What is the difference between petrol and diesel?

Question

Am I an idiot if I put petrol in a diesel engine???

Answer 1

About 5p a litre

Answer 2

Don't start the car as there a diesel fuel pump is finely machined and petrol does not have the lubricating qualities. The basic difference between petrol and diesel is the burn rate a petrol engine uses a spark for ignition as the fuel is very volatile but a diesel engine has a higher compression ratio and uses the bicycle pump on the end of the thumb theory. By doing this it heats the combustion chamber up too about 600 degrees centigrade and diesel will self ignite at 400. You get away with running a leaner mixture with a diesel as the chemically correct (stoichiometric) fuel ratio for a petrol is 14.7:1 and its 100:1 for a diesel

Answer 3

Simply put Diesel is classed as an oil and Petrol is classes as a spirit.
It depends if you tried to start the car afterwards. Diesel mixed with petrol in a petrol engine should work albeit very badly if the engine is warm but not the other way around (depending on the amount added).
If the car wasn't started after putting the wrong fuel in just drain the tank and system and refill correctly and you should have no worries.

Answer 4

Petrol and Diesel oil are two separate fractions of crude oil.
Petrol is lighter, more volatile, and contains hydrocarbons with around 8 carbon atoms per molecule.
Diesel oil is heavier, less volatile, but with greater lubricity, and contains hydrocarbons with around 10 carbon atoms per molecule.

A diesel engine is a compression-ignition engine, not a spark ignition engine. It uses very high compression to create the very high temperatures in which diesel oil will burn (the first diesel engine actually used coal dust, not oil, as a fuel).
A petrol engine is a spark-ignition engine. It uses a spark to ignite the volatile petrol/air mixture.
An engine designed for one fuel will not burn the other fuel.
Furthermore, the diesel fuel system uses the lubricity of the fuel to lubricate the pumps and injectors. Using a fuel with lower lubricity (e.g. petrol) will cause severe damage. It has been claimed that just starting a modern diesel engine with petrol in the tank can cause over £1,000 of damage, and that if you accidentally put petrol in a diesel car you should push the car away from the pump and call out your rescue service (AA, RAC, etc.) but not attempt to start the engine. That way you can get the car towed away, and the tank drained, cleaned and re-filled for only a few hundred pounds.

Answer 5

YES Sorry but it can blow the engine if run over a period of time, however if find out before you start it, the A GOOD mechanic can empty the tank without causing damage to the engine..

Answer 6

the main difference for a common person is that pertrol is much dilute or u can say much free flowing than diesel n catches fire quickly as compares to desiel...thats y during cold winters deisel cars take time to start cause the desiel needs to be warm to flow through the engine...a simple answer....

Answer 7

You're not alone if you have, tho' usually it's the other way round.

If it's more than a splash, DON'T run it! It'll ruin the engine.

You'll need your tank and fuel system drained and cleaned out.

Answer 8

Petrol smells nice and dissel smells bad :)

Answer 9

YES!!! That will destroy the engine.

Try this website http://auto.howstuffworks.com/diesel.htm.htm for a little understanding.

Answer 10

YES
gas -petro
fuel --deisel