Forecourt Assist were recently called out to a repeat offender of a 'misfueled' vehicle. We attended this vehicle several weeks back but the customer realised her mistake on the Forecourt and called us. This time though she did not realise her mistake. She had driven the vehicle several miles before the vehicle came to a stop. She called us after realising her mistake of 'filling up with the wrong fuel'. Our technician attended the Ford Cmax and went to open the bonnet but the bonnet cable failed and had previously been snapped. The cable had snapped from under the bonnet so their was no way of opening the bonnet. We recovered the car to a local garage (Sacriston Car Care, County Durham) where their vehicle mechanic assisted in opening the vehicles bonnet. Forecourt Assists technician was confident enough to get the bonnet open but the problem would still be there after we had completed the 'wrong fuel removal'. The only way to get this open was by removing the front bumper to get a clear view of the bonnet catch. Eventually the garage got the bonnet catch open and the garage fitted a new lock and bonnet cable. Forecourt Assist removed all the mixed fuel from the fuel tank and re-flushed the engine. The customers car was then put back together and given back to her. She was 100% happy with the work carried out on both parties.

Another Diy Fuel Drain that has gone wrong. Well here we have a transit van that was the pride and joy of the two brothers as it is used as a part camper van when they go away dirt bike riding. 4 days earlier the brothers had accidentally put £15.00 of petrol into their diesel transit van. the had been running the vehicle with the wrong contaminated fuel hoping it would be ok. it was not until day three when the vehicle started to show signs of contaminated fuel when it started with a smoking engine and juddering round the street.
it was at this point that the boys realised they were not going to ignor putting the wrong fuel in their car after all.
at this point they tried to syphon the fuel from the vehicle themselves. when they realised that they could not do this and had no specialist tools to drain the engine down either they called Forecourt Assist for a fuel drain. We attended within 1 hour and got the vehicle fully drained and started, unfortunately although the fuel system was repaired there had been damage to the fuel injectors due to the wrong fuel and the vehicle would not stop smoking, we did some diagnostic on the injectors for the boys , so now because they had decided not to get the transit fuel system drained they now have an extra bill for £1000

We were called out to this vehicle in County Durham. On arrival the technician noticed 2 traffic wardens around it. The technicians first thoughts was that it was getting a big yellow fine sticker on the windscreen as the vehicle had broke down on double yellow lines.......in fact this was not the case but the vehicle did belong to the traffic wardens. They had been out working when they returned to their vehicle which did not start as good as it should have. When they got the vehicle engine started they drove until it came to a stop that's when they realised their mistake of "misfueling" their work vehicle. The traffic warden who "filled up the vehicle with the wrong fuel" has his own vehicle at home which is a petrol car giving him this reason for "filling up with the wrong fuel". The traffic warden was more angry that he had to pay for this out of his own pocket because the company said it was his fault. By the time "Forecourt Assist" received the call it took 15 mins to get to the vehicle and 25 mins to complete the job. These traffic wardens went on with their day.

Forecourt Assist where called out over the weekend to a vehicle that had came to a stop on the A1 Motorway. The Highway Agency had the vehicle safely coned off on the hard shoulder of the busy A1 Motorway. The reason for the vehicle coming to a stop was through filling up with the wrong fuel. We received the call and went to the job. The customer said it was a Merc Vito (medium height van) but on arrival Forecourt Assist were greeted with a large Merc Luton vehicle (pictured). The technician realised this was to large to recover with our vehicles to a safe location so called in a recovery company to assist moving the vehicle to a safe location. The recovery turned up within 20 mins and recovered it to a local service station where Forecourt Assist could perform the Fuel Drain. From the time of the call, from the customer to Forecourt Assist getting the vehicle back up and running took 90mins including the recovery operation. The customer, Mr Jens wrote " excellent service and so pleased Forecourt Assist had a procedure in place for this sort of situation, excellent service from both company's".

American holidaymakers caught out by pump Nozzle colours
Over a period of time we have noticed that our business has been most useful for our friends the Americans.

It is only recently that I have found out that over in united states that some of the pumps for petrol fuel actually have a Black pump handle. Over in the UK we all know that green is petrol and black is diesel but in America this is not the case.

very recently things have changed at some petrol filling stations as BP have started using a green pump handle for their diesel fuels, this is causing a petrol/diesel miss fueling problem

Hire cars do try to help all users of their hire vehicles by placing notices all over the car warning you of the fuel type. but as the picture shows it does not matter how many diesel stickers are applied it will not stop people putting the wrong fuel in their vehicles

This will enable you to carry on your journey and not have this misfuelling incident ruin your holiday

If you have filled up with the wrong fuel call Forecourt Assist on 0845 46 57 999. Covering UK, 24hrs 7 days a week.

Having many vehicles in your family could cause you to "misfuel".
This customer has petrol vehicles, diesel vehicles and a motorbike.
Swapping and changing from petrol and diesel caused this customer to "fill up with the wrong fuel" in his bike.

The most important thing to do is not to panic, Forecourt Assist Can attend your vehicle 24 hours a day and carry out a fast permanent repair to your vehicle, that will allow you to get on your way with minimal disruption
We will attend to any location apart from the motorway hard shoulder, if you are on the motorway you need to call your breakdown service to tow your vehicle to a safe location off the motorway. Then we will attend and carry out the fuel drain and get you on your journey in no time!


What to do if you fill your car with the wrong fuel and realise at the petrol forecourt
Firstly keep calm and don't worry as this is the easiest scenario that we come across as it is a'lot easier to fix your vehicle with the wrong fuel before the vehicle has been driven from the petrol forecourt. Forecourt Assist who will attend and take control of the moving of the vehicle and the fuel draining process to get you back on your way as soon as possible.