Petrol in a diesel car!!

[D15CO D4VE]

Just had a call off a friend his sister has put £30 worth of petrol in her diesel 08 plate punto.
I can get the car recovered but could anyone tell me how i could drain the petrol out myself??? and could it be used in anything still?

cheers, Dave

[V88Dicky]

About 5 feet of garden hose and an empty 5 gallon container. Syphon it out, fill to the brim with diesel, and you should be fine.

[D15CO D4VE]

would I get the hose into an 08 punto would it not have mesh or anything down there?

[shunaphil]

If the car hasnt been started AT ALL you should be able to drain the tank (pull a fuel line if there is no obvious drain plug - you might have to rig up an extension pipe to get ALL the petrol out). The petrol will be no use for anything, other than maybe adding some 2 stroke oil and using in a strimmer.

If the car has run at all you will need to swap any fuel filters, and its possible the fuel pump is shredded (although this is much less common than some would have you believe). Depending on the cars fuel system you might need to prime/bleed the fuel system.

Once you are confident you have got all the petrol out, put in some diesel, and get to a garage as soon as you can to fill up.

Tell them not to worry - i bet it happens to hundreds of people every day!

[CoolHands]

just fill up with diesel and drive, it'll be fine. I (well, my missus) did the same on a diesel ford focus.

[D15CO D4VE]

Thanks for the replies I think ill get her to tow it to me and give it a go whats the worst that can happen (he says with a worried face)

[catman]

I don't think that you can "just fill it up" with diesel, 5 gallons of petrol is a huge amount. As said, if it has been run, it should be properly flushed out.

If not, then she'll get away with just having the tank drained.

Tim