Petrol in diesel fuel tank - what should I do?
Discussion
After reading everyone's posts on this topic which I found really useful, I have subscribed so that I can post my own recent experience.
Last week my car was low on fuel - on the red - but stupidly I left the house with no money and I was 18 miles away from home. I stopped at a petrol station cum garage and explained my situation to the owner and mechanic who kindly agreed to let me have £5 of fuel. I had a lot on my mind that day so without checking properly I picked up the pump for petrol instead of diesel.
When I told the owner he said it's not a problem and he proceeded to top up my tank with £15 worth of diesel.
I then drove home and to be on the safe side I drove very cautiously - just like a new learner and no more than 45mph. Engine sounded normal and all seemed OK.
That evening I thought I'd go online to check the effects/consequences of putting in the wrong fuel. My heart dropped and I felt blood draining from me when I read posts saying it'll mess up the engine, especially newer diesels etc etc.
Well I'm happy to say my car is, so far, so good - touch wood. Some specific details...........
It's a Mercedes B Class 200 CDI
just under 5 litres of petrol went into a nearly empty tank then it was topped up with approx 14 litres of diesel
Driven 18 miles without any problems, no funny noises or loss of power or smoke etc.
Later topped up to full tank of diesel.
Since the incident I've have now driven approx 50 miles and all is well so far.
On reflection, the owner of the garage was a mechanic and of a mature age (must be experienced) and when I told him my mistake he was quite blasé and said straightaway it'd be ok to just top up with correct fuel - diesel. There was no need to doubt him and worry myself to death in the process. Also he could have lied and made money from me by saying the tank needs draining.
Hopefully sharing my experience will help those who may make this error.
Last week my car was low on fuel - on the red - but stupidly I left the house with no money and I was 18 miles away from home. I stopped at a petrol station cum garage and explained my situation to the owner and mechanic who kindly agreed to let me have £5 of fuel. I had a lot on my mind that day so without checking properly I picked up the pump for petrol instead of diesel.
When I told the owner he said it's not a problem and he proceeded to top up my tank with £15 worth of diesel.
I then drove home and to be on the safe side I drove very cautiously - just like a new learner and no more than 45mph. Engine sounded normal and all seemed OK.
That evening I thought I'd go online to check the effects/consequences of putting in the wrong fuel. My heart dropped and I felt blood draining from me when I read posts saying it'll mess up the engine, especially newer diesels etc etc.
Well I'm happy to say my car is, so far, so good - touch wood. Some specific details...........
It's a Mercedes B Class 200 CDI
just under 5 litres of petrol went into a nearly empty tank then it was topped up with approx 14 litres of diesel
Driven 18 miles without any problems, no funny noises or loss of power or smoke etc.
Later topped up to full tank of diesel.
Since the incident I've have now driven approx 50 miles and all is well so far.
On reflection, the owner of the garage was a mechanic and of a mature age (must be experienced) and when I told him my mistake he was quite blasé and said straightaway it'd be ok to just top up with correct fuel - diesel. There was no need to doubt him and worry myself to death in the process. Also he could have lied and made money from me by saying the tank needs draining.
Hopefully sharing my experience will help those who may make this error.
3528 said:
Long story short: currently on autoroute in Normandy. Sprinter 416 plus car trailer. 50 litres diesel; 25 litres petrol. Running absolutely fine. I'll report back with any notable developments.
Just diluted with another 12.11 litres after 66 miles. 24.7mpg, incidentally. It's never anywhere near this good, especially with the trailer. Has anyone actually had direct experience of putting petrol in your diesel car and it breaking something - actual accurate, guaranteed first hand experience (not "a bloke in the pub" or a "friend of a friend").
I am King of Misfuellers (I even filled up a brand new MV Agusta F4 with diesel). Beyond being a pain in the arse it's had no adverse effect apart from to my wallet.
All this crap about needing to replace all your BMWs entire fuel system, the lack of lubrication will ruin your injector pump: I'm calling bolleaux on this one, it's just blatant profiteering.
I am King of Misfuellers (I even filled up a brand new MV Agusta F4 with diesel). Beyond being a pain in the arse it's had no adverse effect apart from to my wallet.
All this crap about needing to replace all your BMWs entire fuel system, the lack of lubrication will ruin your injector pump: I'm calling bolleaux on this one, it's just blatant profiteering.
According to an agricultural engineer and now workshop manager of a large national plant hire company I know, misfuelling is not all that harmful to diesels. Provided you've only got a small amount of petrol in the fuel system you'll be fine.
What has happened is that tank cleaning companies and OCD types have put it in people's heads that you must clean every last trace of the contaminant out, which isn't necessary. Yes you'd have problems if the whole tank was misfuelled but I'd consider just lifting the pump on top of the tank and draining the tank manually in that case.
Old diesel with water in it is much harder to deal with ime.
What has happened is that tank cleaning companies and OCD types have put it in people's heads that you must clean every last trace of the contaminant out, which isn't necessary. Yes you'd have problems if the whole tank was misfuelled but I'd consider just lifting the pump on top of the tank and draining the tank manually in that case.
Old diesel with water in it is much harder to deal with ime.
It'll be interesting to hear the long term effects, the garage I use had a sprinter in with a conrod sticking out of the block, he'd filled it right up with petrol, drove it a few miles until it stopped , drained, refilled , seemed to run OK then a week or so later it shat itself and exploded on the M6
wack said:
It'll be interesting to hear the long term effects, the garage I use had a sprinter in with a conrod sticking out of the block, he'd filled it right up with petrol, drove it a few miles until it stopped , drained, refilled , seemed to run OK then a week or so later it shat itself and exploded on the M6
I expect compressing gasoline at god knows what compression ratio isn’t in the same ball park as a few litres of petrol in a tank of diesel.I've been out and sorted loads of misfuels.
Got called out to change a starter on a PD130 A4 a while back and got there and realised the engine had half seized up.
Full tank of petrol.
Still just about run with a bump start but no power.
My father in law brimmed his PD130 with petrol and that cut out. Sucked out and replaced with diesel and no harm done 10000 miles later.
Got called out to change a starter on a PD130 A4 a while back and got there and realised the engine had half seized up.
Full tank of petrol.
Still just about run with a bump start but no power.
My father in law brimmed his PD130 with petrol and that cut out. Sucked out and replaced with diesel and no harm done 10000 miles later.
Funnily enough, my mate & I were talking about misfuelling in the pub last night, because he'd recently done just that. He came up with this suggestion: why not fit petrol cars with a standard circular filler, and fit diesels with a triangular or oval-shaped one? Most garages have two diesel fillers to every one petrol at every pump, so one of the diesels could be retro fitted with a simple shape adaptor or a new nozzle to accommodate newer cars. It could be made impossible to fit your nozzle into the wrong-shaped hole, ooh-er missus.
It's not completely idiot-proof, but I couldn't think of a reason why that wouldn't work.
It's not completely idiot-proof, but I couldn't think of a reason why that wouldn't work.
Plastic chicken said:
Funnily enough, my mate & I were talking about misfuelling in the pub last night, because he'd recently done just that. He came up with this suggestion: why not fit petrol cars with a standard circular filler, and fit diesels with a triangular or oval-shaped one? Most garages have two diesel fillers to every one petrol at every pump, so one of the diesels could be retro fitted with a simple shape adaptor or a new nozzle to accommodate newer cars. It could be made impossible to fit your nozzle into the wrong-shaped hole, ooh-er missus.
It's not completely idiot-proof, but I couldn't think of a reason why that wouldn't work.
I just think Ford (and others now) beat 'your mate down the pub' by, oooh, 6 or 7 years is it now?It's not completely idiot-proof, but I couldn't think of a reason why that wouldn't work.
Another 90 miles completed, this time loaded right up, with two cars and a tractor. Everything seems as normal, apart from the mpg, which is much better. 500 miles to do tomorrow, which will gradually dilute the petrol further still with diesel refuels.
Slightly off-topic, but I know a garage owner who runs his diesel car on old engine oil from customers' cars. Runs absolutely as normal, with no excessive smoke or performance issues.
Slightly off-topic, but I know a garage owner who runs his diesel car on old engine oil from customers' cars. Runs absolutely as normal, with no excessive smoke or performance issues.
Pica-Pica said:
Plastic chicken said:
Funnily enough, my mate & I were talking about misfuelling in the pub last night, because he'd recently done just that. He came up with this suggestion: why not fit petrol cars with a standard circular filler, and fit diesels with a triangular or oval-shaped one? Most garages have two diesel fillers to every one petrol at every pump, so one of the diesels could be retro fitted with a simple shape adaptor or a new nozzle to accommodate newer cars. It could be made impossible to fit your nozzle into the wrong-shaped hole, ooh-er missus.
It's not completely idiot-proof, but I couldn't think of a reason why that wouldn't work.
I just think Ford (and others now) beat 'your mate down the pub' by, oooh, 6 or 7 years is it now?It's not completely idiot-proof, but I couldn't think of a reason why that wouldn't work.
My mate put about £15 worth of petrol in our van about 6 months ago, its never ran so good as it does now.
Incidentally it was a motorway services and he reckons the unleaded pump handle was black, thats lunacy. He also said they had a bunch of leaflets on the counter for a tank drain specialist, told the woman to f
k off when she offered him one.
Incidentally it was a motorway services and he reckons the unleaded pump handle was black, thats lunacy. He also said they had a bunch of leaflets on the counter for a tank drain specialist, told the woman to f
k off when she offered him one.mickmcpaddy said:
My mate put about £15 worth of petrol in our van about 6 months ago, its never ran so good as it does now.
Incidentally it was a motorway services and he reckons the unleaded pump handle was black, thats lunacy. He also said they had a bunch of leaflets on the counter for a tank drain specialist, told the woman to fk off when she offered him one.
I put diesel into my motorbike at Hartshead Moor on the M62 - Shell station. The diesel pump handles are black but the label is green and white - I was only paying partial attention, saw the green and white and assumed (hah!) it was petrol. I knew it wasn't petrol halfway down the slip road.Incidentally it was a motorway services and he reckons the unleaded pump handle was black, thats lunacy. He also said they had a bunch of leaflets on the counter for a tank drain specialist, told the woman to f
k off when she offered him one.Luckily a push back to the services, syphoned the diesel into some adblue containers (there were hundreds in a skip), refilled, smoky for a few seconds and then ran fine and I was on my way ten minutes later.
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