we now live in the french alps and have a 06 defender, we filled up with diesel, went over 100kms including very steep hills, then the defender lost power as we were coming down the mountain. we had it towed to a land rover dealership who said we put petrol in the engine. we have a diesel receipt and have been back to the fuel station, where they confirmed the pump used also serviced the lorry pumps.
the dealership took one morning to correct the said petrol in the tank problem and charged us 950€ to get our defender back.
Coventry said we would never had got so far and it would have taken a week to sort the tank out, but now the defender is in france, Land rover france has to sort it out. Land rover france said that if their garage said we put petrol in the diesel tank, then thats what we did. Any ideas where we go from here? (car insurance company not interested!)

 

What was the 950 Euros for?

Petrol in a diesel system will result in injector pump failure due to lack of lubrication. Repair would involve draining tank, flushing fuel system, fuel filter replacement, separator draining, and for the big amount, injector pump overhaul. What does the invoice show as done?

Who fuelled the car? There's a big difference between the smell of petrol and diesel. Only a very inexperienced person would make such a mistake.

 

I had the opposite thing happen in Ogdensburg NY, in 2013.

We were on our want back to Ottawa; I wanted to take advantage of the lower fuel costs, so I topped off my tank at a service station there. My LR3 2007 almost immediately started misbehaving. Engine started running rough, Engine light when on then silences.

Talking with my mechanic, he says that it happens all over the State, all the time.

 

I don't know what the European laws are, so you need to talk with someone familiar with them. But yeah, petrol in diesel, if it's a lot of petrol (how much did you put in) will cause a lot damage.

 

Diesel fuel in a petrol engine usually doesn't damage anything. Might smoke a lot if it will even run. Drain and refill should take care of it.

At a garage I worked at as a teenager someone brought it a 280zx with diesel in it. It actually ran, just not well.