Wrong fuel. Petrol in Diesel

[anonymous-user]

MY Friend borrowed my car and even thou telling him 3 times diesel he put petrol in and has driven it. It was pretty much empty so petrol will be in the engine etc.

Now there are loads of 'fuel doctor' people, so any recmomnedations and the car is worth about 500 quid so will it be recoverable?

car is a 2.2 hdi 406 2002

[knitware]

Your friend is unbelievably dumb! You told him a few times to put in diesel and he puts in petrol...I hope he's going to give you the cash to fix it.

[CraigyMc]

The Spruce goose said:

MY Friend borrowed my car and even thou telling him 3 times diesel he put petrol in and has driven it. It was pretty much empty so petrol will be in the engine etc.

Now there are loads of 'fuel doctor' people, so any recmomnedations and the car is worth about 500 quid so will it be recoverable?

car is a 2.2 hdi 406 2002

Bugger.

Well, the diesel fuel *is* the lubricant for the high pressure fuel pump on this sort of engine, so if it's been driven as you say, it'll have fked that (because petrol doesn't have the lubrication properties needed), and the cost of replacement will probably write the car off (a 13 year old peugeot saloon car).

Is it blowing plumes of white smoke out the exhaust?

C

[lostkiwi]

Get rid of it as soon as possible.
The petrol will have caused damage to the pump and they are expensive to replace. Once they start to break up you're in a world of pain with replacing the entire fuel system.

[swisstoni]

I'd take the advice of the missfueling people. Borderline decision. I've done similar to a Citroen 2.0HDi in a distracted moment.
It was flushed out and a few bits changed by Citroen dealer and it ran faultlessly for years afterwards. Cost me about £400 IIRC.

[E30M3SE]

On a £500 2002 car drain the tank, change the fuel filter, unless it's an in tank type, refill with diesel and carry on. Don't forget to present you dumb-arse friend with the bill.

[anonymous-user]

it is just to get it going really i can sort out the filter changes later. is it worth to get the tank and injectors drainged or just write it off.

[Foliage]

Friend of mine did this with an old diesel escort (90s), we drained it down, filled it up with diesel and cracked on, it ran better afterwards tbh.

It does really depend on the fuel system but its a £500 car I wouldn't worry to much about it.

[CraigyMc]

Foliage said:

Friend of mine did this with an old diesel escort (90s), we drained it down, filled it up with diesel and cracked on, it ran better afterwards tbh.

It does really depend on the fuel system but its a £500 car I wouldn't worry to much about it.

The HDi engine is a common rail high pressure fuel system. The Escort isn't. Apples to oranges comparison.

[anonymous-user]

the thing is it will be 150 - 200 quid to sort and in reality is it worth it, from what i gather i could do it myself.

[dannyDC2]

On a £500 car I would just drain the tank, stick £20 of diesel in and see how it went.

[anonymous-user]

Friend Paid £150 (includes 20 quid worth of diesel) and car now running, so hopefully all not too bad.

I really don't undersatnd how people can switch off and put the wrong fuel in. (Knowing my luck i proably end up daoing it now)

[maxdb]

The Spruce goose said:

Friend Paid £150 (includes 20 quid worth of diesel) and car now running, so hopefully all not too bad.

I really don't undersatnd how people can switch off and put the wrong fuel in. (Knowing my luck i proably end up daoing it now)

It's beyond me how people manage to do it. Surely the colour of the nozzles are a give away..

[Vipers]

The Spruce goose said:

I really don't undersatnd how people can switch off and put the wrong fuel in. (Knowing my luck i proably end up daoing it now)

Apparantly the worse offenders are the police. They have so many similar make and model cars in both petrol and diesel.

[S0 What]

The price these missfuel experts charge makes me cringe, i charge £50 inc 2 gallons of fuel, unless it's a vehical i need to drop the tamk on (very VERY rare) it usually take under an hour to sort, quicker if the vehical uses a leccy lift/fuel pump.

[paintman]

Did the same trick on my Mercedes Sprinter some years ago. Brain was elsewhere & I wasn't paying attention.
Realised when it started running rough a few hundred yards later. Drained it, replaced filter & filled with diesel. (Used the petrol - £30 worth - in the RRC)
Never had any problems - so far - so drain it, change the filter & keep your fingers crossed!

Edited by paintman on Tuesday 1st September 22:44

[TheAngryDog]

Does it have a DIESEL sticker on the inside of the fuel filler flap?

[Dog Star]

What the hell?!?! What's all this "replace fuel system" and similar guff?

I've done it (several times). The GF has done it. The parents have done it. Several makes of car, both new and old, expensive and old barge. (Cars (diesel and petro) and bikes and long commutes - it happens).

Drain it, stick diesel in it. Drive it. Simple as that. It won't blow up. Your pump won't fail. Your seals won't perish. It's all bks.

There's some hysterical crap on this subject.

[paintman]

TheAngryDog said:

Does it have a DIESEL sticker on the inside of the fuel filler flap?

Yep. And I'd already owned it for around 5 years.

[morgrp]

Drain the petrol, bung a new diesel Filter on if you're feeling flush, if not, don't bother, stick some fresh diesel in it and run it - it'll sound like a bag of st for about 30seconds but soon as the diesel starts to circulate it'll be fine - honestly if it's worth 500quid who cares? Just do this and hope for the best - I've done this to few older cars where the owners have done the same thing and they always bounce back