Dr. Ferdinand

After making a point to the dealer of not filling up the car, they had done so anyway, I requested this only because it is safe to assume that some 16 year old will be filling it up and along the way pull out a doobie and put gas in the car instead of diesel (which of course happened but maybe not under that scenario). I no longer want to buy this car, I do however want them to order me a new one, only because I am woried about what the long term effect is by running gas through a diesel engine, which cant be good. We have purchased many cars from this dealership in the past including a another 05 CDI in January of this year. Both cars optioned out to 60K. Has this happened to anyone if so how was it resolved and what kind of damage can gas do to a diesel engine? Thanks.

saffrontiger

First off, everyone makes mistakes. This however is clearly unacceptable especially at a MB centre. If this was my new CDI, I would absolutley not accept delivery of this car. I am sure you will hear several opinions on accidental petrol fillups in a diesel tank. There is probably no clear and concise answer on future problems with your CDI motor. That's why dealerships are in insured with property and E&O insurance.
Hope this somewhat helps.
Jay

TPAbnz

I couldn't agree more. Also, the vehicle's service history will be documented with whatever the fix may be. You'll be stuck with that entry when you sell the car, if someone (i.e. a dealer taking this on trade) takes the time to look it up.

I wouldn't accept a new car as damaged goods before it even leaves the dealer lot!

Good luck with it.

Brav

I would wait for a new car... Or take it with a substantial discount 5-8K additional, after its fixed. And also a free 100K warranty.

It will be cheaper for them to order you a new car and sell the blunder mobile to some poor chump.

john doe iii

I would definately not take possession of the car and demand a new one. I would also request a larger discount off the new car due to your inconvinience.

khaug

No way would I accept delivery of this car under any circumstances. What an unfortunate happening!

saffrontiger

I have a great idea. Ask them for a loaner E55 AMG while you are waiting for your replacement CDI.

DWP

Just out of curiosity, how much gasoline (if any) got run through the CDI before somebody noticed the mistake? If the answer is "not much" or "none", then it may not have done any particular harm. That's not really the issue, though. If you don't feel comfortable taking the car because of even the slightest possibility of damage, you shouldn't have to take it.

Somebody in the UK has actually come up with an audible "diesel only" warning device that fits inside the fuel filler door of a diesel car. It assumes, of course, that the person with the hose is familiar with the English language. Whoever put gasoline in your CDI probably needed more than an audible warning, though; a dope-slap or two might have been in order.

http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/diesel-...em-review.html

mbbodytech

That's hard to believe! I understand your position totally, and for myself, I wouldn't accept the car either.

Squeeze them as hard as you can, you should be able to get something out of thge deal.

cdiken

Probably drove it until it ground to a halt.

What a MORON....it says DIESEL on the red ring at the filler neck.

It is a testament to how un-diesel like the car is.

The sad part is the dealer probably had gas on-site, but not diesel. I got mine with a full tank, the dealer had to drive it to a nearby gas station to fill it.

The whole reason your dealer sent the car off-site for fuel was because they didn't have a diesel tank. Your dealer's in-house jackass was lost on this fact, so that reinforces the fact that he probably ran it until it quit.

There is likely to be SERIOUS DAMAGE to the common-rail pump. It may not fail now, but in 40,000 miles from being out of tolerance.

The tolerances are EXTREMELY TIGHT in the high-pressure fuel system.

Accept this car at nothing less than a $13,000 discount from MSRP.

KB

Brian_I.

I like Brav's suggestion of a massive discount, guaranteed fix and 100k mi/7 year warranty otherwise get another one and threaten to go elsewhere if they don't give you a discount and a loaner.

TPAbnz

Exactly . . . did the idiot say oooops at fill up or try to drive off. I think the latter.

dacbiet

In the old days of the 5 cyl 300D with its mechanical (?) diesel injection pump, in a dire situation one could add a quart of motor oil to a full tank of gasoline and drive slowly to the nearest service station. The service station would need to be capable of siphoning the gasoline out of the tank, refilling it with diesel, and then manually priming the injection pump with diesel.

I have no idea how the new CDI's injection pump works; it's probably electronically controlled and more delicate than the vintage 1980's M-B diesels.

cdiken

Read your signiature line and thought, cows are pretty cool.

Cows take grass and turn it into steak and leather. MMMMM steak.

dacbiet

The part about the cows comes from late last year, when a tree hugging vegan vilified us for having leather interiors in our cars.

SAguirre

This happened to my mother's 1992 300E Turbo Diesel that she drove around town when we were living in South America. My mother DOES NOT PUMP GAS (even to this day) and the idiot attendant filled the car with gasoline. My mother got a few miles away from the station and then stalled on a very busy street in Buenos Aires.

The local dealer picked the car up and flushed it, there was NO damage to the car. The embassy used that car for many years after that and an embassy employee bought it and is still driving it to this day with no diesel pump issues. However, this was totally different technology and the dealer had nothing to do with the error.

So, since this was a brand new car, I would also demand a new one. I am sure that the car can handle this error and not be affected in the long term, but if that happened to me I would still want another car.

Keep track of the VIN just in case the car shows up around later!

Steve

SAguirre

When I was a young teen-ager I had a little Vespa scooter. My sister borrowed it and used it all day. Since she was trying to be nice (for a change) she even offered to fill it up. This is a big deal when you are 13 and on a very small budget. She asked me what to put in it so I said "put the cheapest stuff in" she went to our near by station and filled it up with DIESEL! Pretty slick for a 16 year-old sister!! Don't you think?

One must remember that in other countries other than the US, Diesel is usually the cheapest fuel by far. I was only 13, but I thought that my sister would know that Vespas don't use diesel fuel . . . I should of known better.

This thread reminded me for this event . . . the good old days . . .

Steve

alewifebp

What is the most shocking is that the dealer caused the error. In this case, as others have suggested, I would not accept the car, and demand a new one. I don't think that is unreasonable, and I would think if you talked with the GM of the dealership they would agree.

saffrontiger

After your sister put the diesel in the scooter did it grumble and clatter like a Harley?

Dr. Ferdinand

I would like to thank everyone who posted a reply to help me with this problem. I am for sure going to ask a them to order me a new car and get loaner for the troubels. (hopefully an SL65 ) I drove the car for about 25 miles and from the get go something did not seem right, I am assumeing that the car had a decent amount of diesel when it was shipped so I dont know the ratio of gas to diesel, nonetheless it was sputtering and stalling before I dropped it off. The car litteraly has about 100 miles on and the mechanic is saying that it might be the fuel pump, because if gas had run through the engine there would of been warning lights and the car would not start. I personally do not believe them when they say it is the fuel pump. Anyhow if they really believe that they can resell it but in any event I would be extrelmely dissapointed if they did not order me a new one. Thanks again!

TPAbnz

So it's now titled in your name?

Dr. Ferdinand

Yes, the title is in my name.

silberrosa

This can be repaired and there will be no long-term damage. I would see what the dealer can do as this was unfortunate. However, I think the group is over-reacting.

MBenzNL

oldskool diesels could run on gas without being harmed to much (if harmed at all).

Newskool diesels (such as the CDI) are not able to stand any gas at all and if thise new CDI has run on gas before the engine was even broken in - I would not take it - end of discussion.

Let your dealership print out the WIS bulletins about what to do with CDIs that ran on gas...the bulletin will go as far as telling the dealer to replace everything up tp the gastank and fuellines simply because the CDIs can NOT stand gas at all.

MBs that leave the factory - leave the factory with an empty tank...when doing a factory pick up, one has to pay for filling up the tank on the MB premisses in order to make it to the gate...so it is save to presume that your car had 90-95% gas and only 5-10% diesel...

I would NOT take that car - I wouldn't even take it if they offered me a 5-8k discount...

greetingz,

TPAbnz

Unless this is some new procedure, my car was filled with diesel (courtesy of MB) when I picked it up in November, '04.