Diesel In A Petrol

[omega 82]

the mrs runs a w plate 1200 PETROL corsa and tonight she phoned me up telling me she had put 10 pounds of DIESEL in the car,so went and towed her home so tommorrow ive got to get it out so whats the best way?.as there wasnt much petrol in it i did think of filling it up and running it but then i bottled it as it might not work.

to remove the tank ive got to remove the exhaust to drop the tank then a couple of straps and i think thats it,but then i thought there must be a sender unit[maybe under the seat] and thought maybe i can get it out this way.

any thoughts?suggestions?

thanks

[welshpug 1,666]

remove a pipe off the fuel rail and direct it into a suitable container, turn the ignition on and it should run the fuel pump, leave it till its run dry.

[Tom Fenton 1,548]

In the past I've pumped it out using a seperate fuel pump with hose down the filler neck.

 

If there wasn't much petrol in it get it in a diesel car if you have one

[omega 82]

remove a pipe off the fuel rail and direct it into a suitable container, turn the ignition on and it should run the fuel pump, leave it till its run dry.

 

but wouldnt diesel damage the petrol pump?

[jeremy 71]

I would have chanced it, but once you get going ideally you want to be on a longish run to help mix the diesel and petrol as otherwise this will allow the all the diesel to settle in the bottom of the tank and you would be stuffed.

[harryskid 193]

I did this once on a nissen micra a garage lent me. I disconnected the fuel line and drained the tank, luckely i only put in a few quids worth. I cleaned all the lines by blowing them out, cleaned the plugs and put new petrol in. When i started it , you should have seen and smelt the smoke and it sounded horrible. After a few good blips on the throttle it righted its self much to my relief and next day i gave back to the garage as quick as i could. Some of my mates told me you should not be able to get a diesel pump nozzle into a petrol tank neck as they are diff sizes but i did.

[pug_ham 245 3 Cars]

but wouldnt diesel damage the petrol pump?

Can't see why, diessel has better lubrication properties than petrol & its not really much thicker to cause any pump overload imo.

 

Graham.

[dumbiron 0]

Some of my mates told me you should not be able to get a diesel pump nozzle into a petrol tank neck as they are diff sizes but i did.

 

I discovered this when i went for my first fill up after swapping the V8 engine in the Range Rover for a TDi

[Batfink 201]

remove a pipe off the fuel rail and direct it into a suitable container, turn the ignition on and it should run the fuel pump, leave it till its run dry.

 

this is the way to do it. My brother did this to his old corsa and as it was a carb model the pump was in the tank. I disconnected it just after the tank and drained into a plastic bottle. Took about 2 hours.

Then brimmed the tank with petrol before starting, then started it. It smoked a lot at first but was fine.

Its worse if you put petrol in a diesel.

[andyjstone 6]

but wouldnt diesel damage the petrol pump?

 

No, should be OK, it's the other way around that's a problem - putting petrol in a diesel and trying to start it isn't much fun

[welshpug 1,666]

Indeed, many diesels run lift pumps, these are simply intank (or often external) pumps like petrol engines run anyway, its the (VERY) high pressure rotary mechanical pumps and the injectors at the engine end of a Diesel vehicle that don't like petrol due to its different non-lubricating properties.

[omega 82]

i hate vauxhalls

thought id take welshpugs advice and take the fuel pipe of and let it pump out but no it wont work and i dont know why

theres two pipes that are screwed into the fuel rail took them off and they smell of petrol so ive got the right pipes,switched the ignition on and ....nothing comes out.

so go to plan b remove tank but to do that ive got to drop the exhaust system,can get the clamps undone but cant get the exhaust to split as theres lots of exhaust paste round the joints and dont want to wreck the exhaust giving it some hammer so

plan c remove back seat,remove sender stick a pipe in and suck it out...and will it come , will it bugger keep getting lots of mouth fulls of fuel but cant get it to flow.

plan d looked on ebay for a syphon pump and im going to collect one tomorrow.

so im cold wet and stink of fuel and not a happy bunny.

[Alastairh 47]

I've done it in the past as welshpug says on my mates s15, but the pump wasn't ignition live. So just rigged up a spare battery and direct fed it 12v. New plugs and fuel filter and sensible driving for 100 miles and it was fine.

 

Al

[stuart1298 6]

petrol in a diesel will dry the injectors, and pump out, but a bit of diesel in petrol wount damage any thing, just run s bit lumpy, might be worth changing plugs and fuel filter

[welshpug 1,666]

sounds like the pump only gets ignition live when cranking and running then, I'd do as Alistair suggested, give the pump 12v directly, still using the fuel pipes off the rail to empty into a suitable container.

[CaptainK 11]

remove a pipe off the fuel rail and direct it into a suitable container, turn the ignition on and it should run the fuel pump, leave it till its run dry.

I unfortunately did this in my 205 as I was driving home one day (the hose from the fuel filter came loose). I can confirm it pumps the petrol out rather quickly doing it this way (I lost about a third of a tank or more in about 5-10 seconds)

[omega 82]

so removed sender unit got the syphon pump out and 15 mins later the fuels out.

got a couple of cans of petrol crossed my fingures and fired her up.there was a bit of smoke and it ran rough for a couple of mins then settled down okay.took her for a thrash down the road and alls good.

did think of powering up the pump as suggested but its a multiplug with 4 wires going into itand as i didnt no what each wire did i thought id leave it.

but thanks for all your help/suggestions.

cheers

[harryskid 193]

Would not running the fuel pump this way cause the pump to over heat or cause damage to it?

[Tom Fenton 1,548]

Would not running the fuel pump this way cause the pump to over heat or cause damage to it?

No, as otherwise all cars would conk out after 15 mins on the motorway etc?

[Alastairh 47]

Bingo!

[harryskid 193]

No, as otherwise all cars would conk out after 15 mins on the motorway etc?

 

I was told this by a so called mechanic i use to use. Another reason for me to hate the bastard!