My boyfriend put just a half gallon or so in the tank to make it to the gas station, but it was diesel in an unmarked gas can. ooopsie....
2007-05-06 12:40:19 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
it was in an empty tank. should we siphon out the diesel or just add unleaded on top of it? we alread started it and drove it about 20 feet before it died and we realized what had happened.
2007-05-06 12:48:34 · update #1
all the above opinions with the exception of a select few are wrong. diesel isnt a higher octane, its not even rated in octane, diesel wont hurt your engine, but it will the fuel system itself. its really viscous and will overtax the fuel pump and clog the filter. go to the gas station and put in 5-10 gallons of regular gas and a bottle of ISOHEET, this will remove the water from the fuel system that was introduced by the diesel fuel. good luck and god bless.
2007-05-06 15:17:42 · answer #1 · answered by justin n 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, it's not too bad an issue if he put a bit of diesel in a gasoline engine, if it's only half a gallon, you could probably just burn it off without too much of a problem. You may want to put some system cleaner in afterwards. If it's a newer car or a high performance engine, you'll probably want to have the tank drained. if it's an old beater, it's probably not worth the $$$ and I'd just fill up with gas and burn it off.
Not nearly as bad as putting gas in a diesel engine - that will cause a much more serious problem
2007-05-06 13:40:03 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You may get away with it in a 2002 Taurus but diesel in the gas can be very bad indeed. In the Yahoo! Prius forum it came out that two Prius owners had that problem when (as fate had it) both got a dose of diesel when their daughters in law fueled the car. Both ran okay until they suddenly started shaking. A connecting rod (in each engine) was bent because the diesel injected with the gasoline but did not burn and didn't drain away fast enough through the rings. The Prius engine has a high mechanical compression ratio (13:1) and normally gets little ring wear, both of which make it more susceptible. Personally, I would take it seriously in any modern car and drain the tank. Injector cleaner will not help. The odds are not very bad but the stakes are terrible.
2016-05-17 06:13:55 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What I would do, obviously your not me,but i would have a shop pull the tank out,DON'T DRIVE IT, have it towed and have the shop drain the tank and put an air gun on the far end of the fuel line and blow back towards the tank to get it out of the lines. There shouldn't be any major damage as diesel fuel is mostly oil.
2007-05-06 13:36:52 · answer #4 · answered by Bill L 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No damage, drain the diesel fuel from the tank, change the filter, the little diesle fuel left in the tank will mix with the gas and be gone completely after a few tank fulls.
2007-05-06 13:00:08 · answer #5 · answered by kdiesel 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No damage will occur with the amount added. Make sure you fill the tank full to dilute the diesel. The vehicle may smoke a little until the tank of fuel is used.
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2007-05-06 12:45:27 · answer #6 · answered by Mr. T 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Half a gallon?
No worries. It won't hurt a thing with a full tank of gas.
Half a gallon in an empty tank?
Not good.
Put at least five gallons in before starting it.
Then drive DIRECTLY to the gas station and fill it up.
ADDED:
Oops.......call a tow truck.
The fuel system will need to be completely flushed out.
If the diesel stays in there too long it will ruin the injectors, fuel pump, fuel lines, ......
If you're lucky, you didn't blow the engine up.
2007-05-06 12:43:14 · answer #7 · answered by Mr. KnowItAll 7 · 0⤊ 3⤋
it depens on what type of car . some car has a drain plug on the gas tank then I would say drain the diesel out . if not then fill the tank full and drive gently . because the car compter will notice some thing funny and your check enige light may flash on the dash . that means the computer is trying to protect the cat converter from being damge . aka big money repair !!
2007-05-06 12:59:31 · answer #8 · answered by cttoughguy 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I was in your boy friends shoes a month back...I got it towed to the nearest service station, they removed all diesel, cleaned the fuel injectors...it costed me 296$ in San Jose, CA
2007-05-06 13:10:12 · answer #9 · answered by planetrp00700 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Diesel fuel is much higher octane than gasoline. What you worry about is overheating the engine and 'blowing' it. If you didn't overheat the engine, you just add gasoline and fill the tank and go on with your life.....there may be no permanent damage.
2007-05-06 12:54:03 · answer #10 · answered by tlbrown42000 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋