Petrol in Diesel car!!

[CeeJay]

Oh dear, oh dear, definitely having a senior moment as this morning decided to fill the car with diesel, however, for some reason my mind was on my petrol strimmer thinking I must get it serviced. The car already had just less than a quarter tank of diesel but I put in about 2 litres of petrol until I realised my mistake!!!! Continued to fill up with 40 litres of diesel on the premise that it would somehow weaken the petrol and mix it all up!!!

Do I need to take any further action or will it somehow be alright weakened down?

[Chancer]

What is the make model and year of your vehicle?

If its an older generation one like mine then you definitely wont have any trouble, from what you had said I estimate you to have between 45 and 5O litres of carburant (assuming you brimmed it) of which 2 litres of petrol.

A few years back I recovered about 40 litres of petrol with a bit of diesel in it from someone making the same mistake but who didnt react as quickly as you [;-)], tried it in a mower and it made too much smoke, tried it in my 2 stroke machinery and it didnt like it either so I resorted to doping the diesel in my car tank every time I filled the tank and remembered to leave space for it.

So my vehicle (older generation diesel) ran happily for a few year with 4.5 litres of petrol in a similar sized tank, better than that it felt more responsive and the economy inproved, well it would when you think of it I was adding abou 10% of free carburant!!

Unless someone more knowledgeable or a prophet of doom posts I think you can relax [:D]

[John Brown]

I agree with Chancer, if it knocks a bit keep topping up with diesel until its well and truely diluted away

The other way round and it would have been very costly !

Last person I know who filled up at the services on the way to the UK ended up paying out hundreds to get back on the road

They got as far as the slip-road off the service area but had to be recovered etc

[CeeJay]

I appreciate the votes of confidence................for now!!!!!!

Chancer, it is a 6 year old Kangoo with 72000k on the clock

[Yonner]

I did similar-  although with significantly more than 2 litres

of Petrol!!  - with a 2003 Audi some

years ago. Even  though a modern engine,

it coped after I brimmed the tank with diesel, the occasional sputter with the

first tank, then fine. As Chancer says, you should be safe.

As it happens, I recently put 45 litres of diesel  into an all but empty 21 year old petrol golf.

That took a lot more “ fixing.”

[ericd]

As explained above, no worries to be had. Fill tank to the brim with Diesel and you will be ok. Reverse operation or a lot more than a couple litres of petrol inside would have been costlier as you would have had to drain the tank.

[Clarkkent]

Doesn't it depend on whether or not the engine has conventional injectors or is common rail? A fuel injector engine will cope with mishaps like this but a common rail engine has electronically controlled injectors which operate at very high pressures and which are sensitive to factors such as viscosity. Perhaps someone with a more thorough understanding of Diesel engines can enlighten us. If the model has DCi or similar inits name then it will be a common rail vehicle.

[PaulT]

It can harm the sales in the fuel system as they will be designed for diesel and not petrol - petrol can attack the seals.

[John Brown]

Obviously the safest way to deal with the problem and not risk damaging the engine is not to start the vehicle at the forecourt and have the vehicle transported into a workshop to have the tank drained and rinsed out but if the car's been started any potential damage to the seals and or injectors could have already happened anyway.

Given in this case that it was a small amount of petrol diluted in a tank full of diesel IMO it's worth taking the chance for running it out of the system by keep topping up the tank diluting it even further. Injector require the lubricating properties of diesel so will fail if the mix was too strong.

I'm sure we will have an update on this one from the OP

[Chancer]

I have heard a lot of these stories re common rail diesels, I think its probably true when the whole tank is filled with petrol and the engine run until it dies, however I think a lot of garages also make hay while the sun shines and replace every expensive component that they can as a precaution.

I know that my mechanical injection diesel was missfuelled and then ran until it died, it was by my pal and the day I was due to buy the car, I must say that I was apprehensive about any possible pump damage but 100000 miles later and with the motor having done neaarly 300000 miles I would say that none was done.

Injector seals and pump damage from petrol? I can certainly see the latter if run at 100% petrol but at about 4%?? Dont forget that diesel and petrol only differ in how high up the fractionating tower they are drawn off in the refinery.

The fractionating tower bit was based on my technical college education over 30 years ago so I'm sure they dont do it in the same manner now before anyone corrects me!!!

[PaulT]

[quote user="Chancer"]

 Dont forget that diesel and petrol only differ in how high up the fractionating tower they are drawn off in the refinery.

[/quote]

That might be but I know that I do not like getting petrol on my skin as it dries it out like crazy whereas diesel seems to just leave an oily deposit.

[ericd]

Right, I have just spoken to my friend Nigel who works at the local SAAB garage. He has been in the business for 20 years and I trust all is says as far as cars are concerned.

If the volume of petrol is restricted to 2 litres, the OP should be ok assuming he fills his tank with pure Diesel and keeps toping it up with fresh Diesel at every opportunities. The petrol (Nigel says) will act similarly to an engine cleaning fluid that we normally add to the tune of 200ml to each tank full.

[John Brown]

Great, we nearly all agree that it should be safe to run the car until its consumed all the mixture

BTW Ericd I started as an apprentice vehicle fitter in 1965, you do the maths !

Having said that, it was once said you can forty years of experience or you can have one year of experience for 40 years

Hope I was the former

[ericd]

John, no direspect .....The OP needed reassurance and I just confirmed your own comments.

[PaulT]

[quote user="ericd"]John, no direspect .....The OP needed reassurance and I just confirmed your own comments.[/quote]

See Eric you should have known that John was an apprentice vehicle fitter - do not know how but you just should have.

[ericd]

[:'(] .......... I am sooooo sorry....

[CeeJay]

Thanks for all the comments chaps, and for taking the trouble to give expert advice. So far so good, I have driven it everyday so far and not a hint of a problem, actually, probably my imagination, but it seems to be running smoother!!!!

[Chancer]

That was exactly my experience, given that I probably used up the diesely petrol over 20 or so fill ups I am convinced of it[;-)]

I do however resist the temptation now of adding a little petrol from the same pump at the end of the fill up, people behind in the queue would get the hump and one day I would get the order wrong [:-))]

[John Brown]

[quote user="PaulT"]

[quote user="ericd"]John, no direspect .....The OP needed reassurance and I just confirmed your own comments.[/quote]

See Eric you should have known that John was an apprentice vehicle fitter - do not know how but you just should have.

[/quote]

You are right, as usual PaulT.

I could have said the after my name I have, I.Eng MIRTE  but that would have been just plain showing off

Mind you I won it in a raffle

[ericd]

[quote user="John Brown"]  I could have said the after my name I have, I.Eng MIRTE  but that would have been just plain showing off
[/quote]

..... No but it could have put and end to guesses and 3 pages of comments and most important, reassure the OP.

[quote user="John Brown"] ......Mind you I won it in a raffle   [/quote]

......Those are normally found free in boxes of CornFlakes, yours must be genuine.

 

[John Brown]

You and Paul may be pleased to know in a way you got your own back

I went to the Doctors this morning for my 3 monthly and happened to meantion that I was often getting up in the night for a pee

He gave me the Prostrate Examination, Now that brought a tear to my eyes

I promise to behave myself in future

[powerdesal]

I would imagine being prostrate for an examination is pretty normal - possibly even for a prostate check.

[John Brown]

Very good!

You would spell it wrong if you had just had it done

Still getting over the shock! Only went in for a repeat Script

Please explain the Vulcans / Powerdesal. How do they go together ?

BTW I have a couple of NATO Issue Sickbags from a Vulcan in my car ( un-used )

[Jonzjob]

My very first diesel was a Citroën BX Estate bought from Greenford Motors, W London and when I went to collect it they had very kindly given me a 1/2 tank of petrol. It had been fine when I test drove it, but when I drove it back to the office I was working in it was awful. I phoned them and took it back. It only just made it!

When they realised their mastike they drained the tank and washed it all out, but afterwards it was total rubbish! It had the endeering habit of suddenly accelerating!! One time was on the dual carridgeway West on the Oxford bypass when I had just changed down to 2nd behing a line of braking traffic!!!!! The garage finished up getting a reconned engine fitted. That was a load of pony poo too and I got rid of it and bought a new BX TZD Turbo Estate. A fantastique motor car!!

[powerdesal]

[quote user="John Brown"]Very good!

You would spell it wrong if you had just had it done

Still getting over the shock! Only went in for a repeat Script

Please explain the Vulcans / Powerdesal. How do they go together ?

BTW I have a couple of NATO Issue Sickbags from a Vulcan in my car ( un-used )

[/quote]

My last tour of duty in the RAF was as an Engineering Flight Commander on Vulcans at RAF Waddington. They have only a tenuous connection to the 'Powerdesal' moniker, that comes from the fact that my career subsequent to leaving the RAF was as a power and desalination engineer.