20 litres of petrol accidentally put into the Audio A4 diesel car

slivebloom · 28-03-2017 9:10am #1

Would it be ok to keeping driving with petrol in the diesel tank.
Car is a Audio A4 1.9TDi 2005, 200,000Km on the clock.
Here is the long story!:
20 litres of petrol accidentally put into the Audio A4 diesel car ! filled the rest of the tank with diesel. Car drove from the filling station to the entrance to the housing estate then car cut out(3km), tried to restart but didn't! Left it sitting for about 2hrs, then towed into drive way. Tried to started engine, it did and was running away.
My options are (assuming it still starts & runs again this morning): don't do anything keeping driving and keep topping up the tank as it empty's. Drive to a garage and siphon out the petrol&diesel, then refill! What do ye things lads!!!

jimgoose · 28-03-2017 9:13am

That's something in the vicinity of a 50:50 diesel-petrol mix. Don't start it anymore until it is drained, flushed and refilled. With diesel!

jpfahy · 28-03-2017 9:15am

Give Ray a call www.fuelrescue.ie

noel100 · 28-03-2017 9:16am

slivebloom wrote: »

Would it be ok to keeping driving with petrol in the diesel tank.
Car is a Audio A4 1.9TDi 2005, 200,000Km on the clock.
Here is the long story!:
20 litres of petrol accidentally put into the Audio A4 diesel car ! filled the rest of the tank with diesel. Car drove from the filling station to the entrance to the housing estate then car cut out(3km), tried to restart but didn't! Left it sitting for about 2hrs, then towed into drive way. Tried to started engine, it did and was running away.
My options are (assuming it still starts & runs again this morning): don't do anything keeping driving and keep topping up the tank as it empty's. Drive to a garage and siphon out the petrol&diesel, then refill! What do ye things lads!!!

There are videos on Yotube where people drive petrol in diesel cars and vice a versa...

I put a litre of petrol Into the diesel car once in a while to give engine a clean.

Silane · 28-03-2017 9:18am

I'd siphon it, but I don't know how you do that on modern cars, I'd be seeking professional help as already suggested.

slivebloom · 28-03-2017 9:19am

Check the tank capacity and it's 70L, so ratio is 20:50, or 1:2.5 , which still is a pretty high mixture of petrol!

jimgoose · 28-03-2017 9:21am

slivebloom wrote: »

Check the tank capacity and it's 70L, so ratio is 20:50, or 1:2.5 , which still is a pretty high mixture of petrol!

I stand corrected, but that's still problematic.

slivebloom · 28-03-2017 12:10pm

thanks Guys! The insurance might cover getting the car to garage. Here's more advise from garage:
Suck out the diesel between the fuel filter and fuel rail. Then refill tank with clean diesel, suck the new fuel through the system (ideally replace fuel filter) and hope there is no harm done. Most common rail systems use Piezo injectors (very small tolerances) and fuel pumps have very small tolerances also. No lubrication in petrol! Often doing above steps are sufficient, sometimes problems with injectors only show up 10,000 miles down the road.

slivebloom · 28-03-2017 12:19pm

jpfahy wrote: »

Give Ray a call www.fuelrescue.ie

dropped these guys an email, their website is quoting €190, hoping the local garage will do it for less.

Henry Ford III · 28-03-2017 12:29pm

It's a wonder other manufacturers haven't adopted this sort of system years ago. Misfuelling happens a lot.

Silane · 28-03-2017 12:32pm

Henry Ford III wrote: »

It's a wonder other manufacturers haven't adopted this sort of system years ago. Misfuelling happens a lot.

The cynic in me thinks maybe the answer is on the last slide.

"Eliminates the risk of a large repair bill"

cml387 · 28-03-2017 12:35pm

slivebloom wrote: »

dropped these guys an email, their website is quoting €190, hoping the local garage will do it for less.

The problem is not so much the siphoning of the fuel as the disposal of it afterwards. I was told it can't be used for anything and has to be shipped to Germany for disposal.

tossy · 28-03-2017 12:39pm

cml387 wrote: »

The problem is not so much the siphoning of the fuel as the disposal of it afterwards. I was told it can't be used for anything and has to be shipped to Germany for disposal.

I'd have no problem putting it in an older yolk, farm machinery or lawn mower - depending on the mix of course.

Cheensbo · 28-03-2017 12:41pm

tossy wrote: »

I'd have no problem putting it in an older yolk, farm machinery or lawn mower - depending on the mix of course.

An old school diesel would go like the clappers with it, just throw in some 2 stroke to keep it all slippery.

Cee-Jay-Cee · 28-03-2017 12:44pm

slivebloom wrote: »

dropped these guys an email, their website is quoting €190, hoping the local garage will do it for less.

€190 is quite reasonable when you consider the damage that may have been done.

chicorytip · 28-03-2017 2:54pm

slivebloom wrote:

Would it be ok to keeping driving with petrol in the diesel tank. Car is a Audio A4 1.9TDi 2005, 200,000Km on the clock. Here is the long story!: 20 litres of petrol accidentally put into the Audio A4 diesel car ! filled the rest of the tank with diesel. Car drove from the filling station to the entrance to the housing estate then car cut out(3km), tried to restart but didn't! Left it sitting for about 2hrs, then towed into drive way. Tried to started engine, it did and was running away. My options are (assuming it still starts & runs again this morning): don't do anything keeping driving and keep topping up the tank as it empty's. Drive to a garage and siphon out the petrol&diesel, then refill! What do ye things lads!!!

I was under the impression that modern fuel pumps have differently designed nozzles for petrol and diesel meaning one cannot be inserted into the tank of the other by mistake.

jimgoose · 28-03-2017 2:55pm

chicorytip wrote: »

I was under the impression that modern fuel pumps have differently designed nozzles for petrol and diesel meaning one cannot be inserted into the tank of the other by mistake.

You can't physically insert a diesel nozzle into a petrol filler, which is the one least likely to do expensive damage, oddly enough. :pac:

sann · 28-03-2017 3:21pm

Did the same with that model a4. Only the 2.0 Tdi. 20 euros of petrol. Tank was fairly empty. Necked it with diesel when I realised what I'd done. Drove the car away. It seemed a bit sluggish and definitely took an extra few turns to start over the next week or so. Was sure the seals were damaged. Kept topping it up everyday with diesel and after about a week it returned to normal. Changed fuel filter aswel. I just got lucky I guess. I'm not recommending this to anyone. Just giving my own experience.

flutered · 28-03-2017 3:24pm

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

€190 is quite reasonable when you consider the damage that may have been done.

thats cheap, it cost a mate 220 four years ago

20 litres of petrol accidentally put into the Audio A4 diesel car

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