Prius Died on HW; Diesel they say

!! Sorry to hear about this. I am no expert to advice on anything, but I hope they 'fix' whatever is broken and hope it won't cost you much.

 

If it was diesel your car will have been smoking badly before breaking down. If it was a small amount of diesel you might have been lucky and not caused much damage if any, but you'd be amazed how much diesel you can mix with petrol and have the car still run, though it will be causing significant damage to your emissions equiptmen. The more diesel mixed, the more the car would pump out lots and lots of grey, black smoke.

I fear you may have learnt an unfortunate and expensive lesson now that diesel pumps are becoming more prevalent in the USA. Misfuelling has become a big problem over here in the UK;

Filled with the wrong fuel? | AA

The AA are the UK version of AAA. Here unleaded pumps and pipes are green and the nozzle smaller, whereas diesel pumps and pipes are black with a wider nozzle, but still people missfuel. In fact a couple weeks ago I just managed to stop a lady putting unleaded in her diesel Golf who was filling up next to me.

 

You say you filled up from a flashing pip?

So that would be a pretty full tank of whatever you put in last.

I'd check out the gas station you last filled. There are rare stories of Gas Stations getting the wrong gas in their source tanks.

Otherwise, weird happening but what do you do?

I would think if you had a full tank, of full diesel you would of noticed symptoms right away.

But perhaps, if it's a gas station problem, with a mixed amount in their tanks?

Best of luck, that's a strange story.....

PS.

You say "You" filled. So I'm assuming you don't live in a State like Oregon that requires an attendant to fill for you?

In Oregon, an attendant must fill. So I always stick around to see what nozzle he is actually using. Never had them accidentally use Diesel, but have had them pump Premium when I wanted Regular.

 

A location would help a lot for particular details. Every diesel pump I have seen is bigger and would fit into a normal car. As a construction worker I've pumped more diesel into big trucks than normal petrol in my own car. (only takes a few tanks). I don't get how a person could make the mistake. I assume it was the stations fault. I've been across the US and I'd say there are some really dumb people running gas stations. (what ever happed to professionals that took pride in their work therefore a singe guy could build or rebuild the place from the ground up?)

 

We had that happen here a few years ago, where a tanker was filled with diesel by mistake, and make several deliveries to gas stations around town. That's a possible explanation of why you were able to make it that far, if the diesel concentration was not high to begin with but eventually settled to the bottom of the tank (the fuel pump inlet) due to its higher density.

It should be a simple matter of draining the tank and refilling with gas. Don't let them snooker you into a new tank.

 

You'd be surprised how far a car can run with a high concentration of wrong fuel in it.

I know of one person who drove their Range Rover diesel 20 miles from cold before it finally went bang. Apparantly that had performance issues that got steadily worse.

I also know of someone who filled up half a tank of diesel into a petrol car. It too ran and ran ok but did fill the air with thick smoke.

I would be surprised you managed to drive 200 miles on diesel if you filled up from 1 pip. It sounds like others have suggested - that the fuel you purchased had been contaminated with a small amount of diesel causing you to be able to drive, but slowly fouling the oxygen sensor which caused the car to breakdown.

 

Was the tank actually full, or was half empty?

If it was nearly full after you went 200 miles from the last fillup, I'd suspect vandalism while it was parked.

 

I would be, too. Going from fine to dead seems unlikely. BTW if you filled a car with diesel it would definitely start, though, because there's gas in the fuel lines and pump.

Should be very hard to fill with diesel as the bore is indeed bigger.

 

That's what I was thinking Tony. Surely there would be signs of tampering.

Also, if someone was that determined to vandalize your car then there are more destructive options that require less effort.

 

Sounds like a gas station issue. Most diesel pumps are nasty and the larger nozzle makes it hard to mistake.

This makes me want to keep receipts from fuel....

 

I like the way you think, a healthy dose of dealer mistrust.

Got to admit, that option did cross my mind as well.

 

I'm also in N.Va. Out of curiosity, which dealer did you take it to and do you recall the last station you filled up at? If it was a station issue there would surely be others on the road with the same issue.

 

It is true that diesel fuel pumps usually have a larger-diameter dispenser so you typically would have to try very hard to pump diesel fuel into a gasoline engine vehicle that has a restrictor in the fuel tank inlet.

I would smell the fluid to see if it smells like gasoline, diesel, or ??

I agree that if the fuel was diesel, the car would have likely shut down shortly after starting up. Perhaps the fuel was just slightly contaminated?

In any event, the likely repair should be to pump the remaining old fluid out of the tank using the car's fuel pump and connecting the fuel rail to a hose - then refuel with gasoline. If the car works at that point, then I would accept the mechanic's diagnosis.

I would then suggest that you should file a claim with the fuel station that you last bought fuel from after you have gotten a repair invoice which documents the mechanic's findings.

I really doubt that vandalism is involved. Tampering with the fuel tank via the locked door is difficult and there are much easier ways to vandalize your car - kick a door with a steel-tipped boot, run a key or knife edge along the paint etc etc.

 

If it was me I would get a sample of fuel if possible.
Probably they are claiming diesel due to color of fuel.
You know what gaso looks like.
ULSD I am not sure but maybe it is red dye?
In any case, if you had a sample you could sniff or even analyze.
The only thing comes to my mind is the Toyota coolant is red.
But I cannot think how that gets into gas tank.
Is this a Toyata dealer? I am in NOVA too.

PS_ you are not telling us gaso brand or anything which makes me wonder if no-name.