petrol and diesel do they mix?

Question

my wife inadvertanly put 10 litres of lead free petrol into our deisel fueled Peugeot hdi car into a quarter full tank, then filled the tank 60 litres vehicle running fine, will this scenario cause any damageto the engine

Answer 1

I don't know where everyone has heard scare stories about misfuels in diesel cars.
They dilution you have is fine but keep topping up with diesel every couple of days. The only problems I've encountered with the mixture you have is poor hot starting. This is caused when the petrol creates vapour lock in the common rail. Patience when starting, or letting it cool down works and is a lot cheaper than draining off the fuel.

Answer 2

Petrol Mixed With Diesel

Answer 3

actually, being in the industy for several years, here is the straight scoop. all diesel and petrol come from the same source, crude oil. It is just a matter of the refining process as to what fuel you come out with. You do not need to panic, peaple do this all the time. As a matter of fact, if you ask a truck driver, they will tell you that if it is really cold, they put petro into diesel to keep it from freezing. if the car is runnig, it will be ok, every time it gets down to 3/4 tank, top it off. do this 3 or 4 times and you will have no problems.

Answer 4

Just had the same thing happen to me. Only it was a full (64l) of petrol into a diesel tank. The tank needed draining - this cost £90 at the local garage. AA were going to charge double that. I'd phone your local garage and check, but the proportions you're talking about are relatively low and modern engines can be quite robust. Having said that... how much would a new engine cost? Best to err on the side of caution.

Answer 5

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RE:
petrol and diesel do they mix?
my wife inadvertanly put 10 litres of lead free petrol into our deisel fueled Peugeot hdi car into a quarter full tank, then filled the tank 60 litres vehicle running fine, will this scenario cause any damageto the engine

Answer 6

It will be fine don't worry, just keep topping the diesel up.
I did the same with my BMW 320D but i put £20 of petrol in an empty tank, i realised and filled the rest with diesel and kept on filling the tank each day, couldnt even tell any difference just a little bit more smokey than usual.
Its fine now and running as good as ever.

Answer 7

I would be inclined to get professional advice on this one .but I have to say I used to put 1 gallon which is just under 5Lt's of petrol to a full tank of diesel to keep the diesel from freezing in the winter, but I don't think that is necessary with modern fuels. I think the ten Lt's might be too much as petrol might clean the lubricating effect of diesel on the cylinder walls

Answer 8

Depends on the engine. If its an old diesel engine it will be fine, in the older days people actually used to put petrol in their diesel tanks to prevent it from freezing
HOWEVER
Allot of Modern Tdi, Hdi's etc automatically shut the engine down at the hint of any contamination such as gasoline.

Answer 9

You've only put 2 gallons (English) in. It will run but it will be a bit rough. First chance you get, put more deisel fuel in and slowly dilute the petrol. You are fortunate that it was such a small amount. Any more and you would have been looking at dropping and draining the tank and system. £300+

Answer 10

Frankly I'm surprised it is running. Consider yourself lucky the tank was not filled with gasoline. Diesel engines are more 'heavy duty' than gasoline engines so relax. Are you sure it's running fine? No loss of power? I once had a driver FILL a fleet vehicle with gasoline by mistake. We had to drain the tank and bleed the fuel system. Not fun.