I need some good advice from someone well qualified in this field. Straight answers only please.
I have just put about a litre and a half of unleaded petrol in my diesel car on top of about half a tank of diesel. I know that I shouldn't have run the car after but had to do so and drove for about a mile. The main dealer are all ligned up to fleece me for lots of money and my reputable local garage offered to drain it but said it would probably be fine. Please help if you can give me some serious well informed advice.
2007-09-19 05:47:56 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
The best thing to do is drain it, fill it up with diesel and fire in an engine cleaner (For diesels obviously) and run it.
Diesel is heavier than petrol, and naturally sinks to the bottom of your tank. With the quantities you are talking about, it shouldn't have any lasting damage.
Take it to your local garage.
2007-09-19 05:53:49 · answer #1 · answered by Gem Gem 5 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Hi Richie we've all done it at some time or another, You put a very small amount of Petrol in the tank on top of half a tank of diesel. Its unlikely you will notice the difference, no need to go to the dealers, they will just fleece you for draining the tank, and in all likely hood keep the waste fuel and put it in one of their own cars! I would recommend filling the tank up with diesel, and run the car normally. I did it a couple of times in a brand new car after using petrol all my life, it was easy to forget in the first few months of owning a diesel.
Good luck
2007-09-19 18:26:24 · answer #2 · answered by Peter T 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi lots of good answers.Heres what I've been doing for years with diesel vans and never have had a problem. Every six months I put 3-4 lts petrol into a full tank of diesel it helps clean the injectors and in cold weather the van is easier to start. If it was Deisel into a petrol engine would be best to drain the tank. Hope this helps
2007-09-19 06:52:27 · answer #3 · answered by madirishmanb 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I you "really" only put in "1.5" litres of petrol in it,
then fill up the tank with Diesel fuel, (as much as you can get in.)
The petrol will mix with the Diesel, Keep filling the tank with Diesel as often as you can so that the longer you go the more uncontaminated fuel will be present. There should be little or no problems.
OR you can syphon as much fuel out of the tank as you can and fill it up with diesel fuel
I would use some fuel cans to do this before you take it to the filling station. Perhaps this would be a better idea, as long as you put proper diesel in SOON
2007-09-19 10:19:18 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
As has already been said a little petrol will do no harm and I have in the past deliberatly added diesel to clean injectors etc.
However having said that a lot of modern cars with managment computers will detect an exhaust temperature change and may require resetting.
Its not a big job to drain down in the worst case, I very much doubt if any lasting damage has been done.
2007-09-19 06:34:21 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A litre and a half is going to be barely noticeable, it's not as if you'd put gallons in there! Don't worry, it will cause no trouble at all. You only need consider it if you have more than about 10-15% of petrol in the tank, what you put in will be so diluted it'll have no effect, especially if you top up with diesel.
2007-09-19 05:59:49 · answer #6 · answered by champer 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
been there fill it up with diesel and run it it may cut out a lot at tick over and may sound noisier than in normaly does use about 1/4 of a tank and fill up again and keep doing this then after you done this a couple of times let it run quite low british gas use to put a small amount of petrol in there diesel in the winter to stop it from frezing
i lent some one my car once and they didnt know that is was diesel and and put £5 of petrol in it and thats what i did and it was fine
2007-09-19 06:14:16 · answer #7 · answered by REBECCA R 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go fill it up all the way with more diesel. You'll be fine since the gasoline is heavily diluted and your diesel fuel will continue to lubricate the injection pump and injectors as designed. The gasoline might even give your fuel system a nice cleaning. Keep topping off the diesel fuel when the tank goes down 1/4 or so.
2007-09-19 05:54:39 · answer #8 · answered by bobweb 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
depends on the size of the fuel tank!a litre and a half is nothing and it used to be recommended to add a gallon of petrol to a tank of diesel in the winter to stop it waxing! just top off the tank with diesel and you will be fine
ASSUMING YOU ARE SURE ITS ONLY A LITRE AND A HALF!
if its a gallon and a half, id get the tank drained to be sure
the seals in the diesel pump will be damaged by the solvent action of petrol
the distance you drove wont have pulled the new fuel through yet
Good luck
Andy
2007-09-19 06:14:44 · answer #9 · answered by andy t 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A small amount of gasoline in a diesel vehicle typically will not hurt it tremendously.
Dilute the gasoline by filling the tank completely with diesel, then keep topping it off with more diesel after driving it down 1/4 tank and the petrol will work it's way through.
2007-09-19 05:54:02 · answer #10 · answered by hsueh010 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Won't be a problem...In fact up to about 8 yrs ago quite a few lorry drivers used to put a gallon of petrol in with a tank of diesel during the winter months to prevent the diesel from freezing in the tank..Hope this helps
2007-09-19 07:08:54 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋