Help: Petrol in diesel engine

Celticfire

A wee boo boo at the pump, :mad: Is this a big problem? What has to be done to sort it out and will it cause any damage? Not the most mechanically inclined so any info would be great...

crosstownk

Don't start or run the engine. It all depends on your car and how sensitive the diesel pump is to contamination. You will need to get the tank drained and a new fuel filter fitted. Call your regular mechanic or better still the AA or RAC if you are a member. Hopefully it shouldn't cause any damage.

kluivert

So long as you havent switched on the ignition you should be ok. There shouldnt be any petrol in along the fuel lines, hopefully.

Just go and get the petrol drained from the tank and when empty run diesel through it.

What year and make is the car.

Borzoi

Celticfire wrote:

A wee boo boo at the pump, :mad: Is this a big problem? What has to be done to sort it out and will it cause any damage? Not the most mechanically inclined so any info would be great...

How much Diesel was in the tank? how much petrol did you put in? How big is the tank?

Celticfire

Borzoi wrote:

How much Diesel was in the tank? how much petrol did you put in? How big is the tank?

Tank was allmost empty, 60 ltrs was put into tank. The car was brought home no problem but the penny dropped today when the car was started.

Lex Luthor

:eek:

Celticfire wrote:

Tank was allmost empty, 60 ltrs was put into tank. The car was brought home no problem but the penny dropped today when the car was started.

:eek: how far did you drive?
what happened when you started it today?

kippy

The car was started-that could be a big issue.....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml?xml=/motoring/2005/08/27/mfdies27.xml

I think a lot will depend on the year and model of your car....
Kippy

Celticfire

Lex Luthor wrote:

:eek:
:eek: how far did you drive?
what happened when you started it today?

About 3 miles, It started ok but then it was spluttering a little bit, I thought it might have been something to do with the weather....

Celticfire

kippy wrote:

The car was started-that could be a big issue.....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml?xml=/motoring/2005/08/27/mfdies27.xml

I think a lot will depend on the year and model of your car....
Kippy

You just made me feel a whole lot better......... NOT!!!


AAAAARGGGGGGHHHHHHH

Ernie Ball

Why on earth do they not have differently shaped and incompatible nozzles/inlets for petrol and diesel? Would it have been so hard to agree on this given the consequences of screwing up?

When the US switched to unleaded petrol, the cars had smaller inlets so you couldn't mistakenly insert the nozzle from a leaded pump. And in that case, the only thing that would be damaged is the catalytic converter not the entire engine!

Bartonprince

Heres an idea that someone good can come up with.

you could have a censor inside the fuel pump nozzel. and also inside the hole for the nozzel to go in. If your car is Petrol unleaded, and you try to pump diesel into it, the censors won't allow it and sound a buzzer and an onscreen display on the pump will tell you you're an idiot.

Or something leike that, now bring that idea back to your engineering friends and see what they say. Would probably save people millions on Damaged engines.

Guy:Incognito

Ernie Ball wrote:

When the US switched to unleaded petrol, the cars had smaller inlets so you couldn't mistakenly insert the nozzle from a leaded pump. And in that case, the only thing that would be damaged is the catalytic converter not the entire engine!

The nozzel is bigger on a diesel pump, but that only stops someone putting diesel in a petrol car. It can't be bigger on both.

kippy

Not sure if its worth the money or the potential embarassment:
http://www.dieselguard.com/

Tobias Greeshman

My father is a mechanic and I used to work with him, I've seen this happen so many times. Normally is people putting diesel in petrol engine.

Okay get it to a mechanic pronto, the tank will have to be drained and since the petrols being pumped into the engine the fuel filter will have to be changed and all petrol sucked out of the fuel pipes.

If your lucky getting diesel into the tank and bleeding the fuel pipes and replacing the fuel filter may be enough to get the engine started. Just hope that nothing such as injectors, glow plugs need replacing.

Celticfire

Fuc@ing force of habit to grab the green nozzle..............

kluivert

What year is the car and what make is it.

Big problem as said before. Means flushing out all fluids in the car, removing the head and cleaning out the cylinders and fuel lines fuel filter and the rest.

Sorry mate, not good news, but is fixable though.

Guy:Incognito

Bartonprince wrote:

Heres an idea that someone good can come up with.

you could have a censor inside the fuel pump nozzel. and also inside the hole for the nozzel to go in. If your car is Petrol unleaded, and you try to pump diesel into it, the censors won't allow it and sound a buzzer and an onscreen display on the pump will tell you you're an idiot.

Or something leike that, now bring that idea back to your engineering friends and see what they say. Would probably save people millions on Damaged engines.

Or they could just have the diesel pumps seperate altogether. Instead of say, having 4 bays (2 pumps on each side) with 2 of each why not have the 4 petrol pumps in the first 2 bays in a 2:2 formation then the next 2 bays can be exclusivly diesel, again 2:2. So you end up with (1)(2) (3)(4) (5)(6) (7)(8) Where 1-4 are petrol and 5-8 are diesel instead of ow where its 1, 3, 5, 7 are petrol and 2, 4, 6, 8 diesel (or whatever variation)

Also have it clearly colour separated (Maybe a big box with "diesel" or "petrol" on the ground beside each pump.

Much cheaper than modifying every pump in the world and every car.

Celticfire

kluivert wrote:

What year is the car and what make is it.

Big problem as said before. Means flushing out all fluids in the car, removing the head and cleaning out the cylinders and fuel lines fuel filter and the rest.

Sorry mate, not good news, but is fixable though.

'05 Rodius, only have it a few weeks

Bartonprince

Stekelly wrote:

Or they could just have the diesel pumps seperate altogether. Instead of say, having 4 bays (2 pumps on each side) with 2 of each why not have the 4 petrol pumps in the first 2 bays in a 2:2 formation then the next 2 bays can be exclusivly diesel, again 2:2. So you end up with (1)(2) (3)(4) (5)(6) (7)(8) Where 1-4 are petrol and 5-8 are diesel instead of ow where its 1, 3, 5, 7 are petrol and 2, 4, 6, 8 diesel (or whatever variation)

Also have it clearly colour separated (Maybe a big box with "diesel" or "petrol" on the ground beside each pump.

Much cheaper than modifying every pump in the world and every car.

Yeah but... my way is fancy.....

I've e-mailed Shell Oil about it!

Tobias Greeshman

SteKelly wrote:

Also have it clearly colour separated

Petrol has a green handle, Diesel has a black handle. How could it be any better colour coded really?

cargrouch

silas wrote:

Petrol has a green handle, Diesel has a black handle. How could it be any better colour coded really?

Make petrol cars green and diesel cars black

To the OP, hard luck man, I bet that was the biggest "Oh Sh!t, what have I done" moment of your life.

alias no.9

It's been asked already but what make and model is the car, the extent of any damage will vary depending on the engine?

The somewhat reassuring news is that if you only drove 3 miles, it's unlikely that you have done too much damage. The fuel filter on most diesel cars is ~1 litre in capacity, plus the volume of the lines so very little petrol will have got as far as the injector pump. Your best bet will be to get a mechanic to drain the tank and lines, flush diesel through the lines to clean them out and replace the fuel filter. Run some injector cleaner through the injector pump (you just put the suction hose from the pump into the can and start the engine) and touch wood, everything should be ok.

alias no.9

Celticfire wrote:

'05 Rodius, only have it a few weeks

Ok, we're talking about a common rail injecton system so the potential for damage is big. Get a mechanic to it asap. Only having driven 3 miles still means any damage will be minimal. Removing the head will probably be completely unnecessary. Once you get the lines cleaned through and filter replaced etc, it will probably just need a good run to burn off any petrol in the system.

Celticfire

cargrouch wrote:

Make petrol cars green and diesel cars black

I bet that was the biggest "Oh Sh!t, what have I done" moment of your life.

Yup, somehow I've a funny feeling that it won't happen to me again.....

I hope....

Longrangedriver

I was under the impression, from a so called pro that a small amount of unleaded in a diesel tank would prevent waxing or a buildup in tank or engine.

If I'm wrong, hoping I'm not as car is still going after 85k Km's on clock on 04 Mondeo Zetec 2.0 Tdci, someone professional please advise.

Ernie Ball

Stekelly wrote:

The nozzel is bigger on a diesel pump, but that only stops someone putting diesel in a petrol car. It can't be bigger on both.

No, but one can be square and the other can be round.

peasant

Longrangedriver wrote:

I was under the impression, from a so called pro that a small amount of unleaded in a diesel tank would prevent waxing or a buildup in tank or engine.

If I'm wrong, hoping I'm not as car is still going after 85k Km's on clock on 04 Mondeo Zetec 2.0 Tdci, someone professional please advise.

Yep, that's the kind of advice an "oldtimer" would give you ...

In the old days, before they had well refined Diesel, in winter time it would coagulate or cristallize (a bit like honey) and clog up everything.
In those days, pre-hightech fuel injection pumps, people used to mix up to 1/3 petrol in their diesel during winter.

These days you're supposed to get "winter diesel" automatically from autumn onwards that is supposed to be safe as low as -20 Celsius.

Having said that ...my camper clogged up at -8 :mad:

But for modern fuel injection systems (common rail, Pumpe-Duese, etc) it is definitely NOT wise to add petrol ...these pumps rely on the diesel for lubrication and petrol breaks the lubricating film. Furthermore petrol ignites at totally different pressures and temperatures than diesel and distorts the engine management.

So don't ...

Guy:Incognito

Ernie Ball wrote:

No, but one can be square and the other can be round.

yes but that would involve changing either every petrol pump and car or every diesel pump and car in the world. Plus gettign all the manufacturers and customers of pumps and cars to agree and change.

mike65

As a rule the petrol is dispensed in a green hose and derv in a black one so is a bit damned foolish to mix them up and diesel drinkers usually have a notice inside the flap warning of which fuel to use. One can only do so much to help the silly.

Mike.

Matt Simis

Car specific of course, but Ive read about a guy that topped up his Diesel with petrol in a Mitsubishi Pajero in the BioDiesel forums. It ran "ok", then he filled it a few more times, mix of BioDiesel and Diesel. 2 refills later the power went way down on the Pajero, but because he had put so many different fuels in there, he was posting to find out where to start troubleshooting! :eek:

Diesel engines are remarkably flexible, especially old ones.


Matt

unkel

Matt Simis wrote:

Diesel engines are remarkably flexible, especially old ones.

Make that "Old Diesel engines are remarkably flexible"

Guy:Incognito

Matt Simis wrote:

Car specific of course, but Ive read about a guy that topped up his Diesel with petrol in a Mitsubishi Pajero in the BioDiesel forums. It ran "ok", then he filled it a few more times, mix of BioDiesel and Diesel. 2 refills later the power went way down on the Pajero, but because he had put so many different fuels in there, he was posting to find out where to start troubleshooting! :eek:

Diesel engines are remarkably flexible, especially old ones.


Matt

Would you be willign to do that to yours though?:)

HungryJoey

This happened my da back there a while ago in his new Passat TDI. He filled it up with Unleaded not thinking, Got about 1/2 a mile down the road until it concked out on him. He couldn't get it to start then it hit him " S**T! I put petrol in this yoke " He rang a pickup, brought it to a local garage they cleaned it all out and not a bother. Cost only a couple of quid. ( No more then 200 IIRC ) Not one problem since. So it really depends where ya go with it and what the damge is, But he drove it as far as he could till it died out so id' imagine you're ok too if you got 3miles.

Ill get a contact for you 2moro for where he got his passat done. He was thrilled..

Hj

Guy:Incognito

HungryJoey wrote:

This happened my da back there a while ago in his new Passat TDI. He filled it up with Unleaded not thinking, Got about 1/2 a mile down the road until it concked out on him. He couldn't get it to start then it hit him " S**T! I put petrol in this yoke " He rang a pickup, brought it to a local garage they cleaned it all out and not a bother. Cost only a couple of quid. ( No more then 200 IIRC ) Not one problem since. So it really depends where ya go with it and what the damge is, But he drove it as far as he could till it died out so id' imagine you're ok too if you got 3miles.

Ill get a contact for you 2moro for where he got his passat done. He was thrilled..

Hj

Did they give him money back for the petrol that probably ended uo in one of their cars?

Our man in Havana

silas wrote:

Petrol has a green handle, Diesel has a black handle. How could it be any better colour coded really?

Except in the USA they are reversed. Green is Diesel and black is petrol. :eek:

kippy

What does everyone think of the device at http://www.dieselguard.com/

Our man in Havana

You would look like a retard pulling up at a forecourt with that thing blaring!

JackieChan

I drove for maybe 10 years with petrol cars and then moved to a diesel.
I was(and still am) so paranoid about putting petrol in by mistake I aways made doubly sure what pump I was working with.
The easiest thing to do is just fill the tank once/twice a month. Far less likely to make this mistake than if your stopping for a quick splash and dash.

MercMad

You wont do any long term harm to the engine by putting petrol in but you will need to have the fuel drained. This is easier on modern diesels as they have an electric fuel pump also. Open the lines, switch on the ignition and have a bigt container to hand !

No big deal, done it many times !

Alun

I've seen some diesel pumps (not sure where, might have been in the UK) that have a big hinged metal flap over the nozzle which you had to deliberately lift to even take the nozzle out of the pump. Seems about as far as you would need to go, personally. My diesel car was an ex rental car, so was festooned with stickers when I first bought it, which I left on for the first few months. It's second nature now.

AMurphy

Bond-007 wrote:

Except in the USA they are reversed. Green is Diesel and black is petrol. :eek:

Hmmmm, about here Green is Diesel (if you can find it) and any other color is petrol, plus the Diesel pump tends to seperate and out of the way, so larger trucks can actually reach it without hitting the roof... and the price immidiately gets your attention, it is most expensive and the nozzle is a different diameter so not go into modern cars.

Ba$tard

Actually....

Some diesel engines can cope with such an event, Skoda is the leader in it actually with their slight modifications to the censors in the normal VAG 1.9tdi.
If when you fill your tank mistakely with petrol and it is very close to empty, and I do mean very close to empty...the car will actually run fine, just a bit hotter. and will have a fair loss of torque. Experts recommend when this does happen that the car is never driven full throttle or above 50% rev range to redline. To that end, you need to carry a 5/10 litre jerry can of diesel with you and let the car run dry, obviously, when you fear its close to empty, dont be driving it, have it idling over in your driveway. When the car starts to backfire when air starts to mix with the fuel in the line, turn off the engine, fill the engine will at least 5 litres of diesel, 10 or more best and start the engine.

It may take 20 or more turnovers to get the diesel into the fuel rail before the engine will start. Ideal to have a battery charger(jump start) at hand too.

As far as your car...sorry I dont know.....Can you actually drive it right now? Does it idle over evenly?

maidhc

My mother did it accidently with the Avensis D4D before. Only put in €5 (less than 1/10 tank) when she realised what she was doing. Keary's (Main dealer) recommended the car not be stated but be filled with diesel to the brim first.

Roen

A mate of mine filled his diesel Audi A4 with petrol while he was up the country once on the way to his girlfriends house. He just pulled into the farm yard when all of a sudden the engine began screaming and the revs went straight into the red. He got a little panicky and switched off the ignition and pulled out the key, but nothing happened, the car still ran on with the engine screaming away with a steady stream of black smoke coming from the exhaust. The girlfriends brother ran out to see what the commotion was all about and immediately pissed himself laughing when he realised what had happened.
To make matters worse the neighbours in the next farm down saw the smoke and must have feared the worst because they called the local fire brigade. About 10 minutes later two fire engines arrived at the house ready for action. Cue about 10 people standing around laughing at my mate.
The car eventually conked out after running in the red for about 20 minutes. Long story short he got the engine checked out by a mechanic and incredibly it was fine. He continued to drive it for another 18 months with any problems.
So to the OP, unlucky man, but at least you didn't look like a complete tit.

Ba$tard

Roen
your mate should read his manual to see where his fuel cut-off switch is.....

Roen

Yep he sure should have, but the thing is he gets a bit flustered. He could have just stuck it in gear and stood on the brake and then let the clutch out quickly. I think.

pa daly

The other week I put 5 euro petrol into my 01 passat tdi before I realised what I was doing. Luckily there was a garage next door. He told me to put 30 euro diesel in on top of it and it will be fine. He autually told me it would do the nngine good Anyway after reading this thread I started to get worried I might have damaged the engine so I asked in a few other garages and they all said it would do no harm.

By the way I noticed no difference in the performance other than the revs going up a bit at ftraffic lights a couple of times in the days after.

Id like to hear yer opinions on this

Celticfire

Ba$tard wrote:

Actually....

Some diesel engines can cope with such an event, Skoda is the leader in it actually with their slight modifications to the censors in the normal VAG 1.9tdi.
If when you fill your tank mistakely with petrol and it is very close to empty, and I do mean very close to empty...the car will actually run fine, just a bit hotter. and will have a fair loss of torque. Experts recommend when this does happen that the car is never driven full throttle or above 50% rev range to redline. To that end, you need to carry a 5/10 litre jerry can of diesel with you and let the car run dry, obviously, when you fear its close to empty, dont be driving it, have it idling over in your driveway. When the car starts to backfire when air starts to mix with the fuel in the line, turn off the engine, fill the engine will at least 5 litres of diesel, 10 or more best and start the engine.

It may take 20 or more turnovers to get the diesel into the fuel rail before the engine will start. Ideal to have a battery charger(jump start) at hand too.

As far as your car...sorry I dont know.....Can you actually drive it right now? Does it idle over evenly?

That seems to be the way my car reacted. All sorted out, petrol just drained out, running fine but did take a few turnovers to get going.......