Diesel in water tank

ArunAlec · Nov 14, 2017

Many years back my then girlfriend thought she'd top up the radiator in her Audi, but mistook the oil filler cap for the radiator! A quick oil change and all ok.

campandfly · Nov 14, 2017

I keep my water filler key with my funnel and hose in the boot.

bigmac77 · Nov 14, 2017

B J G said:
TSi owners will have to be aware of Diesel in the fuel tank issue as well or has that been done already?

TSi owners will have to be aware that petrol in the water tank will probably dissolve it.

T6 CFO · Nov 14, 2017

BerndRos said:
In Tunisia I stopped for fuel & hopefully water. Instructed the attendant to fill the fuel tank only, went off with my water carrier looking for water, having taken the Cali water cap off.

Came back with water, noticed way over 100 litres of fuel registered on the pump, it took a split second from thinking I had been overcharged, to realisation that he thought it was an XJ12 with 2 fuel caps..!

That was unlucky but I can see how it happened. None of us are going to do it to our own vehicles but attendant in Spain was looking to fill mine up my water tank until I directed him to the fuel cap. Easier to miss on a RH drive as door may remain shut.

Thread makes it pretty clear that cleaning it out is the devils own job but prevention with location of the key is the answer. Mine stays tucked away with the safe key and my bike lock keys.

Mike

campandfly · Nov 15, 2017

I was filling up in Spain got distracted for a moment and wandered round the back only to find the attendant had a pair of pliers in his hand trying to make the pump nozzle fit by trying to pull out my Fuel Angel :stop

. He had not lined it up properly, as it was rural he had probably never seen one before. Moral of the story is always fill up yourself or supervise it. Its just too risky especially when overseas.

OConnors · Mar 5, 2018

Tom Rae said:
I should have said the link in the thread suggested by Jen has changed a little bit. Useful article though, these things can get buried in time. Hopefully this will help some other poor soul.The item concerned is about halfway down the link

HAVE YOU FILLED YOUR WATER TANK WITH DIESEL? Fear Not for our BioMagic Fresh Water Tank cleaner will solve your problem!BioMagic Fresh Water Tank Cleaner, Will Treat up to 150-litres twice! This amazing product will remove the taste and smell of diesel from your fresh water tank if it has been contaminated with fuel. As long as you follow the instructions below and on the bottle your tank will be as good and as fresh as new after the treatment. As far as we know, we are the only company in the UK that makes and supplies it. The alternative is to strip out the tank and all pipes that have been contaminated and replace them? Please print the instructions out below so that you know what else to buy then you could be starting the treatment with these while waiting for Royal Mail to deliver it by First Class Mail.

This really works, I have tried it with 100% success, rinsed it loads before and gave it two treatments but completely gone. No trace, we did drain the tanks 30 mins after it was filled with diesel and the tap wasn't used...luckily VW quoted approx £2,000k for a new tank.

Ksar-el-kebir · Mar 5, 2018

WelshGas said:
That's not a problem with the vehicle but the Person using the Filler Nozzle, something to do with Shoe Size.

Exactly! If you have concerns that the vehicle is not familiar to the person dispensing the fuel, don’t leave them unsupervised. This is Rule 1. There is no Rule 2!

JohnGuppy · Mar 6, 2018

You should not leave your water cap key on your key ring , make a large object on your key clearly marked and keep with tow bar key in glove box then this will not happen ever and mark the fuel flap all VW transporters T5-T6 fuel fillers are in the same place
How may of you drained your water tank last week in cold weather ?

Bellcrew · Mar 6, 2018

John Guppy said:
You should not leave your water cap key on your key ring , make a large object on your key clearly marked and keep with tow bar key in glove box then this will not happen ever and mark the fuel flap all VW transporters T5-T6 fuel fillers are in the same place
How may of you drained your water tank last week in cold weather ?

I keep my water tank filler cap key on the heater remote control ring, water tanks drained in December, refilling this week, camping at the York CMC site soon.

WelshGas · Mar 6, 2018

John Guppy said:
You should not leave your water cap key on your key ring , make a large object on your key clearly marked and keep with tow bar key in glove box then this will not happen ever and mark the fuel flap all VW transporters T5-T6 fuel fillers are in the same place
How may of you drained your water tank last week in cold weather ?

I don't get this. Seeing as you don't have to unlock anything to open the fuel cap then no problem having the water tank key with all the others. So no need to handover keys to anyone.

Alistair Hardy · May 30, 2022

Tom Rae said:
A friend has borrowed my van and mistakenly put diesel in the water tank. A disaster but I am looking for helpful suggestions as to the actions I can take to remedy this, any help appreciated.

Don't you have a gun?

Hawthorn37 · May 30, 2022

Solution to not doing it is to take the water cap key off your car keys and keep it in the glove box. We’ve done this ever since a friend noted the possibility. We keep the water key with the locking wheelnut in a bright orange pouch so we can find it.

Cali Phillip · May 30, 2022

Hawthorn37 said:
Solution to not doing it is to take the water cap key off your car keys and keep it in the glove box. We’ve done this ever since a friend noted the possibility. We keep the water key with the locking wheelnut in a bright orange pouch so we can find it.

Mine lives tied the the water filler funnel.