Petrol in diesel engine

azzeretti

Just drove about 5 miles with petrol in my 152 diesel car before it stuttered to its death. How bad will this be!? Go easy!!

VincePP

Uh oh - especially driving with it. I doubt if a simple drain will be enough and it could be very costly - up to a new engine.

If you have comprehensive insurance you may be covered.

From rac website

Putting petrol in your diesel car will damage your fuel pump if not dealt with immediately. In diesel cars, the main fuel pump uses the diesel fuel flowing through it for lubrication. However, when you put petrol fuel in, the mix of petrol in diesel acts as a solvent, reducing lubrication and quickly causing damage to the pump as the metal parts come into contact and rub together. Other parts of the fuel system which might not be compatible with petrol, can also be damaged.

Switching on your car’s ignition will circulate this mix of petrol in diesel through your fuel system, causing further contamination to other components.

Ultimately, if left for too long this could mean that the entire fuel system requires costly repairs, or replacing completely!

SVJKarate

azzeretti wrote: »

How bad will this be!? Go easy!!

If you're an AA member they can call to you, and swap the fuel for a bit of diesel at a cost of just €260.

Kristopherus

azzeretti wrote: »

Just drove about 5 miles with petrol in my 152 diesel car before it stuttered to its death. How bad will this be!? Go easy!!

How much petrol did you put in the tank?

Special Circumstances

Kristopherus wrote: »

How much petrol did you put in the tank?

And roughly how much diesel was there before you topped up with petrol.

azzeretti

There was about 1/4 a tank and I topped it up to 3/4 full. Don't remember doing it at all, trying to convince myself I didn't!!

Needles73

Other than car dead on road what evidence says it got petrol at last top up ?

Renegade Mechanic

azzeretti wrote: »

Just drove about 5 miles with petrol in my 152 diesel car before it stuttered to its death. How bad will this be!? Go easy!!

152, so the cutting edge of modern, high pressure, low tolerance diesel fuel systems

Ok, putting in enough to cause the car to stall, can actually be a good thing - because you at least don't drive long enough to destroy the emissions gear, or the engine.

I'm guessing you drove for under 7 or 10 minutes, and at a light enough engine load (no motorway blasting).

In this case, the damage isn't terminal.
It's best to get the car recovered to a garage that will drain and clean the tank, replace the filter, flush the lines and change the engine oil. They'll likely be best placed to find a way to route the diesel return/leak-off to a jug, to catch the last of the contaminated fuel while the car idles.

There's no guarantee this won't preceed a failure of the fuel system 5, 6, or more years from now, however. That much is a lottery.