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My 2006 Prius Died Today...

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by vinnysca, Sep 17, 2010.

  1. vinnysca

    vinnysca New Member

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    My 2006 Prius died this morning. I've never taken it to the dealer since buying it brand new until today. It was running great without any problems until this morning. It turned out, that the Exxon Mobil station that I routinely get gas from had DIESEL pumped into their 87 octane tanks the day before.

    I was not alone. There are many other cars affected by the gas station delivery company's negligence. Fortunately, the delivery company admitted to the mistake and I was advised to take my car in and get it fixed and to later submit all repair receipts for claims submission. How long till I get reimbursed is anybody's guess.

    Sad thing is, my car stopped recharging the batteries for some reason. I'm sure it is related to the diesel gasoline. The Toyota service manager made a note of the additional problem caused by the gas station's negligence. I was the 7th victim that came in to the dealership today.

    I'm bummed.

    Vince:(
     
  2. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Very sorry to hear about that.

    What will be done to your car? I assume that the diesel fuel will be pumped out of the tank and the fuel injectors replaced? Is any other work planned to be done?
     
  3. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    I'm no car techie so I have to ask: what are the ramifications of this? I've never heard of anyone pumping diesel into a gas car, intentionally or otherwise.

    I'm bummed to hear of your troubles, mostly because it sounds like it could happen to anyone.

    Keep us posted on the repairs.
     
  4. firepa63

    firepa63 Former Prius Owner

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    There is a post here on PC about a lady's daughter accidently pumping diesel into her Prius. If I remember correctly the repair cost was in the thousands. She was happy that her insurance company paid the bill. You can do a search on PC to see if you can find the post.
     
  5. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Yeah that tends to happen when the engine cant run :p

    Yes of course it's related to the diesel in the fuel.
     
  6. vinnysca

    vinnysca New Member

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    So far, my car has not been worked on yet. The Toyota dealership here in NH where I live is super busy and I was told that they plan to remove the fuel tank, empty the gas, flush it, etc. Gosh, I hope it works like it did before this catastrophe.

    Vince
     
  7. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Hmm, it would probably be easier just to disconnect the fuel line where it connects to the fuel injector rail, direct the fuel line into a suitable container, then run the fuel pump (the Toyota diagnostic laptop can activate it) to pump the diesel out. Then pump a couple of gallons of gasoline into the tank, and run the pump more to flush that through the fuel line.

    I hope they are not going to physically remove the fuel tank, seems like unnecessary work.
     
  8. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    There is a silver lining here. The diesel will soak into any deposits in the combustion parts of the engine and when it is finally started with gasoline that diesel will "explode" off the deposits, leaving the engine nice and clean. The mechanics at a place I used to work used this technique often to clean engines. There should be no damage to the fuel injectors. There may be damage to the O2 sensors and the cat.
     
  9. sub3marathonman

    sub3marathonman Active Member

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    I would really want a new fuel tank unless Toyota has tested the effect of diesel on the bladder. How does anybody know that the diesel hasn't started to break it down, and will only show up months or even years later. In my opinion, you had a gas tank that only had gasoline in it, now you've got a gas tank that has had diesel in it too, therefore they should put a new one on.
     
  10. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    petrol in a modern diesel is trouble but diesel in a petrol.....never know it will be a problem like this i always expected petrol in a diesel would be really bad
     
  11. vinnysca

    vinnysca New Member

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    Hey guys,

    I spoke with my dealer mechanic and he said that the catalytic converter is covered under warranty up to 8 yrs or 100K miles. And that the HYBRID drivetrain is covered up to 10 yrs and 100K miles. So I should be covered. Thing is, who knows if the car will run the same and will the oil company cover any future repairs that may come up months or years later? I smell a class action lawsuit in the works.

    I also just heard that there's so far, 250 PLUS cars affected by this fiasco! I just got my FREE rental car from the oil company today. Geez, they really want to put an end to this ASAP. I'm sure they don't want a class action lawsuit.....which I think will happen.

    Vince
     
  12. vinnysca

    vinnysca New Member

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    My Prius is back!!!!!!!!!

    Got an unexpected call from the dealer, telling me that my car is ready to be picked up! When I got there, I test drove it and it's back to working order! All that was done to it was that the fuel tank was drained and re-filled. The maintenance guy said that it started right up and when they hooked up their computer to my car, there were NO issues reported by the computer. WOW! I feel soooooo fortunate! He said that the catalytic converter was fine and in working order.

    I'm soooo happy!

    Vince
     
    2 people like this.
  13. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Hi Vinnysca, do you know what the concentration of the diesel was in it. Was it regular gas with diesel contamination (at some percent) or was it more like straight diesel?
     
  14. jburns

    jburns Senior Senior Member

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    The bladder probably helped in this case. There was probably several gallons of gas still in the Prius that diluted the diesel fuel. Same thing with the service stations tank. The "double dilution" probably helped limit any damage to the Prius engine. I any case you dodged a bullet so be happy.:cheer2:
     
  15. Flaninacupboard

    Flaninacupboard Senior Member

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    Haha, really? misfuelling is close to a billion pound industry over here! Get used to it as the germans push more diesel cars onto you...
     
  16. CrouchingBruin

    CrouchingBruin Junior Member

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    OK, coincidentally, I have the same exact problem. My wife had driven our 2001 Prius to the bank yesterday, and when she got back in to drive home, it wouldn't start. Guy sent by AAA jump started it, but halfway to the dealer, it died (it sounded like it was running on batteries only), so I had it towed the rest of the way.

    Anyway, just got a call from the service tech at the dealer (Manhattan Toyota, btw, owned by NFL QB John Elway) saying that there was diesel in the fuel tank. They want to charge me $1480 to replace the fuel tank, clean out the lines, & replace the spark plugs. Does that sound reasonable? He said something about the diesel ruining the seals, which is why the tank had to be replaced. And they don't have a fuel tank on hand, won't be coming in until Tuesday. But, like, what are my options? Tell them no and tow it to someone else to have them try & clean out the tank?
     
  17. vertex

    vertex Active Member

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    Sound like overkill. If you are stuck with the bill, I would just flush the tank and the fuel lines. Diesel is less volatile then gas, so it should not damage seals that can handle gas. The opposite may cause a problem. If you must replace the tank, get a used one. One plug should be pulled, if it is fouled, they will probably all need to be changed. You can tell the dealer to just flush the tank. If they refuse, take it elsewhere, and don't give them any business in the future. A small amount of diesel won't hurt anything, and will be burned off. Old cars become oil burners. Burning diesel is like burning oil.
    A friend of mine had this happen to her this year on her Lexus. The dealer just flushed the tank and lines and changed the plugs.
     
  18. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Just wondering, but did you figure out how the diesel got into the tank yet?
     
  19. CrouchingBruin

    CrouchingBruin Junior Member

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    No. I do know my wife filled up the tank before she went to the bank, so I'm going to go to the gas station this morning and ask them if anyone has reported getting diesel instead of regular unleaded in their gas.

    I did talk to a mechanic friend of mine last night. He said to find out how much the fuel tank itself cost. He said if the part costs $200, then it might be worth replacing just because the price difference would be worth the peace of mind. But if it costs $500, I might consider just flushing the tank. He said flushing the tank is fairly labor intensive because they have to remove the tank anyway to adequately drain it.

    <sigh>I hate big car expenses.
     
  20. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Overkill. Just have them flush it once or twice using the fuel pump as Patrick outlined above and it should be fine.