Petrol in a diesel car

neonman

Hi all

I had a bit of a brain fart this morning and put a bit of petrol in a diesel car around €3 worth.

I then topped it up with €50 diesel. Would such a small amount cause an issue? The car in question is a 1.9 VW Passat 2007.

Would letting it run down to around the half way mark and then topping it back up help?

Any advice would be great.

slimjimmc

I don't think about 2 litres of petrol diluted with about 38-40 litres of diesel plus whatever was in the tank (at least another 10 litres even with light on) will do any harm on that engine. Just keep diluting with more diesel.

JackHeuston

Happened to my dad as well, with his BMW. He put 10 € worth of gas while the engine is diesel. At a BMW dealership that was nearby they suggested to just dilute it with diesel as much as you can. Tank was almost empty so he just filled with diesel.

They also suggested to give the car a proper shake to make sure the gas dilutes as much as it can, I'm not sure if this will change anything but it sounds safer.

After years, no issues to the engine.

twin_beacon

Bishop Brennan, "It would completely ruin the car's engine."

galljga1

I filled my car from 'light on' to full TWICE.
On the first occasion, local guy who services my car towed me. He took great pleasure in telling me that he does one a week but that it was normally women.
The second time, I was in Cavan. The guy who was draining the tank told me that the previous week, he towed and drained a car, only to receive a call from the same guy ten minutes later at the nearby petrol station after he did the exact same thing again.

On the 'issue' side, I was shown the filter on the next service after the first time and it was unbelievably greasy, oily, black. No long term damage done.

Chemical Byrne

Pour some a couple of shot bottles of 2 stroke oil in before topping up with diesel. That is supposed to compensate for the lack of lubricity in the petrol

bucketybuck

It could do damage, but my opinion is that you will probably get away with it. As you have already said I would keep the tank filled/topped up for the next while so it is diluted as much as possible.

Other than that its just wait and see, there is little else you can do unless you wanted to drain the tanks and flush the system, but I wouldn't go to that length if it was my own car.

galljga1

JackHeuston wrote: »

Happened to my dad as well, with his BMW. He put 10 € worth of gas while the engine is diesel. At a BMW dealership that was nearby they suggested to just dilute it with diesel as much as you can. Tank was almost empty so he just filled with diesel.

They also suggested to give the car a proper shake to make sure the gas dilutes as much as it can, I'm not sure if this will change anything but it sounds safer.

After years, no issues to the engine.

Yeah, on that point, my car after getting it drained as much as possible and refilling with diesel conked out going uphill after not driving for a couple of days. It does separate when left to settle and was getting into the pump, injectors or whatever (not mechanically minded) causing it to conk.

JackHeuston

galljga1 wrote: »

Yeah, on that point, my car after getting it drained as much as possible and refilling with diesel conked out going uphill after not driving for a couple of days. It does separate when left to settle and was getting into the pump, injectors or whatever (not mechanically minded) causing it to conk.

Ah yeah that could happen. I guess OP will have to change filters at the next service, now that you mention that I remember my dad's doing that, but he just waited the service engine to turn on so it might have been a few months after the episode.

neonman

Thanks for all the replies so far.

I thought I'd never be the one to make the mistake but it was me this morning that did ! doh. Happy I spotted it pretty much straight away.

I'll keep it topped up for the next couple of weeks and hopefully that will be enough. Would a week or two of topping up the car do the trick? I know how long is a piece of string but would like to know when I am out of the woods with this one.

biko

Yeah, I'd say too that just keep it topped with diesel for 2 weeks should be grand.

pajero12

neonman wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies so far.

I thought I'd never be the one to make the mistake but it was me this morning that did ! doh. Happy I spotted it pretty much straight away.

I'll keep it topped up for the next couple of weeks and hopefully that will be enough. Would a week or two of topping up the car do the trick? I know how long is a piece of string but would like to know when I am out of the woods with this one.

What's the car in question?

neonman

pajero12 wrote: »

What's the car in question?

07 Passat estate 1.9

Faith+1

I could imagine the look Id get when paying for it. Hi...3 quid on number 1 and 40 on number 2 please.

pajero12

neonman wrote: »

07 Passat estate 1.9

Your fine, They say petrol can do a bit more damage to the newer common rail engines but with the older fuel injector type you will be fine, Top it up another once or twice, You needn't worry about shaking it, The fuel flowing in will agitate it more than enough. Lots of people even recommend a drop of petrol to reduce emissions.

*Apologies, Glanced over the initial post, Didn't spot you mentioned the car.

someoneknew16

I drove mine 5 miles on a newer rail engine...

No damage. Garages love to make a deal of this (like everything).

browniepoints

The green diesel guys burning the chip oil often have to add 5% to 10% petrol to thin the very thick chip oil which causes too much pressure for the fuel pumps .
No expert on it talked to some of them you can smell them a mile away so easy to say to them what brand of chipper shop chip oil do you use .They are mostly friendly and informative if a bit fishy smelling .

Jed

youtheman

Did the same to my 2008 Passat 2.0 TDi once. Got a 'brain fart' on the way into the station and just looked for the 'black hose'. There I was pumping away and followed the black hose to the end piece (in my hand), and it was green, and I kept going as I looked up further and saw the sign for 'petrol'. At that stage I had (if I remember correctly) 25 litres of petrol in. So I rang the garage and they told me to 'top it up with diesel' (I think it took a further 50 litres) and 'rev her hard'. So I drove around in third gear for a week (I was on holidays) and the bloody contents gauge didn't move (car being so efficient). So I drove home, at that stage the car was 3/4 full, so I re-filled her with diesel. I eventually took it to the garage and they emptied the tank and replaced the fuel filter. And the car is driving fine since.