1L of petrol in a diesel - 2010 mazda 3 - 2.2tdi

[theog87]

I was running around today with not much sleep due to the kid being ill and stupidity put 1L of Salisbury petrol in the tank.

I've heard a few stories about a little bit being ok, and in some very cold countires they add a touch of petrol for xyz reasons. Its 6c outside so not sure if this falls under same bracket haha.

I followed up by putting a full load of diesel in after (Sainsbury's again). Tank only had 30miles left, so safe to say the fair chunk is diesel e.g. 50L or so.

Just wondering if anyone can recommend an additive or likes of to help out!?!

So far done 30muns driving and seems ok.

Any thoughts generally?

[bobtail4x4]

with a full tank of derv it wont be a problem.

[anonymous-user]

It’ll probably be fine, just fill the tank with diesel to dilute it. Petrol is thinner than diesel so a small amount works as a flushing agent. The big problems are diesel in a petrol.

[theog87]

bobtail4x4 said:

with a full tank of derv it wont be a problem.

Ok good to hear

[theog87]

Thornaby said:

It’ll probably be fine, just fill the tank with diesel to dilute it. Petrol is thinner than diesel so a small amount works as a flushing agent. The big problems are diesel in a petrol.

Could it potentially clean it?

Im asking the wife to fill up with diesel when tank is half full for the next 4 tanks. Hopefully that should reduce damage / wear

[ging84]

It won't do any harm, but if the next thing to go wrong with your engine through normal wear and tear by pure chance happens within the next few weeks or months you'll always be left wondering.

[theog87]

ging84 said:

It won't do any harm, but if the next thing to go wrong with your engine through normal wear and tear by pure chance happens within the next few weeks or months you'll always be left wondering.

Do you know of any 'extra lube' type thing i can add in to reduce issues?

[Matt_E_Mulsion]

Don't give it a second thought, 1 litre won't hurt anything in a full tank of diesel.

[colin_p]

In years gone by it was something that was quite normal to stop diesel 'waxing' in the winter.

But these days injection pressures are much higher and tolerances finer and of course we have winter diesel.

Probably won't do any harm.

[Megaflow]

Thornaby said:

It’ll probably be fine, just fill the tank with diesel to dilute it. Petrol is thinner than diesel so a small amount works as a flushing agent. The big problems are diesel in a petrol.

The OP’s car will be fine, 2% dilution is nothing.

The second part is very much not true though. Putting diesel in a petrol, the worst you will do, if you can keep it running well enough for long enough it poison the cat.

Petrol in a diesel on the other hand will destroy the HP fuel pump and injectors eventually. That is because the diesel fuel lubricates the fuel pump and the injectors, petrol has no lubricating properties, so it damages them.

[theog87]

Megaflow said:

Thornaby said:

It’ll probably be fine, just fill the tank with diesel to dilute it. Petrol is thinner than diesel so a small amount works as a flushing agent. The big problems are diesel in a petrol.

The OP’s car will be fine, 2% dilution is nothing.

The second part is very much not true though. Putting diesel in a petrol, the worst you will do, if you can keep it running well enough for long enough it poison the cat.

Petrol in a diesel on the other hand will destroy the HP fuel pump and injectors eventually. That is because the diesel fuel lubricates the fuel pump and the injectors, petrol has no lubricating properties, so it damages them.

Ok so worst comes to worst, i see they sell used fuel pump fir £70ish. Not sure how much injectors would be, but doesn't sound toooo expensive!?

[paintman]

Did you start & drive the vehicle after putting the petrol in or realise your mistake & fill up with diesel before starting?
If the latter that dilution will have no effect on the system.

[Megaflow]

theog87 said:

Megaflow said:

Thornaby said:

It’ll probably be fine, just fill the tank with diesel to dilute it. Petrol is thinner than diesel so a small amount works as a flushing agent. The big problems are diesel in a petrol.

The OP’s car will be fine, 2% dilution is nothing.

The second part is very much not true though. Putting diesel in a petrol, the worst you will do, if you can keep it running well enough for long enough it poison the cat.

Petrol in a diesel on the other hand will destroy the HP fuel pump and injectors eventually. That is because the diesel fuel lubricates the fuel pump and the injectors, petrol has no lubricating properties, so it damages them.

Ok so worst comes to worst, i see they sell used fuel pump fir £70ish. Not sure how much injectors would be, but doesn't sound toooo expensive!?

Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you, with 2% petrol, you’ll be just fine. If there is any build up in the system, it might even do it some good.

[GreenV8S]

Thornaby said:

The big problems are diesel in a petrol.

That's backwards. Diesel in a petrol is unlikely to cause any catastrophic problem, but petrol in a diesel can easily destroy the entire fuel system and effectively write the car off. But one liter of petrol mixed into a tank of diesel is very unlikely to cause any problems as long as the engine wasn't started until after the diesel was added.

[Zad]

As (I think) petrol is less dense than diesel, the petrol should float on top of the diesel, which is pumped out of the bottom of the tank. This will give it plenty of time to slosh around and mix before any relatively pure petrol is taken up. One vague possibility is that the petrol may strip some dirt and deposits from the tank or pipes, and deposit it in the fuel filter, so if you get any hesitation or refusing to start then it may be an idea to change the fuel filter before any more drastic action.

[theog87]

Zad said:

As (I think) petrol is less dense than diesel, the petrol should float on top of the diesel, which is pumped out of the bottom of the tank. This will give it plenty of time to slosh around and mix before any relatively pure petrol is taken up. One vague possibility is that the petrol may strip some dirt and deposits from the tank or pipes, and deposit it in the fuel filter, so if you get any hesitation or refusing to start then it may be an idea to change the fuel filter before any more drastic action.

Ok interesting. Im no mechanic. What would you think that would cost to change the fuel filter? Am i right in saying that comes as part of a standard service?

[DeadCatWalking]

Whatever you do don't put central heating oil (kerosene) mixed with 1 part in 20 of engine oil in your diesel tank or you'll save shed loads of money on fuel costs with no adverse impact even on common rail diesels.

[Gulf7]

theog87 said:

Ok interesting. Im no mechanic. What would you think that would cost to change the fuel filter? Am i right in saying that comes as part of a standard service?

Fuel filters are cheap. You could even change it yourself (I did on our old diesel CRV). It's not hard and I'm sure you could find a YouTube video to watch first.

[theog87]

Gulf7 said:

theog87 said:

Ok interesting. Im no mechanic. What would you think that would cost to change the fuel filter? Am i right in saying that comes as part of a standard service?

Fuel filters are cheap. You could even change it yourself (I did on our old diesel CRV). It's not hard and I'm sure you could find a YouTube video to watch first.

Interesting, il ask a mate as he loves this kinda stuff.

[DeadCatWalking]

OMG, 1 litre of petrol in a diesel?? Well that's fooked then. If only petrol was a hydrocarbon like diesel that would burn away perfectly well once diluted you'd be fine but given that petrol is incombustible I reckon you're stuffed.