Diesel in a Petrol Engine - ARGH - Advice please?

Question

Hey guys,

I have put diesel (4.7 litres) in my petrol car - I have filled up to the brim, and plan on re-filling every time I hit 3/4 tank for about a couple of months. the petrol tank is approx 40 litres.

My question is - will this be enough to stop any serious damage to my car? I'm kinda worried now that I've done this before asking for advice.

HELP!

Just checked - my tank is approx 54 litres - it is a 53 reg citroen xsara (NOT picasso) 1.4 LX.

Thanks for all the answers so far guys

Answer 1

Much depends on the age of the car and type of engine. An older pre-catalytic converter car should be fine; With newer cars there's a chance you'll 'kill the cat'; this may be something you don't discover 'till MOT time...

HOWEVER....

If it's an older uncomplicated car (say 5 years +) I'd stick to your plan of gradually diluting the fuel and additionally add some redex to the tank;

Fuel injection is likely to be more of a problem than a carb...

If you can; try to clock up motorway miles rather than use it for around town. AVOID running the engine under heavy load at low revs as the octane rating of your fuel will have been affected by the 'dilution'

If your injectors or engine management system were going to baulk at this I'd imagine they'd have done so by now

After 1000 miles or so have your mechanic change the fuel filters and run some redex or similar fuel cleaner through the system.

Not many people appreciate that petrol from the local garage CAN be pretty mucky anyway with cross contamination from diesel etc... So those fuel filters do sterling work!

Incidentally It's MUCH worse if you go the other way 'round i.e. petrol in a diesel car! And , as another aside, it was once relatively common for people to add about a pint of diesel to their tank to 'lubricate' the fuel system... Of course that WAS in the day of carbs that resembled baked-bean tins but still....

Answer 2

question is, how did u manage to do that?
at most petrol stations you can't get the diesel nozzle in a petrol engine tank....designed to stop you doing what you did

ok, you managed it
drain the tank as soon as you can, and fill it up with petrol, drive the car, until the "new" fuel is through

if there are any signs of problems go to a garage....but even if you don't TELL them what you did, they will SEE that someone has been playing with the tank drain...

good luck, and safe driving

oh, there is another solution...sell the car :)

Answer 3

This happened to us a number of years ago, just after we changed from diesel to petrol. The advice from the RAC was that it would be okay up to about 1 part in 8, but we had gone over that, so the tank needed drained. You sound as though you are (just) okay.

You will be cleaner quicker if you run until nearly empty, then refill. Of course topping-up at your next half-empty will reduce you from the marginal 1 in 8 to a much less worrying 1 in 16, but after that I would suggest you just get as near empty as you can.

Answer 4

4.7L, just over 1 gallon.
Your tank is 40L, so you have just over 10% diesel.
Diesel will foul your plugs and make the car smoke.
All that smoke can plug your catalytic converter prematurely.
I doubt with that little diesel it will do much damage.
But without knowing what type of car it is, it's hard to guess.
It would be best to siphon or drain the tank and refill it with all gasoline.
I would run a can on injector cleaner for the next few tanks as well.

Answer 5

i think you may be lucky in that diesel is more of an oil than any thing else.
provided you keep you're tank filled with petrol it should just run through the system with out damage to the catalytic converter .

Answer 6

Wo wo wo wo! You could have already ruined your engine! Don't turn it on and call a garage to come and get it and drain it completely. Putting petrol in a diesel engine is not so bad as it will combust but all the timing etc in your petrol engine will not work on diesel. Get it out before you ruin your engine.

Answer 7

Well that was a real Homer moment! You need to get your car to a garage asap and get it drained before you do real damage to the engine. Be prepared to spend a lot of money on this if it already has started to do some damage.

Answer 8

bh8153's answers seems about right, but in case anyone else reads spirit of radio's answer, I'd like to say it's completely wrong - petrol in a diesel engine is FAR more serious and you can wreck your engine very quickly - you shouldn't even turn it on.

Answer 9

Why would you do that? You will tear up your engine and isn't diesel higher than petrol? How long before you screw up your engine I don't know. Better get it flushed before that happens.

Answer 10

depends on the engine, is it fuel injection or does it have a carb, if its fuel injection how fine are the injectors etc. if its a performance engine your pretty much stuffed, if its an everyday run of the mill escort or something you will probably be ok.
by performance i mean something like porsche/tvr/ferrari not a 2 litre audi or something stupid like that.