Put petrol in a diesel car

jaydeeuk1

ripplyuk wrote: »

I've told him to ring a garage but the car's so old and on its last legs anyway that he doesn't want to spend any money on it.

Probably best off the road then. God knows what states its in safety wise. Is he the type that only replaces illegal tyres and worn pads at MOT time?

musafir05

bobbymotors wrote: »

no, fill it up with diesel first or it will probably break down

I tried both methods over the years. Both worked flawlessly.

spikyone

If this is an engine with a common rail system - which it could well be - then driving it anywhere with petrol in it is an incredibly bad idea. Even in 2003, a fair proportion of Laguna diesels could have had a CR engine, and petrol could easily cause the the fuel pump to seize in the time it takes to drive to a garage. Those things make 15000psi and more, and they have tiny clearances and tolerances (thousandths of a millimetre). They rely on diesel for lubrication and adding petrol will take that lubrication away.

In case you're wondering, I am an engineer and have worked on the development of common rail fuel injection pumps.

And if you don't believe me... http://www.rac.co.uk/breakdown-cover/wrong-fuel-recovery/petrol-in-a-diesel-car

AdrianC

ripplyuk wrote: »

It's a Renault Laguna estate 2003.

So new enough to be common-rail. Which means a strong likelihood of big problems in the future after being run for 10 miles on a fairly strong petrol-diesel mix.

Frankly, if he's not planning on spending the money to get the problem sorted, he might as well just ring the scrappy now.

dannyrst

He had a go at getting the petrol out, where did it go?

WellKnownSid

dannyrst wrote: »

He had a go at getting the petrol out, where did it go?

Presumably into his mouth and then spat out over the floor. It's the sort of story that would make a Darwin Award.

I await the thread titled "Partner's car died trying to get to the poisons unit, does anyone know anything about n-hexane? Also is a petrol fire, like, really bad? THANKS!"

movilogo

its nowhere near as bad as putting diesel in a petrol vehicle

which can't happen because diesel nozzle won't fit in petrol filler neck.

It can only happen if forecourt pump is misfuelled (i.e. diesel in petrol tank) but in that case you can sue the forecourt owner for compensation.

AdrianC

movilogo wrote: »

which can't happen because diesel nozzle won't fit in petrol filler neck.

That depends. You've clearly never owned any pre-cat petrol cars. You could damn near climb down the filler neck of my (petrol) Landy, and could easily lose the spout of a fuel can down it, if not for the mesh filter to stop dead sheep climbing into the tank. Filling from the black pump? Easy!

BeenThroughItAll

movilogo wrote: »

which can't happen because diesel nozzle won't fit in petrol filler neck.

Yet people manage to do it all the time...

Amy.B_3

It might be possible on older cars to do so given that they lack the fine, high-pressure diesel injection systems of modern diesels. But even still, it's a high-risk move that could destroy your engine.

Even if this works, it might run roughly for a while and be causing long-term damage that will cost you far more in the long run.

If you're trying this try on a common-rail diesel, it'll just simply wreck your engine.

Repair costs usually start anywhere from £130 and upwards.