of days ago, that all changed.

I pulled into an unfamiliar gas station and immediately saw 3 black handles and 1 green handle. So I took the green one and started filling up my tank. I then realized my mistake and turned off the pump, with only pumping .42 gallons of unleaded into my tank. I had about 30 miles of diesel in my tank (according to the display in my car) prior to filling it with the .42 gallons of unleaded.

After turning off the unleaded fuel pump, I went into panic mode, and finished filling my tank with with diesel. My phone battery was nearly dead, and I had just moved the charger from my VW to my other vehicle, so I didn't have a way to charge the phone. My quickest bet to find out if I'm screwed was to call my dad and ask him his opinion. He knows the old engines and diesels well, so he told me .42 gallons shouldn't be enough to cause any damage.

I ended up driving my car home and upon arrival immediately started charging my phone so I could do a bunch of internet searches. What I found was that even a TRACE of unleaded in the >2009 TDI engines could be catastrophic, and the repair bill could be ~$11,000.00. Needless to say, I was freaking out!

Some people had said that their insurance company paid for their vehicle to be repaired, so I thought I would call mine in the morning and see if they would. Well, I have American Family, and they told me that the only way they would tell me if they would cover it is if I submitted a claim, and then they'd research it and determine if they would pay it. The people who claimed that their insurance paid for it said that they had Farmers Insurance and another guy had State Farm.

I decided to call State Farm and ask them if they really do cover the repair, and they called their claims department and told me that they would cover the cost of the parts, but not the labor. I think I will be switching to State Farm VERY soon in case I made a huge mistake like this again.

Anyway, I also called the dealership in the morning and asked them if I should be concerned, and they told me that their official response is that I should immediately have my vehicle towed to their dealership and have them empty the tank, flush the lines, and replace the fuel filter. He also said that because I had put in such a small amount that the mechanic said that I could probably just continue to drive the car. I was reluctant to just continue to drive the car due to the fact that I might end up getting an $11,000 bill and my insurance company had already said that they probably won't cover it.

I decided to just have my vehicle towed in by VW Roadside assitance. I didn't tell them why it's being towed - I just told them that I spoke with the VW service department and they recommended that I get it towed. No more questions were asked.

So, the car was towed and then I just had to wait to find out if I was soon going to be $11,000 poorer, or if I was ok. Finally I called the service tech who told me that everything was fine and I just owed ~$540.00.

I picked my car up that night and have been driving it for about a week now with no problems.

Before I had the work done, I also asked the service tech if my warranty would be impacted by this. Some people have claimed that VW wouldn't honor the warranty after someone puts regular gas in their diesel engine. The answer I got from the service tech was that there would not be any effect on the warranty because the work that was being done (flush, etc) was not being covered under warranty so they do not need to disclose that to VW.

To conclude, I was extremely lucky in that I didn't cause any damage. If you have put regular gas into your diesel and you realize it before you start your car, DO NOT START your car. Call roadside assistance and just tell them that your car died. No more information is needed. They'll tow you for free (if under warranty) and then your bill will be less than what I paid. If you have already started your car and then your car dies, you're probably going to be on the hook for replacing your entire fuel system which won't be covered under warranty. If you're lucky and didn't put in much at all (like my .42 gallons), you MIGHT be ok. I was told that if you're going to have major problems, it would happen within just a few miles.

Now I know to always read the sign and smell the nozzle before I fill up. I am also banning myself from going to BP (or any other place for that matter) for diesel until they conform to the standard of using green handles for their diesel fuel. I know there's no law that stipulates what color the handles must be, but most other places have adopted a standard of using green handles.

I hope that this helps someone out there who might be in the same situation as I was. Good luck and I hope your repair bill isn't too much.
 

Softrockrenegade

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2011
Location
Howellbama, NJ
TDI
None...2011 Golf DSG (replaced by VW W/) 2013 Passat SE 6M(bought back) Current 2017 sportwagen TSI 4Motion.
Yeah .... You shouldn't have started it . If you only had a very short trip home (like around the corner) perhaps the gasoline never made it to your high pressure fuel pump(HPFP). Now way to tell if any damage was really done untill you drive it for a bit. Your insurance company will cover it under comprehensive as it was an accident but if vw will cover under warrenty still , even better. Anyway , you learned a valuable lesson about pump handles ... Always read the pump ! Best wishes and good luck.
 

jmarshall

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2011
Location
Ahrensville, PA
TDI
2011 Jetta 6MT
I dont mean this to be offensive, but I am certain that all CR TDI owners that are members of this site know very well the dangers of putting gas in their TDI
 

node_one

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 7, 2012
Location
GTA, On
TDI
2012 Golf TDI
I've yet to see a green handled diesel pump - all in my area are yellow, black or grey

Learn to read the signs and don't assume.
 

Psymos

Well-known member
Joined
May 27, 2012
Location
Western PA
TDI
2002 Jetta TDI
Sorry for your luck OP. What was the green nozzle if it wasn't diesel?

I've yet to see a green handled diesel pump - all in my area are yellow, black or grey

Learn to read the signs and don't assume.
There are some green ones in PA and I think in DE too.
 

Chris Tobin

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2011
Location
Tennessee
TDI
'06 Jetta TDI
You guys are gonna chase this poor TDI owner off... He'll never want to post again. Obviously some people make fueling mistakes and he was telling his story in hopes of helping others in the event that they too ever make a fueling mistake. Don't beat him up for trying to be helpful to other TDIers and potential TDIers. Remember, especially in the last couple years there are more and more TDIs available so some of the owners may be very new to diesel ownership.

Sweetmeat, welcome to TDIClub! Bummer about the misfuel. You'll probably see $500 flash before your eyes each time you reach for the pump from now on. It is pretty dumb that stations do not use a universal color system, and I agree that BP is the worst with green on the unleaded pumps and black or yellow for diesel...
 

Jayg

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2012
Location
Anchorage, AK
TDI
'12 Jetta 6MT-VW bought back as a lemon
I've yet to see a green handled diesel pump - all in my area are yellow, black or grey

Learn to read the signs and don't assume.

And all the diesel pumps ARE green in my area. Very few are black and I have never seen a yellow one.

So yeah if you aren't paying attention it can be easy to do. I understand and the OP learned a valuable lesson for sure.
 

tdiatlast

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
TDI
2009 Sportwagen (boughtback); 2014 Passat TDI SEL (boughtback)
I dont mean this to be offensive, but I am certain that all CR TDI owners that are members of this site know very well the dangers of putting gas in their TDI
Yeah, but the OP just joined.

OP: Thanks for the story. Hope your HPFP isn't damaged...FYI, fuel system replacement is more like $7-8k, not $11k.
 

Sweetmeat

New member
Joined
Jan 24, 2013
Location
Kansas City
TDI
2012 Jetta TDI
I dont mean this to be offensive, but I am certain that all CR TDI owners that are members of this site know very well the dangers of putting gas in their TDI
No offense taken. My post was not necessarily for existing members, but more for others who are frantically searching for information after they make the same mistake. I searched for probably 6 - 7 hours once I got home and didn't sleep until about 3:30 am. I really wanted to try to consolidate what I learned from multiple posts and talks with VW so others can benefit.
When I first got my TDI I was extremely and overly cautious about making sure I was putting in diesel. Then I guess I got lazy, or maybe just got used to always using green handles for diesel and black for unleaded. At BP, it's completely opposite of everything I've gotten accustomed to through my entire life.
To answer another poster's question, the green handle was unleaded, one of the 3 black handles was diesel and the other 2 were unleaded.
 

roostre

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2012
Location
Puget Sound, WA
TDI
2012 Golf TDI DSG
This is our first Diesel vehicle after decades of gassers. Since we also still have gassers, we have to be careful to not space out and accidentally gas up when fueling.

I don't like admitting this, but:

Somehow I don't really notice the benign yellow sticker that VW put on the fueling port. To help eliminate any chance of forgetfulness, what I did was to tie a fairly long piece of florescent glow orange colored surveyor's tape onto the tether of the fuel cap so the two ends hang out like long streamer flags and on both pieces of the surveyor's tape in large letters I wrote "DIESEL" with a black marker.

You can't miss the surveyor's tape when you unscrew the fuel cap and it reminds me to be sure that I correctly select a Diesel fuel nozzle. It also may help warn others (like my dear wife) who don't usually but may at some point fuel our vehicle that it requires Diesel.

After fueling and screwing the fuel cap back on, I wrap the surveyor's tape around the fuel cap before I close the fuel access door. So far the surveyor's tape has not embarrassed me by slipping out the crack between the fuel door and fender while driving, but I do get some weird looks while fueling.
 
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ottomatic

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2008
Location
E. TN
TDI
2015 Golfwagen SE 6MT
And all the diesel pumps ARE green in my area. Very few are black and I have never seen a yellow one
X2
I have not owned a gas vehicle since 1986. (except for motorcycles)
My problem is the opposite . I have accidently put some diesel in gas cars or trucks. (4X) But they seem to run better depending on the amount.
 

gulfcoastguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2012
Location
MS Gulfcoast
TDI
TDI sold, Mazda 3 purchased
Just because of the possiblity of a memory lapse like this, so far I only use pumps that are diesel only. I figure multiple hoses on a pump is an inventation to misfuelling by bad labeling or bad fuel truck delivery. I'm sure when I finally take an extra long road trip I'll finally have to roll the dice.
 

Diesl

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2012
Location
Chicago
TDI
'78 Golf Diesel (long gone); 2012 Jetta Sportwagen TDI w/ DSG
Are we sure that this (mixing in a bit of regular) is not what the fuel companies are doing to winterize diesel? Back in the 70s this was the recommended method.
Even if the lubricity of regular was zero, adding 5% should reduce the lubricity by at most that amount. You'd think the safety margin was larger than that.
 

JSWTDI09

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2009
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
TDI
2009 JSW TDI (gone but not forgotten)
Are we sure that this (mixing in a bit of regular) is not what the fuel companies are doing to winterize diesel? Back in the 70s this was the recommended method.
Yes, we are sure. This is not the 70s and diesel engines have changed since then. Winterization may mix diesel with kerosine, but not gasoline. Winterization may also just be anti-gel and water control additives. How (and how much) winterization is done depends on where you live. Florida's winter fuel may be very different from Minnesota's.

Have Fun!

Don
 

pknopp

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2011
Location
WV
TDI
2012 Jetta Sportwagen
One should have learned by now to not believe everything you read on the internet. You were never facing a $11,000 repair bill.

Yes, you were under a real risk to get hit with a big repair bill but people on the internet tend to exaggerate.

I would have stopped and drained as soon as I had realized what I did.
 

naturist

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2001
Location
Bro Jerry's hometown, Virginia
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI, 2005 Jeep Libby CRD, 2012 BMW X5 35d
To the @OP, welcome to Fred's, and thank you for posting your experience. Your dad was right -- about the older engines. About your car in particular, not so much, but you figured that out and hopefully dodged a bullet.

If you travelled less than perhaps as much as 5 miles, any gas that got as far as your fuel filter would not have made it to the components that would be damaged. Still, should something like this ever happen again, absolutely do not start the engine. It is much less expensive to merely drain and refill the tank than to have to also do what had to be done to your car this time.

Folks on this forum have pointed out many, many times to various posters that there is neither any law mandating the color of fuel handles, nor even any customary color code. It is thus essential that folks not rely on handle color, but READ the signage and identify the correct handle to use by that signage.

There is a retraining that must occur when you buy a TDI: you have to retrain years of practice about how to fill the tank to include making sure you get the right stuff. And also to PAY ATTENTION, not "zone out" and fill up on auto-pilot. This last not only to make sure you get the right stuff, but also because the auto-shut-off on the pump cannot be counted upon. Given the cost of fuel, you don't need to be buying several gallons of fuel spilled because you were sitting in the car away from the cold waiting for the pump to shut off.

All that said, welcome to diesel-jockeydom. The increased fuel mileage and low-end torque are worth those small inconveniences. Drive on in peace.
 

mrmmacd77

Veteran Member
Joined
May 21, 2012
Location
Grafton, Ma
TDI
2012 Jetta TDI Premium
The threat of a 7K-whatever K fix is enough for me to pay attention. I also only use "Diesel only" pumps that are usually located away from most other pumps, sometimes on the other side of the lot. Here is Grafton, they have 2 stations that are full service... the guys don't even come over to fill my tank because they know I'm very OCD when it comes to filling my car... and I'll just send them away. A 3rd station has all the pump handles together and the colors are all variety depending on when the last inattentive driver drove off with the filler still in the vehicle.:confused:
OP with that smaller amount I wouldn't feel as bad as others that have topped off with RUG...and inadvertently drove away till the HPFP went kaput. IMO the thing that may be your savior is that you filled up with diesel before starting the motor... with the .46 gallons and only 30miles left of the tank that would have been a lot leaner mixture if you didn't fill up the tank prior to starting. Just my .02c
 

jmarshall

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2011
Location
Ahrensville, PA
TDI
2011 Jetta 6MT
In my area, the majority of diesel handles are green or green and yellow, with green hoses. I have, however seen green, yellow, black, and red handles.
 

spartanmanor

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2013
Location
Arlington, VA
TDI
2003 Beetle TDI
I am not to proud to admit that I have done this once with my wife's 2002 beetle. We were on a road trip that started very early in the morning. I had been driving for a few hours at this point and pulled into one of those big stations along 95 in NJ. I was on auto pilot and grabbed for a green handled pump. I got about a gallon in before I realized what I had done. I had the car towed to a nearby shop and got the tank drained before even starting the engine. It did put a damper on the day but 5 years later we have not had any issues.
 

mattwgrizwald

Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2008
Location
Red Wing ,Minnesota
TDI
1.9 2005 vw jetta wagon ,
my wife did this same thing at a bp station . She still curses bp and refuses to go there. She filled the tank full but then realized her mistake and did not start it and then called me and then tow truck. Funny thing was tow truck driver scolded her ,and then got in a argument with me . I told my wife not to stick the keys in to the ignition or even give them to the tow truck driver . When he got there he argued with me and said turning the key to the run position wasn't going to hurt it. I refused and then he said he needed the key to put the car in neutral. I then said you need the a key to put a manual in neutral, he gave a crap look at put the car on the ramp . I was able to suck out all fuel through back seat access and flush out and no problems
 
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AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
OP, welcome to the club. Thanks for sharing your story. One day my 2000 Jetta will probably be replaced with a CR or something similar. At the moment, I don't know much about the CR fueling system of the new TDI engines.

After turning off the unleaded fuel pump, I went into panic mode, and finished filling my tank with with diesel.
Apparently, you did not start the engine until after the tank was "filled" with diesel fuel. On the assumption the tank holds 15 gallons and you actually filled it to the top, then that would have resulted in roughly a 34.7:1 ratio of Diesel Fuel to gasoline. (takes into account you had a little less than a 1/2 gallon of fuel and added 53.76 ounces of gasoline, then topped off the balance with diesel fuel, about 14.5 gallons)..........at worst; 34:1 diesel to gasoline.

So, based on my extremely limited knowledge of the CR fueling system, apparently the HPFP is the big issue (high pressure fuel pump), specifically lubricity.

Are there other issues besides lubricity when gasoline is mixed in the diesel fuel of a CR fueling system? Were there any additives in the fuel that would have increased lubricity? (stuff you added or residuel in the fuel from the previous fill-up)

I point out these items and make these observations to question whether or not a 34:1 ratio would have in fact been harmful to the HPFP. I realize that many folks can't or the circumstances do not permit other actions, such as siphoning the fuel out..........and do another re-fill right on the spot or over to the side of the station lot. Considering all the horror stories from dealerships, I'd question whether it would be wise to take (tow) the vehicle there or not.

Well, I've been driving VW diesels for 33 years and never made the mistake of dumping in gasoline...nor diesel into any of my gassers!
 

Scoutx

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2012
Location
Virginia
TDI
2012 Jetta (6MT) - 1000 Mile Club (retired)___ 2015 Jetta SEL (6MT)
It always pays to read the pump and not rely on the color of the pump handle. That said, I think you made the right call. I would much rather pay $540 than risk $$$$ repair for ignoring it.

PS....be VERY careful to warn anyone that should borrow it to not make the same mistake. Indeed I would tend to fuel it up first and then tell them not to put anything in it rather than risk a mistake.
 

JM Popaleetus

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2010
Location
Connecticut
TDI
Signature.
One should have learned by now to not believe everything you read on the internet. You were never facing a $11,000 repair bill.

Yes, you were under a real risk to get hit with a big repair bill but people on the internet tend to exaggerate.

I would have stopped and drained as soon as I had realized what I did.
Actually, the average repair bill for a catastrophic HPFP failure is ~$10,000.

You're wrong. The threadstarter was lucky the dilution amount was so little as to not affect anything.
 

tdiatlast

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
TDI
2009 Sportwagen (boughtback); 2014 Passat TDI SEL (boughtback)
IIRC, HPFP complete repair is closer to $8k...some have even reported lower at indy shops...

I find it interesting that this dilution did not cause a failure. Many here have felt that even a few drops of RUG would be enough to destroy an HPFP. Hmmm...
 

JM Popaleetus

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2010
Location
Connecticut
TDI
Signature.
IIRC, HPFP complete repair is closer to $8k...some have even reported lower at indy shops...

I find it interesting that this dilution did not cause a failure. Many here have felt that even a few drops of RUG would be enough to destroy an HPFP. Hmmm...
Even $8k on a $20k car is insane.
 

jasonTDI

TDI GURU Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Apr 26, 2001
Location
Oregon, WI
TDI
20' RAM 3500 CCLB dually HO/Aisan. 2019 Cherokee 2.0T
:rolleyes:The sky is falling!!!

As Andybees mentioned it will be fine. There are plenty of fuel addatives in Diesel. Plus Kerosene the winterizer is VERY dry. Still no issues.

Also ther direct injected gas motors use similar pumps at similar pressures with no higher failure rate....hmmm.....

All the dealer did was fleece you of $500.

Drive more worry less.
 

4ePikanini

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
Location
South Africa, East London
TDI
Touareg R5 2.5 TDi
weird. Green handles here in South Africa are Unleaded fuel as is the colour of the fuel
Red handles are Lead replacement fuel as is the colour of that fuel

diesel handles are mostly black or sometimes yellow and some sasol garages use blue and the diesel looks like typical yellowish diesel.

Next time it happens and you have no choice but to drive it, fill it up to the max with diesel and throw in a liter of 2 stroke oil.
 

Phrankentruk

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2006
Location
Wilmington, NC
TDI
None (yet)
Seriously? Where do you buy 2 stroke oil by the liter? That would treat a serious amount of gasoline.

To all the people that post something like, "I would have stopped right away" or, "You have to be careful", or "we all know this", these posts are offensive at worst and entirely unhelpful at best. Especially the last one. We all know it's bad to put gas in your diesel car (duh!), but do we all know where the line is of when we can run it & when we need to drain the tank? I think not. I certainly didn't until I, like the OP, got on the phone/web to check it out.

I am a gear head and really into all of my engines and I managed to do this as well. Exactly the same story with the green handle and all. I have 4 VW's so it's easy to drift into autopilot & not realize that this particular station has a different fuel coming out of the diesel-colored handle. And it's even worse than that, it was premium so it was separated - 3 handles, space, last green handle.

Mine is a 2003. I put in just under a gallon. I drove to the other side of the station & filled up with diesel. Then I filled it several times over the next few days to keep upping the ratio of diesel.

The real crime is that we have pumps that are designed so that you can cause major damage to your car from such an innocent mistake. And it doesn't have to even be you doing it. Service station attendant (New Jersey, I'm talkin' to you), other family members that don't drive that car much, lending your car to someone, etc. I just let my mom & step-dad drive our TDI for a couple of weeks & had a low-grade fear over this. It's just a stupid situation. Even if the pumps don't change, it wouldn't be that hard to design a system in the filler neck that wouldn't let you insert the smaller nozzle. Where are the VW engineers on this? And it's going to become more of an issue as more people drive diesels. Of course we'll all be going electric before too long so...

The best thing I've come up with is to paint the fuel cap red & use a Sharpie to write "Diesel!" on it. But this has caused me to go looking and guess what? They have green fuel caps that say "Diesel Fuel Only" on them. You can even get one with a lock so you can lock when you lend the car out. Put the key in the glove box with a big "Diesel" car attached to it. Notice it's green...like the pump...that wasn't diesel...
 
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