Went off the road last night

euser1984

The recovery service must have been very busy last night because I couldn't get through; so, the van is still there.

The engine was acting really strangely like vibrating intensely and lack of power which must have taken my attention off the road. I'm wondering if there was petrol put into the diesel tank...it was the guy in the petrol station that filled it.

Luckily I don't think there is much damage....

I'm going to call the recovery truck but do I need to get the guards or someone to take a look incase the "petrol station" owner has to pay for it?

Thanks.

Greenmachine

Was any private property damaged?

CiniO

If wrong fuel was put in, petrol station possibly could be liable for it, but I honestly can't see how petrol station could be liable for you ending off the road.
\

BigCon

Could the "vibration and lack of power" be the tyres failing to get traction on the ice?

euser1984

Greenmachine wrote: »

Was any private property damaged?

Yes, just a fence though.

BigCon wrote: »

Could the "vibration and lack of power" be the tyres failing to get traction on the ice?

No, it was going on for a long time before that. The whole car was vibrating when it was at about idle.

Mech1

Sounds a bit like Traction Control trying to sort the road conditions.

Kevhog1988

what speed were u doing?

christy02

euser1984 wrote: »

Yes, just a fence though.



No, it was going on for a long time before that. The whole car was vibrating when it was at about idle.

I have put petrol in diesel tank couple times before (i know I don't learn!) On all occasions I have put about 6-10 euros in before realising and then topped up with diesel. Not so much as a cough any of the times.
If he filled it with petrol then you would have noticed when paying as would have been more expensive?
Anyway if he filled then probably wouldn't run at all.

Sorry about your accident btw.

roadsmart

Was there a reason that you didn't think of calling the guards at the time of the accident?

Mar4ix

If you have receipt, you could see what fuel went in to your van. how far did you drive after filling station ?

Vibration could be caused by number reasons, .. bulge on tyre, bad dual mass clutch, bad timing (skipped timingbelt) , also one of number sensors went faulty , snapped conrod (seen myself in action) ... and number other reasons could make vibration .

vectra

roadsmart wrote: »

Was there a reason that you didn't think of calling the guards at the time of the accident?

There is always one. :rolleyes:

Maybe you should change your username to smartAr$e

roadsmart

vectra wrote: »

There is always one. :rolleyes:

Maybe you should change your username to smartAr$e

What do you find objectionable in my question?

GTDolanator

roadsmart wrote: »

What do you find objectionable in my question?

The OP never mentioned being injured and the only fatality was a fence post!

Why the hell would he call the gaurds!?

roadsmart

GTDolanator wrote: »

The OP never mentioned being injured and the only fatality was a fence post!

Why the hell would he call the gaurds!?

He just asked should he call them now, so why wouldn't he think of calling them then? It's an accident, what's the problem? They could have arranged for a tow at the time.

professore

It could be a tyre bulge. I had that once and the car vibrated like crazy.

euser1984

Please don't answer this vectra. I would like to keep this on topic as it's an important issue. I haven't called the recovery man yet.

So, are people here saying that it's unlikely the petrol caused the problem?
It was nearly empty of diesel and was just filled up in the garage. I noticed the power draining and it was chugging (like the clutch was not controlled properly or one of those new drivers not using the clutch properly and violently throwing the car forward and back) a lot.

I first noticed it in 5th gear and then switched down to 4th which made it ok for 20 secs or so. I put it back into fifth then and same problem. I changed to fourth and the problem was in every gear then.

The car idle went down to below what it normally is also when starting....maybe something to do with the cold weather?

mr_edge_to_you

euser1984 wrote: »

So, are people here saying that it's unlikely the petrol caused the problem?
It was nearly empty of diesel and was just filled up in the garage. I noticed the power draining and it was chugging (like the clutch was not controlled properly or one of those new drivers not using the clutch properly and violently throwing the car forward and back) a lot.

Did you confirm that there was actually petrol in the tank?

Henry Ford III

Were you eating toast?

vectra

euser1984 wrote: »

Please don't answer this vectra.

Why not?

Did you get a bang on the head or something?
You must have clicked why the question was asked about why did you not call the Gaurds last night.

Just wondering with all this questioning about the garage filling with petrol.
Did it dawn on you to take off the diesel cap and have a good whiff of what might be in the tank?
Petrol does smell different to diesel.

I am sure if there were a significant amount put in you would smell it.

Also I am assuming as today is Sunday you are probably off work,

I can only also assume you were low on diesel last night and so put some in ( or petrol)

If you were that low on diesel and put even €20 in I can only imagine your engine would have stopped long before you had the off.

visual

Crashing is your own fault. You damaged someone's property so you should inform the garda. Although I doubt the fence owner will come after you, but they are entitled to be reimbursed for damage to fence.

Call tow truck you need to recover van anyway.
Get your mechanic to check out van if there is petrol in it you will have to follow up with garage for engine.damage repair but not the crash.

Del2005

GTDolanator wrote: »

The OP never mentioned being injured and the only fatality was a fence post!

Why the hell would he call the gaurds!?

AFAIK any crash has to be reported to the Gardai and your insurance company, even if you are not claiming.

GreeBo

Any strange fuels in yourself at the time op?
just a question that i reckon the guards would ask.

Breffnigolfer

roadsmart wrote: »

Was there a reason that you didn't think of calling the guards at the time of the accident?

What a completely pointless post. There is no necessity to call the Gardai unless there is a personal injury.

Breffnigolfer

Del2005 wrote: »

AFAIK any crash has to be reported to the Gardai and your insurance company, even if you are not claiming.

Says who?

Del2005

euser1984 wrote: »

Please don't answer this vectra. I would like to keep this on topic as it's an important issue. I haven't called the recovery man yet.

So, are people here saying that it's unlikely the petrol caused the problem?
It was nearly empty of diesel and was just filled up in the garage. I noticed the power draining and it was chugging (like the clutch was not controlled properly or one of those new drivers not using the clutch properly and violently throwing the car forward and back) a lot.

I first noticed it in 5th gear and then switched down to 4th which made it ok for 20 secs or so. I put it back into fifth then and same problem. I changed to fourth and the problem was in every gear then.

The car idle went down to below what it normally is also when starting....maybe something to do with the cold weather?

If the van was nearly empty and was filled with petrol it wouldn't have got far from the pumps, once the clean diesel in the pipes was used the van would have stopped. Could be badly washed diesel that caused the problem with the van but regardless of what was put in the tank it has nothing to do with you driving into the fence.

kerry4sam

euser1984 wrote: »

The recovery service must have been very busy last night because I couldn't get through; so, the van is still there.

The engine was acting really strangely like vibrating intensely and lack of power which must have taken my attention off the road. I'm wondering if there was petrol put into the diesel tank...it was the guy in the petrol station that filled it.

Luckily I don't think there is much damage....

I'm going to call the recovery truck but do I need to get the guards or someone to take a look incase the "petrol station" owner has to pay for it?

Thanks.

~ Was the check-engine light on for any time before this happened?
~ Would the spark-plugs be an issue here with the lack of power... ?

Similar happened to me before with my last car and just about made it home before an uncle drove his car before-me up to the garage incase mine cut out. Mechanic changed spark-plugs and car all good again afterwards.

Engine light was on that car for years too btw! Not long after this incident I went off and bought a new car for myself. That incident didn't help my nerves at all.

Just a random suggestion not mentioned above (maybe for good reason though)
Hope you are okay OP,
kerry4sam

kenmccarthy

Bottom line is.........whether you put diesel -petrol-jagermeister or avonmore supermilk into the tank it didn't cause you to crash into fence. Tyre bulge is like suspect for symptoms described but it could be any number of things

sh1tstirrer

This has to be a windup surely.

porsche boy

kerry4sam wrote: »

~ Was the check-engine light on for any time before this happened?
~ Would the spark-plugs be an issue here with the lack of power... ?

Similar happened to me before with my last car and just about made it home before an uncle drove his car before-me up to the garage incase mine cut out. Mechanic changed spark-plugs and car all good again afterwards.

Engine light was on that car for years too btw! Not long after this incident I went off and bought a new car for myself. That incident didn't help my nerves at all.

Just a random suggestion not mentioned above (maybe for good reason though)
Hope you are okay OP,
kerry4sam

It's a diesel, spark plugs not included.

The Backwards Man

I know it's Christmas and I'm a wee bit hazy but I'm struggling to join the dots from the engine running rough to the van running into a fence.

Stheno

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I know it's Christmas and I'm a wee bit hazy but I'm struggling to join the dots from the engine running rough to the van running into a fence.

The op said the engine running rough caused him not to pay attention to the road