petrol in a diesel engine!

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  • Geodark
    Geodark Posts: 1,048 Forumite
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    shaun_from_Africa wrote: »
    Doing an extremely quick and rough calculation, I guessed the MPG at about 40 which works out at about 8 miles per litre.
    As you drove 1/2 mile, you probably would have used about 1/4 litre of fuel (allowing a bit extra for starting the car).
    With the diesel already in the pipe from the tank to the engine, I would think it unlikely that any of the petrol/diesel mix actually made it as far as the injectors.

    Neighbour, a mechanic, just called me a D*ck and said more or less the same you did - we are draining etc tomorrow
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
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    shaun_from_Africa wrote: »
    As you drove 1/2 mile, you probably would have used about 1/4 litre of fuel (allowing a bit extra for starting the car).
    With the diesel already in the pipe from the tank to the engine, I would think it unlikely that any of the petrol/diesel mix actually made it as far as the injectors.
    The injectors are not the problem. The pump is. A LOT more fuel is circulated than is used, the rest being returned to the tank.
  • Korkyb
    Korkyb Posts: 623 Forumite
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    My wife did the same thing in almost the same car (2006 1.9 Astra cdti).


    As I remember (through the red haze....) our local garage drained it, changed the filter and refilled it with the diesel.


    No problems with the car at all following the incident (& I banked a few husband points for when I next mucked up).


    She still has a diesel and still insists on saying "I need to stop off for petrol" which I'm sure is just to wind me up.
    Was it really "everybody" that was Kung Fu fighting ???
  • worried_jim
    worried_jim Posts: 11,631 Forumite
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    When my Dad retired he took a part time job delivering Mazda's and stuck the wrong fuel in a few times. He has now retired retired. Has some good stories, once took an MX5 to an office block and the new owner came out and gave it a once over and said "oh, its manual, I've never driven one before".
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
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    worried_jim wrote: »
    When my Dad retired he took a part time job delivering Mazda's and stuck the wrong fuel in a few times. He has now retired retired. Has some good stories, once took an MX5 to an office block and the new owner came out and gave it a once over and said "oh, its manual, I've never driven one before".
    Assuming your father was doing it in the UK, then it would be illegal for that person to drive their new car... They would also find it impossible to insure.
  • Ebe_Scrooge
    Ebe_Scrooge Posts: 7,320 Forumite
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    My wife did this one when she borrowed my car - except she drove it about 10 miles home, then told me the car was running really rough :mad:


    Took it to a mechanic who drained the tank, refilled with diesel, and told me he'd added a good glug of oil to the fuel. No idea if that was the right thing to do, but the upshot is that 50,000 miles further down the line and I've not had any problems yet ......


    It is quite an old car though, don't know if they just built 'em better back then ?
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
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    Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »
    My wife did this one when she borrowed my car - except she drove it about 10 miles home, then told me the car was running really rough :mad:

    Took it to a mechanic who drained the tank, refilled with diesel, and told me he'd added a good glug of oil to the fuel. No idea if that was the right thing to do, but the upshot is that 50,000 miles further down the line and I've not had any problems yet ......

    It is quite an old car though, don't know if they just built 'em better back then ?
    Depends on how old a diesel it is. There was a very big change in diesel technology in the mid-late 90s, with common rail engines coming in. These inject fuel at MASSIVELY higher pressures - 1-3,000 bar instead of <200 bar. The pressure in your tyres is around 2-3 bar, remember. The pump needs incredibly fine tolerances to do that, and relies on the lubrication properties of the diesel fuel. Petrol not only doesn't have that lubricity, but is a great solvent for cleaning any residue off.
  • bertiewhite
    bertiewhite Posts: 1,904 Forumite
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    I did this with an old XUD engined Peugeot. I had a quarter of a tank of diesel left in the tank, filled up with petrol by mistake and got about 10 miles before conking out.

    After getting a tow home I managed to drain a lot of the petrol by disconnecting the bulb primer, I put 10 litres of diesel in, managed to get the van running again and filled up straight away.

    The van run perfectly for a while until I put some aircraft fuel in it without realising it was full of water :(

    But that's another story....
  • worried_jim
    worried_jim Posts: 11,631 Forumite
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    AdrianC wrote: »
    Assuming your father was doing it in the UK, then it would be illegal for that person to drive their new car... They would also find it impossible to insure.

    Not his problem!
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