Petrol in Diesel tank

Bebop

I've just filled my car with petrol, the problem is its a diesel,
I had to get it towed home but the driver said that there is a guy who will come out to your house, drain the tank, clean the lines etc and get you going again,

I've looked in the golden pages but can't see anybody who offers this service, has anybody heard of this guy? I'm in Dublin 24

zod

Did you drive it much after you filled it ? ..

If you get a length of hose you could get a syphon going into another car .. get as much as you can out then refill with diesel .. a little petrol in a full tank of diesel will do no harm.

Hagar

zod wrote:

If you get a length of hose you could get a syphon going into another car

DO NOT DO THIS!!! The other car won't run any better on the mix.

michaelm

the solution lies with a combination of both previous replies - siphon out the mixture (assuming the tanks was not absolutely empty) - suffer the loss of the petrol/diesel mixture - and refill the car with diesel - emphasis here is on the word Fill. to weaken the new mixture. There is absolutely no need to clean the fuel lines or filters, filling with diesel will dilute the petrol so much it will have no affect

311

My dad done this before christmas ,the garage replaced the fuel pump as part of the repair.

zod

Hagar wrote:

DO NOT DO THIS!!! The other car won't run any better on the mix.

Don't be so alarmist .. if the car was empty when he filled it, then the car has 99% petrol.. which would not damage a petrol car.

if the mix was more equal then obviously "insert common sense here" he would have to get rid it elsewhere.

The important question here is if he drove it after filling.. which if he did untill it stopped .. then the situation is a bit more difficult.

Bebop

The car is a Toyota D4D diesel, I have been told that a toyota dealer will charge between €250 to €300 just to empty all the petrol out and put about €10 of diesel in, this would include proper disposal of the petrol/diesel contents of the fuel tank, it was also suggested that driving the car may have damaged it in some way..

My understanding is that running a diesel on a petrol/diesel mix does no harm, in colder climates truck drivers put in about 10% petrol to stop fuel from freezing

Hagar

zod wrote:

Don't be so alarmist .. if the car was empty when he filled it, then the car has 99% petrol.. which would not damage a petrol car.

if the mix was more equal then obviously "insert common sense here" he would have to get rid it elsewhere.

I'm not being alarmist. The advice you gave was reckless in the extreme. You made no reference to any ratio in the mix. I don't think you even gave it a thought. You just said basically "stick it in another car". A great way to end up with a destroyed engine inthe second car. Were you going to compensate the poster if this happened? I think not.

To suggest that anyone let a diesel go down to 1% of the tank is also rash. 1% of a 35 litre tank is just over 1 coke can of fuel. Letting a diesel run dry and airlocking is something anybody who knows anything about diesel engines would never do.

Please don't give advice unless you are 100% sure.

zod

Hagar wrote:

I'm not being alarmist. The advice you gave was reckless in the extreme. You made no reference to any ratio in the mix. I don't think you even gave it a thought. You just said basically "stick it in another car". A great way to end up with a destroyed engine inthe second car. Were you going to compensate the poster if this happened? I think not. .

I think you were .. you assume the guy has no common sense .. would read a post and simply obey it without a second thought. I ommited to say syphon the fuel into a petrol car if the fuel is 95%* petrol because I was assuming some common sense.. who would put a substantial mixture into another car?

Hagar wrote:

To suggest that anyone let a diesel go down to 1% of the tank is also rash. 1% of a 35 litre tank is just over 1 coke can of fuel. Letting a diesel run dry and airlocking is something anybody who knows anything about diesel engines would never do.

I never suggested that he run the car to 1% of his tank -don't be so literal, if like a lot of people he filled the tank when the fuel light was on .. then
1. The petrol added to fill the tank created a mix which would be fine for a petrol car.
2. Similarily once 99%* of the fuel has been removed, the small amount of petrol left would not damage a diesel car when filled with diesel.


*an approximation for literalists

Hagar wrote:

Please don't give advice unless you are 100% sure.

whatever :rolleyes:

Mr.Diagnostic

Hagar wrote:

Please don't give advice unless you are 100% sure.

This part of Hagar's reply is correct and also applies to all the above posts.


The fact is that the delphi common rail system as fitted to the D4D can be seriously damaged by running with even a small amount of petrol in the tank.

gyppo

Mr.Diagnostic wrote:

This part of Hagar's reply is correct and also applies to all the above posts.


The fact is that the delphi common rail system as fitted to the D4D can be seriously damaged by running with even a small amount of petrol in the tank.

As the man said..

CR diesel pumps run at about 22000psi, and depend on the lubricity of the diesel fuel - even small amounts of petrol or other impurities can result in severe damage to the pump and downstream components.

gyppo

gyppo wrote:

As the man said..

CR diesel pumps run at about 22000psi, and depend on the lubricity of the diesel fuel - even small amounts of petrol or other impurities can result in severe damage to the pump and downstream components.

This post is spot on.

Don't take the chance with newer diesel engines.

zod

Hands up.

I was wrong .. apologies all round.

crosstownk

Last year - one of the guys in work half filled an Avensis D4D (2006) with petrol. I drove it up to the filling station and filled it to the brim with diesel, and then drove it for 20km with considerable difficulty. I left it over night and started it the next morning - ity started first turn but drove like a bucking bronco. So I sent it to the garage (aware of the implications to its common rail system) and had it drained and refilled with diesel. It has run perfectly ever since (about 20,000km on the clock now, IIRC).

So my advice would be to get it drained and refilled before attempting anything else. But there is a considerable chance that some components could be damaged. Common rail systems are a lot more sensitive than others.

JHMEG

A couple of things here:

"Empty" can mean there are still up to 15 litres of fuel left in the tank. And the OP never said it was empty either.

The only solution (assuming you realised your mistake straight away and didn't attempt to start the car) is to drop the tank out of the car, empty it out, and then wash it a few times with a bit of diesel. It's not that difficult a job, you just need to have the right tools and be careful.

unkel

Just to remind everyone of one of the most important points in the charter:

kbannon wrote:

Don't assume the advice given is correct. Maintenance tips offered by forum members, whilst helpful, may not necessarily be correct solution, so if in doubt then contact your nearest dealer or qualified mechanic. If you do something as a result of what you read here, you agree that boards are in no way liable for anything at all - you are responsible for your own actions

And obviously the person that gave the advice is in no way liable for anything at all either

Bebop

As I started this slanging match by asking advice about my petrol/diesel mixup, maybe I can end it by telling you how I got on.............
I had the tank drained as suggested, filled it with diesel and pumped out the fuel lines, the engine took a bit of turning to start but it has been going ever since, I am told that this happens to most diesel car drivers once and is the main reason why car hire companies dont hire out diesels, maybe they could come up with a nozzle like the unleaded petrol pumps to prevent this from happening

unkel

Looks like no damage was done. Fingers crossed!