help needed!! diesel in the water

[crally]

i know it sounds impossible but yes i put diesel into the water (that is used for sink) holder, it needed a key to be opened and i just did it. i cant believe it, it is my first day of driving my new VW. i was with a friend i asked her did she see any other tank with lock and she said no and the worst thing i did not check mysel. when i discovered my mistake i got such a shock. i rang the owner and he said that it was not going to blow up! i need to get about 30 litres of diesel out of the water tank, save it if at all possible and then hopefully clean the water tank. does anyone have any ideas that might make me feel any better.

[toomanytoys]

I think you may win the "axle nut award" this year....
Silly person........

I would say.. you will never clean the water tank or pipework etc (not if you want to use it even just for washing up) so expect to have to replace that....

[crally]

I think you may win the "axle nut award" this year....
Silly person........

I would say.. you will never clean the water tank or pipework etc (not if you want to use it even just for washing up) so expect to have to replace that....

i know i would win huge awards but i could not feel any worse at this moment.......................

[pionte]

ok ,yes it is a silly mistake.... but dont worry too much, It could have been much worse! petrol in a diesel engine will cost £100's , Drain the tank, I personally would not try to save the diesel fuel, Why risk contaminating the main fuel supply and risk damaging the engine? flush the tank through with detergent, may take a few attempts, eventually it will be clean, maybe dont brush your teeth with the water for a while!.
Good luck.

[Willoughby]

pop in to any boat chandlery pick up a filter for around £10.

http://www.force4.co.uk/567/Force-4-Fue ... l-5--.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Kev

[crally]

thanks for your answer. it was my first day with the camper and i am worried!! what detergent should i use? i have googled this for hours and have not found anything.

[T'Onion]

Your not the first , read this

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... water+tank" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[a1winchester]

Hey! We all make mistakes. Some of us just don't own up to them.

Don't feel so bad, just think about the many hours of happy camping and touring you will be having with your new van. That should make you smile.

If you had put water in your fuel tank (and that has been done before!), that would have far more serious consequences.

Regarding what detergent to use, if you aren't going to be drinking the water from the tank for a long time, or ever, use washing up liquid and warm water. You are going to need to flush through a lot of times. It would be better to do it with the tank off of the vehicle if you can. Then you won't be pumping diesel through the plumbing and can give it a good slosh about. (Assuming that you haven't pumped it through already).

In the distant future, if you are successful and think that the water isn't tainted any more, you can flush the system with milton or other similar steriliser, and try it on the kids (joke!). You should be able to see / smell / taste if the oil is gone.

Welcome to the club by the way!

[Mocki]

*sigh*
dont ever use miltern , it will wreck the pump, its not designed to be used with metal. Use puriclean , its cheaper than miltern and designed for the job.

i would be taking the tank off, cleaning it with good old washing up liquid and very hot water as many times as needed, replace the pipes from the tank to the kitchen and the filler pipe , and count yourself lucky you havent put water in the derv.

its a plastic tank im guessing so it will not retain the derv, so after a good dose of cleaning it will be fine.

[andisnewsyncro]

You're not the 1st, I had a mate who put petrol in his wife's van's water system and only realised when he ran the tap to make a cup of tea

Just be careful with all of the other top up tanks too, it has been mentioned before about people putting screenwash in the cooling system (the screenwash is under the carpet in the cab ) Brake/clutch fluid is behind the instrument cluster, oil is behind the number plate flap. If in any doubt ask, it's the best way to learn.

Mocki's right about Milton steriliser too, it will mess with your pump. Your tank will probably have a drain plug underneath (depending on what conversion) but don't try and recycle the diesel, it probably has water in it now, just chalk it all up to experience

[crally]

hi, well still a bit shook up after my stupid mistake. i was advised to take to a car wash n get the guy to power hose water into the tank. he said he would and give van a wash as well. i was in the van. i saw him putting in some liquid by using a bottle with a bit cut out of it to funnel it in. dont know what is was but is has made part of the lid white. he also melted the hose that goes from the outside to the tank. this was discovered today as when i filled it up there was water dripping down under the van. god could it get worse. the hose looks like an old hoover/vacum tube so i hope this does explain the dripping water. i also put some dishwasher clearer (used for cleaning out the dishwasher not the dishes!) into the tank and filled with water. how big is the tank normally in a westfalia as i seemed to be filling it forever! now i need to get a new pipe fitted. I HAVE NEVER TURNED ON THE PUMP SO I HOPE I HAVE LOCALISED THE DAMAGE. any ideas how much a new tank would cost??

and thanks for the help and not telling me that i was stupid. i still feel extremely bad for doing this to my lovely new camper that has been kept so well and is an '89. the guilt is killing me.....