Small amount of petrol in diesel — a Teesside answer
A small amount of petrol in diesel still matters on a modern engine. The risk comes from running it, not from the splash itself — so leave the key out. Call 01293 248666.
What counts as a small amount
People mean different things by it: a splash before they noticed, a couple of litres, the first click of the trigger. What they are really asking is whether they can get away with driving it. On a modern diesel the honest answer is that you are betting a pump on it.
The cheaper bet
A drain costs a known, fixed amount and takes about an hour. A high-pressure pump and a set of injectors is a workshop job measured in hundreds or thousands. The asymmetry is the whole argument for leaving it where it is and calling, even when the amount really was small.
If you have already driven off
Pull in somewhere safe and switch off as soon as you notice knocking, smoke or a loss of power. Tell us how far you went. Most short distances around Teesside are still recoverable with a drain and a new filter.
Around Teesside
Teesside calls are more commercial than almost anywhere else in the network: process-plant fleets, port and freight traffic, and contractor vans. Drivers in a works vehicle they do not normally take out are the single most over-represented group in misfuel work. Shift patterns rather than rush hours, plus a summer coastal peak towards Redcar and Saltburn on the A174.
That applies across the villages we cover, including Haverton Hill, Hart, Dalton Piercy, Thorpe Thewles, Carlton, Redmarshall, Bishopton, Stillington, Preston-on-Tees, Aislaby, Kirklevington and Hilton.
- Leave the key alone This is the one that decides the price. Wrong fuel sitting in a tank is a drain; wrong fuel that has been through the engine is a different job.
- Do not push or coast it Moving the vehicle can slosh contaminated fuel toward the pickup. Leave it where it is unless staying there is unsafe.
- Make yourself safe Hazards on. On a forecourt, tell the cashier — they will almost always let you stay put once they know a drainer is coming.
- Call 01293 248666 Tell us the vehicle, which fuel went in, roughly how much, and whether the engine ran. You get a full price before anyone sets off.
- We drain, flush and prime Tank emptied, lines flushed, fresh fuel in, system bled and run up before we go.
- You drive away Most jobs finish on site in about an hour. The old fuel leaves with us under a waste transfer note.
Why the engine matters more than the litres
People assume a splash is fine and a full tank is a disaster. It is the other way round. Wrong fuel sitting in a tank is inert — it is a drain. Turn the key and it travels: lift pump, filter, high-pressure pump, injectors, and every stage it reaches adds a component to the bill. Five litres burned is worse than fifty litres left alone.
Downtime on a commercial vehicle costs more per hour than the job itself, which is why draining on site rather than recovering to a workshop is usually the only answer that makes commercial sense here.
The cost, honestly
People expect the number to depend on the amount of wrong fuel. It barely does. It depends on how far the contaminated fuel travelled through the engine.
| Call-out | From just £89 misfuel callout fee |
|---|---|
| Engine never started | Usually the drain and flush only |
| Engine run briefly | Drain, flush, often a new fuel filter |
| Driven some distance | May need the high-pressure pump or injectors checking — a workshop job |
| When you hear the price | On the phone, before anyone travels |
Questions we get asked
Do you cover all of the TS postcode area?
Yes, from one rota — so being at one edge of the area rather than the other changes the arrival window, not the price.
Is there an out-of-hours surcharge?
The call-out is the call-out. Whatever the total is, you hear it on the phone before anyone travels.
What about a van or a hire car?
Same job. With a hire car, ring the hire company too — some policies cover a misfuel drain and it is worth knowing before you pay.
What if it is not safe to drain where I am?
Then we tell you that on the phone rather than after arriving. Being told honestly costs nothing; being told on arrival costs a call-out.
Do you work at night?
Yes, around the clock, every day. A large share of misfuels happen after dark, so the rota reflects that.
What people actually said
4.8 out of 5 from 2,190 Trustpilot reviews. Two themes dominate the positive ones — how fast someone arrived, and how calm they were about it.
The recurring negative is price. Publishing that alongside the answer seems more useful than hiding it: From just £89 misfuel callout fee is the call-out, the total is quoted before a technician moves, and there is no charge for being told on the phone that this is a job for a workshop.
More local guides
- How to dispose of old petrol in Teesside, legally
- Does insurance cover a misfuel? A Teesside guide
- Stockton-on-Tees misfuel guide: roads, villages and real costs
- The Redcar misfuel guide: first hour to back on the road
- Ingleby Barwick misfuel guide: roads, villages and real costs
- The Normanby misfuel guide: first hour to back on the road
More on wrong fuel in Teesside
For coverage by postcode district, see the postcode index; for the roads we cover, the road guides; and for every town and village by name, the area index.
Who you are dealing with
Wrong Fuel Teesside is a service by Forecourt Assist. Forecourt Assist is a trading name of Fuel Fixer Ltd, company no 08520551, a company of Fuel Fixer International. Registered at Fairway House, Portland Road, East Grinstead, RH19 4ET. Fuel Fixer International is owned by Stockbridge Capital Holdings.
Across the Fuel Fixer network
Wrong Fuel Teesside is one of the brands operated by Forecourt Assist. The full directory is on the operator site.
- Wrong Fuel Dumfries — Dumfries and Galloway
- Wrong Fuel Carlisle — Carlisle and the border
- Wrong Fuel Whitehaven — Whitehaven and Copeland
- Wrong Fuel Dumfries — Dumfries and Galloway
- Forecourt Assist — the complete network directory
- Fuel Fixer International — the operating group
- Stockbridge Capital Holdings — group owner
Background reading: Misfuelling — Wikipedia.