Wrong fuel on the A6
Wrong fuel on the A6? Do not restart the engine. If you are in a live lane, get clear and call 999 first. Otherwise call 01293 248666 — we drain on site. From just £89 misfuel callout fee.
A local number, not a local building
The number at the top of this page is answered by the people who send technicians to Kendal. That is what the word local is doing here. It is not standing in for a depot, because Wrong Fuel Kendal does not have one — the van comes to LA8 and LA9 and the work happens where you are stood. Call 01293 248666.
| Road | A6 |
|---|---|
| Section we cover | Kendal to Milnthorpe and north over Shap |
| Junctions and landmarks | Kendal, Heversham, Milnthorpe, Holme and and northward Shap Summit |
| Fuel stops on this stretch | Milnthorpe and Kendal |
| Cost | From just £89 misfuel callout fee, quoted in full before we travel |
| Hours | 24 hours, every day |
Why wrong fuel happens on the A6
The A6 is the old north road and still the M6 diversion. When the motorway closes at Shap, this road carries the traffic, all of it on an unfamiliar route and filling wherever it can.
The nozzle-geometry point applies here as everywhere: an unleaded nozzle drops straight into a diesel filler neck, while a diesel nozzle is usually too wide for a petrol one. On a road like this, where a large share of drivers are part-way through a long leg and filling somewhere they have never filled before, that asymmetry shows up as a steady run of petrol-in-diesel jobs.
Roadside safety, in order
- Do not restart the engine On a live carriageway this matters more, not less. A restarted engine turns a drain into a possible pump and injector job.
- Hazards on, get out on the nearside If you are on a hard shoulder or a verge, leave by the passenger side and stand behind the barrier, up the bank, away from the traffic.
- Call 999 or National Highways on 0300 123 5000 first if you are in a live lane If the vehicle cannot be moved off a running lane, that call comes before ours. Then call us.
- Call 01293 248666 Tell us the junction or the nearest marker post, the vehicle, and which fuel went in. You get a price before anyone travels.
- We drain and flush on site Where it is safe to work, the job is done where the vehicle stands. Where it is not, we say so rather than turning up and charging you to find out.
If it is not safe to work where you are
There are stretches of the A6 where draining at the roadside is not a sensible thing to do — a live lane, a blind bend, no verge. We will tell you that on the phone rather than after arriving, and recovery to somewhere workable is the right answer in those cases. Being told honestly costs you nothing; being told on arrival costs you a call-out.
Where the damage actually occurs
Not in the tank. The tank is just where it starts. Damage happens at the high-pressure pump, which relies on the fuel itself for lubrication and has very tight tolerances, and then at the injectors downstream of it. Reaching either requires the engine to have run, which is why a car coasted to a halt on the forecourt is almost always a call-out and nothing more.
Once past Ambleside there is nowhere to buy fuel until Keswick, so a mistake made in Kendal or Windermere is usually discovered a long way from anywhere useful.
Services along this route
Areas on or near this road
What people actually said
4.8 out of 5 from 2,190 Trustpilot reviews. Two themes dominate the positive ones — how fast someone arrived, and how calm they were about it.
The recurring negative is price. Publishing that alongside the answer seems more useful than hiding it: From just £89 misfuel callout fee is the call-out, the total is quoted before a technician moves, and there is no charge for being told on the phone that this is a job for a workshop.
Questions we get asked
What happens to the old fuel?
It leaves with us as controlled waste under a waste transfer note. It is not tipped, and it is not resold to you.
Do you cover all of LA8 and LA9?
Yes, from one rota — so being at one edge of the area rather than the other changes the arrival window, not the price.
How long will I be waiting?
Arrival depends where you are across LA8 and LA9 and what is already running. You get a realistic window on the call rather than an optimistic one.
Can I just top it up with the right fuel?
No. Dilution does not fix contamination, and driving to a filling station to try it is the mile that turns a drain into a repair.
Is there an out-of-hours surcharge?
The call-out is the call-out. Whatever the total is, you hear it on the phone before anyone travels.
Do I need to stay with the vehicle?
Usually yes, so we can hand it back to you running. If you cannot stay, say so on the call and we will work out how to do it.
Who you are dealing with
Wrong Fuel Kendal is a service by Forecourt Assist. Forecourt Assist is a trading name of Fuel Fixer Ltd, company no 08520551, a company of Fuel Fixer International. Registered at Fairway House, Portland Road, East Grinstead, RH19 4ET. Fuel Fixer International is owned by Stockbridge Capital Holdings.
Across the Fuel Fixer network
Wrong Fuel Kendal is one of the brands operated by Forecourt Assist. The full directory is on the operator site.
- Wrong Fuel Maryport — Maryport and the Solway coast
- Wrong Fuel Middlesbrough — Middlesbrough
- Fuel Fixer Scotland — Scottish coverage
- Wrong Fuel Maryport — Maryport and the Solway coast
- Forecourt Assist — the complete network directory
- Fuel Fixer International — the operating group
- Stockbridge Capital Holdings — group owner
Background reading: Misfuelling — Wikipedia.