Petrol in a diesel !!!!
Discussion
Evening,
I have a 2007 1.8 diesel Focus.
Yesterday whilst filling it i realised i had a green pump in my hand not a black one - bugger. In 20 years i have never made that mistake, i guess there is always a first. I put in about £22 worth in.
I managed to find an older post on Pistonheads suggesting if you were to fill the tank with diesel it should be ok as the petrol would be diluted ?
Does that wisdom still hold true ?
I drove it about 1 mile home and haven't used it since.
Thanks
I have a 2007 1.8 diesel Focus.
Yesterday whilst filling it i realised i had a green pump in my hand not a black one - bugger. In 20 years i have never made that mistake, i guess there is always a first. I put in about £22 worth in.
I managed to find an older post on Pistonheads suggesting if you were to fill the tank with diesel it should be ok as the petrol would be diluted ?
Does that wisdom still hold true ?
I drove it about 1 mile home and haven't used it since.
Thanks
A third of a tank, I’d drain it completely, wouldn’t worry about flushing it, and refill with diesel. Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil as lubricant if you like, probably won’t help but it’s like saying a prayer and hocus pocus. Keep your fingers crossed, you’ll probably be OK. The older the car the better.
cologne2792 said:
Millions of years ago, before non-waxing diesel was a thing in WInter, my dad used to near fill his PC Cresta diesel and top it off with a couple of gallons of 4 star.
I appreciate we've moved on and complexities have increased about 1000 % but the principle was fine.
How is that of any use or relevance to the op or his question ?I appreciate we've moved on and complexities have increased about 1000 % but the principle was fine.
Assuming 55 / 60 litre tank, £22 at an average of 1.35 a litre would be a little over 16 litres. Yes, people used to put a bit of petrol to help with cold starts. 5% ratio is thrown around, whether there's any truth to that, I don't know.
Given the information, I'd get it drained. It's not worth the hassle.
Given the information, I'd get it drained. It's not worth the hassle.
Twig62 said:
cologne2792 said:
Millions of years ago, before non-waxing diesel was a thing in WInter, my dad used to near fill his PC Cresta diesel and top it off with a couple of gallons of 4 star.
I appreciate we've moved on and complexities have increased about 1000 % but the principle was fine.
How is that of any use or relevance to the op or his question ?I appreciate we've moved on and complexities have increased about 1000 % but the principle was fine.
Jimmy No Hands said:
Assuming 55 / 60 litre tank, £22 at an average of 1.35 a litre would be a little over 16 litres. Yes, people used to put a bit of petrol to help with cold starts. 5% ratio is thrown around, whether there's any truth to that, I don't know.
Given the information, I'd get it drained. It's not worth the hassle.
IIRC, a mk2 focus has a 50l tank. Which makes it about 1/3 petrol to 2/3’s diesel, which is stretching what’s safe IMO.Given the information, I'd get it drained. It's not worth the hassle.
That said, it is an 07 focus, it is not worth a huge amount, and if it has only been driven a mile, brimming it and carrying on until it’s about 2/3’a full and brining it again, it’s is likely it will survive for a car that has not got a huge amount of life left in it.
Megaflow said:
IIRC, a mk2 focus has a 50l tank. Which makes it about 1/3 petrol to 2/3’s diesel, which is stretching what’s safe IMO.
That said, it is an 07 focus, it is not worth a huge amount, and if it has only been driven a mile, brimming it and carrying on until it’s about 2/3’a full and brining it again, it’s is likely it will survive for a car that has not got a huge amount of life left in it.
What's the correlation between car age and it standing up to being misfuelled?That said, it is an 07 focus, it is not worth a huge amount, and if it has only been driven a mile, brimming it and carrying on until it’s about 2/3’a full and brining it again, it’s is likely it will survive for a car that has not got a huge amount of life left in it.
It's what, £200 quid to drop the contents of the tank and then you're certain, it might last another ten years with maintenance.
But when you need a new fuel pump, injectors, and Christ knows whatever else you'll wish you had just got it sorted properly.
Jimmy No Hands said:
What's the correlation between car age and it standing up to being misfuelled?
It's what, £200 quid to drop the contents of the tank and then you're certain, it might last another ten years with maintenance.
But when you need a new fuel pump, injectors, and Christ knows whatever else you'll wish you had just got it sorted properly.
It’s a 14 year old car. The average age of a scrapped car in the U.K. is 13.9 years according to the SMMT. It might survive another 10 years, but statistically it is highly unlikely it has got much more than a couple of years in. How lucky does the OP feel?It's what, £200 quid to drop the contents of the tank and then you're certain, it might last another ten years with maintenance.
But when you need a new fuel pump, injectors, and Christ knows whatever else you'll wish you had just got it sorted properly.
Megaflow said:
Jimmy No Hands said:
What's the correlation between car age and it standing up to being misfuelled?
It's what, £200 quid to drop the contents of the tank and then you're certain, it might last another ten years with maintenance.
But when you need a new fuel pump, injectors, and Christ knows whatever else you'll wish you had just got it sorted properly.
It’s a 14 year old car. The average age of a scrapped car in the U.K. is 13.9 years according to the SMMT. It might survive another 10 years, but statistically it is highly unlikely it has got much more than a couple of years in. How lucky does the OP feel?It's what, £200 quid to drop the contents of the tank and then you're certain, it might last another ten years with maintenance.
But when you need a new fuel pump, injectors, and Christ knows whatever else you'll wish you had just got it sorted properly.
It is on 160k miles and the bite on the clutch is high.
bearman68 said:
Drain it - easy enough to do. Run your lawn mower on the stuff that comes out.
Once you do this, you'll be glad you drained it.
Indeed. Strange mentality to not want to fix it, I suppose this is why we're blessed with such an attractive second hand car market (though debatable at the moment) because people would sooner scrap and get something else. The mind boggles. Once you do this, you'll be glad you drained it.
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