Petrol in a diesel car

[sydney]

you will need a 1.8 m fence post and two bags of quick set concrete , the rest is up to you.....X

 

[wehatepalace]

Set it on fire and claim on the insurance.

 

[BensGrandad]

Wife did that in our Octavia and provided there is room to put more diesel in no problem. Top up with diesel and then drive as normal until tank is under half full and then top up again and so forth it will gradually weaken the petrol and will do no harm at all. It will be ok provided there is sufficient diesel in it to restart the car and drive away may be a l ittle lumpy for first few miles but ok after that. If you have filled the tank up with petrol you will need to drain or syphon some out. Have you goy a relative por friend with a petrol driven car to pull up alongside to syphon into.

 

[madinthehead]

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/fuels-and-environment/misfuelling.html

AA website info..

Petrol in Diesel
Do not turn on the ignition or start the car

If the car's still under warranty check with the franchised dealer regarding their advice and correct remedial action – running with even a small amount of petrol in the tank might invalidate the warranty. Some manufacturers advise that you should get seals and filters renewed even if the engine has not been run.

Generally a small amount of incorrect fuel should not damage the engine as long as you have not started the car and top up fully with diesel.

If you've added more than 5 litres of petrol – Drain the tank and refill with diesel
If you've added less than 5 litres of petrol – Top up with diesel and run normally unless the manufacturer has advised otherwise

 

[Fran112]

My mrs did same to a 2001 BMW 2.0 some years back. Had it collected by BMW main dealer who started it.£2k worth of damage but phone your insurance co if fully comp. Ours paid full cost!

 

[Stevie Boy]

if you were nearer i would have done it for you

 

[Max Paper]

if you were nearer i would have done it for you

As resident mechanic, what would you do in my situation?

 

[BensGrandad]

Wife put £15 of petrol in ours away at Hartlepool then realized what she was doing, phoned brother in law who is a mechanic and he said top right up with diesel which we did with another £40 and then refilled again on way home at about Luton and it has been running perfectly ever since including to Portugal and back for the friendlies.

 

[c0lz]

i have also done this, half tank of petrol went a few miles and was sluggish then it came to me what i had done, opps, straight to the garage and fill the rest of the tank with diesel gave the car a good shake to mixed together and off i went, drove ok and kept topping up every fiver when i could. no damaged done neither.

 

[southwickseagull]

Us cabbys used to put petrol in to burn off the carbon before the mot, and also a couple of quids worth every time during the cold weather to stop the diesel jelling.

 

[Austin "Forster" Powers]

I'm a breakdown mechanic and i would strongly advise you to have it drained properly, then fill it and keep it filled for a week or so. Topping up with diesel would have been ok a few years ago with old fashioned diesel pumps and injectors, but modern high pressure diesel systems like the one fitted to your car are not so tolerant of this. It may all seem fine to begin with but gradually the seals in the pump will perish due to petrol being more chemical than oil and they rely on the diesel which is an oil to lubricate them. £180 may seem like a lot of money but that is about right especially for a mobile tech.
How did you get the car home because our procedure is to remove the fuse for the fuel pump because as soon as the ignition is switched on to remove the steering lock or remove from park (if it's automatic) then the pumps in the tank will start working and push the fuel forward to the filter. Do not go to a BMW dealer because they will replace everything at great cost and it really isn't needed.

 

[Max Paper]

I'm a breakdown mechanic and i would strongly advise you to have it drained properly, then fill it and keep it filled for a week or so. Topping up with diesel would have been ok a few years ago with old fashioned diesel pumps and injectors, but modern high pressure diesel systems like the one fitted to your car are not so tolerant of this. It may all seem fine to begin with but gradually the seals in the pump will perish due to petrol being more chemical than oil and they rely on the diesel which is an oil to lubricate them. £180 may seem like a lot of money but that is about right especially for a mobile tech.
How did you get the car home because our procedure is to remove the fuse for the fuel pump because as soon as the ignition is switched on to remove the steering lock or remove from park (if it's automatic) then the pumps in the tank will start working and push the fuel forward to the filter. Do not go to a BMW dealer because they will replace everything at great cost and it really isn't needed.

Thanks for responding, on the car it's one click to release the steering lock, 2 clicks to turn the ignition on (dash lights etc) and 3 to start the car I THINK?
Towed the car back to mine, I'm thinking that draining it is the best solution now. For the sake of £180 quid I don't know if it's worth risking the engine, i'd be f***ed off if i ended up damaging it. Anyone know anyone who'll do it cheaper though? Cheers for all posts, much appreciated!

 

[macky]

should be easy to drain yourself oneway i guess would to be take the feeder pipe from the carb and put the ignition on
might even be easier ways to do it

 

[markw]

Another point to remember is that a lot of modern diesel cars prime the fuel pump when you use the remote to open the doors.

 

[BensGrandad]

Can you not connect a pipe to the tank drain point or allow it to drain into a large container and syphon the petrol from there into another car, but obviously dont smoke near it. We did this with a car of my sons when it broke down beyond repair and was going to be scrapped. He syphoned the petrol into his partners car but he couldnt put the pipe straight into the tank refill nozzle.

 

[Max Paper]

Can you not connect a pipe to the tank drain point or allow it to drain into a large container and syphon the petrol from there into another car, but obviously dont smoke near it. We did this with a car of my sons when it broke down beyond repair and was going to be scrapped. He syphoned the petrol into his partners car but he couldnt put the pipe straight into the tank refill nozzle.

I've thought about syphoning the fuel out and sticking it in my wifes clio, but the fear off adding any diesel into her petrol engine scares me even more than than my current situation!

 

[BensGrandad]

Not sure of the answer to that one, as I said I just filled up completely with diese after speaking to a mechanic who I trusted and then kept topping it up and 20k miles later all is well

 

[Max Paper]

I think diesel in a petrol engine is far worse than the other way round?

 

[seagull33]

Please do not brim it and drive it !

Modern diesel engines have a zero tolerance mix on fuel due to the new style diesel injectors are electronic and it wrecks the nozzle tips and the high pressure pumps too.

The older diesels you could get away with about a 5 to 10% mix but that cut off i would say about R to S reg nothing newer.

I see loads of these in my job so I would strongly advise dont try and start it get it drained properly some good garages can do it for as little as £80

Diesel in Petrol isnt as damaging for the components of the engine but it will smoke like a bloomin traction engine if you do !!!

 

[NMH]

I think diesel in a petrol engine is far worse than the other way round?

If you replaced all the petrol with diesel, it might be.
But a little diesel contamination in petrolium isn't going to bother it.

If you're that worried, keep the syphoned gas for the lawnmower.