Wrong Fuel In Diesel Car :-(

[notamondayfan 44]

Hello,

 

I'm just after some advice, my mazda6 diesel broke down yesterday, at the time I suspected the bottom end had gone due to a large knocking and the car wouldn't run properly at all. I knew the oil was topped up, and when I checked it again after it had stopped it was indeed at the top mark. So we called out the rac and immediately they said it sounded like we had put petrol in. When they arrived they started the car and it ran fine! When he drained some of the fuel you could definitely smell petrol mixed with diesel. The rac bloke said the knocking was probably the petrol detonating, would this be correct?

 

So anyway what sort of damage could I expect? We had it towed to our local garage and will see what they say on Monday.

 

Also, it's my wifes car, and she filled it up 3 days ago and since then we have maybe done 20 miles. We have the receipt and it shows we put diesel in the car. If it does turn out the filling stations fault, wether it a tanker issue (like what happened in catterick a few weeks ago) or perhaps a dodgy batch of fuel (if I remember correctly this happened a few years ago and affected some diesel cars), what would anyones advice be?

We have been back to the garage and told them what happened to us, as we wanted to inform them incase there is a problem with the fuel and to avoid any further breakdowns, but they can't do anything until the fuel tanks are spot checked.

 

Anyway, as always, any advice is always welcome. Luckily the 205 is running well, and the baby seat us a pretty good fit too so at least we're not totally stuck!!

 

Cheers,

 

Dean

[dcc 855]

always been under the impression diseasle's can run a certain amount of petrol, infact, I have put 5litres into a 3/4 tank in the landy before now to 'clean' it out. I would just dump the tank, fill with diesel and go from there.

[steve@cornwall 100]

Dean, would you mind saying which brand of fuel you filled with? a friend has had a similar problem over the weekend.

[Liquid_106 97 1 Cars]

http://www.bbc.co.uk...kshire-18503084

 

Anything to do with this?

 

Edit: Just read it - it's diesel into petrol tanks, but proves it can be done.

Edited June 24, 2012 by Liquid_106

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

I did this with an escort turbo diesel once and it ran kind of ok lots of smoke and loss of power but once on the motorway was fine and as above cleaned out the whole system although once the engine had gone cold it wouldnt start again. Once all the fuel was sucked out of the tank through the fuel filter and topped back up with diesel it ran fine. Petrol wont really do any real damage to a diesel engine however the diesel in a petrol engine is a complete different scenario and can ruin it.

[SurGie 54]

Petrol in diesels wont usually give you any problems at all, its when diesel goes into petrol cars is where the problems start and a rebuilt will be needed.

 

I would clear out the tank, then put some diesel in and try starting the car up, once the remaining petrol has gone all should be fine as said.

[notamondayfan 44]

OK thanks for the reasurance guys, I just hope it is only just petrol, and not the bottom end!

 

I was always under the impression that petrol in diesels was worse than the other way around, with petrol being more combustable.

 

Also I have been doing a quick browse on the net, and a lot of people say that the fuel pump might need replacing, along with other parts that rely upon the oil in the diesel to lubricate the parts?

 

Dean, would you mind saying which brand of fuel you filled with? a friend has had a similar problem over the weekend.

 

I don't really want to say where we filled up from until I have had the mechanic look over the car and see what he says, I don't like pointing the finger unless I'm certain. I will let you know what the mechanic says tomorrow.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Dean

[welshpug 1,657]

Petrol in a modern diesel is not good, it'll kill the seals pump+injectors quite quickly, as with the older Lucas pump, the newer stuff still relies on the Diesel fuel for lubrication, as well as the fact that it burns very differently.

[Cameron 16]

If it's just a splash of petrol you can get away with brimming the tank with Diesel, any significant amount and you should get it drained.

 

I put about 0.5l of petrol in my Mondeo once in a mega-derp moment, brimmed it with Diesel and it ran absolutely fine. I think anything over 1-2l I would have drained rather than risk starting the engine, and any amount of Diesel in a petrol tank.

[notamondayfan 44]

Yea we put around 25 litres in, and we will definatly drain the tank, it's not worth the risk for £30 of fuel!

 

It's a 2004 car, so do you think we might have problems with the pump and seals? Is there anyway to check, or will the just gradually die as they degrade?

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

it will be fine after you drained the fuel tank dont worry about seals and whatnot

[notamondayfan 44]

The bottom ends f***ed!

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

so was it petrol in the fuel that caused it or was it normal diesel and this is all just coincidence?

[notamondayfan 44]

I think the RAC guy got it wrong, and there probably wasn't any petrol in the tank.

[unariciflocos 49 1 Cars]

Petrol in diesels wont usually give you any problems at all, its when diesel goes into petrol cars is where the problems start and a rebuilt will be needed.

 

I would clear out the tank, then put some diesel in and try starting the car up, once the remaining petrol has gone all should be fine as said.

 

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! It's the other way around. Don't mislead people if you don't know what you're talking about.

 

In diesel cars the fuel also lubricates the pump, petrol will not do that, and with a static compression ratio of 18:1 I expect any or all of the following: shattered pistons, bent rods, bent crank.

[welshpug 1,657]

indeed, most older petrol engines will chug along on Diesel and smoke a bit, not ideal in a modern egr and catalytic converted equipped engine, but an old carbed chugger it'll keep on chugging.

 

a friend acquired 70 litres of petrol from his boss's wife's brand new Diesel Mercedes, this was obviously contaminated with diesel, but the 92 RB30 carbed Nissan patrol loved the stuff, just puffing out bits of white smoke as some diesel hit the cylinders we weren't going to grumble at free petrol when the thing did 18 mpg!

[SurGie 54]

If you say so, i have had to sort this problem out before on an older car and all was fine, although it only went a few miles and there was some diesel already in the tank. Years ago (1996 ish) a friend accidentally put diesel in his recently purchased allegro petrol car and the engine was fubared after a few miles.

 

I did say usually, there are always variables in any situation.

[notamondayfan 44]

so could putting petrol in a diesel destroy the bottom end of an engine?

[welshpug 1,657]

I would imagine it'd stop running before it would do any bearing damage.

[GilesW 41]

From having seen a diesel running on a lot of petrol I think it could certainly knock the @rse out of it.

Edited June 26, 2012 by GilesW

[unariciflocos 49 1 Cars]

The only chance you stand is if you realize your mistake before the diesel in the filter and pipes is used up. As soon as pure petrol hits the combustion chamber all hell breaks loose. The bottom end is most certainly fubared.

[notamondayfan 44]

OK this is getting interesting, I didn't realise it would f*** things up so much.

 

I have phone the customer services of the garage, and they say they haven't had any other complaints yet, or know of any problems.

 

Is there a way to test the fuel to see if petrol is present?

 

 

Cheers,

 

Dean

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

smell it it will be obvious