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Author: Subject: Bugger, Bugger, Bugger - petrol in a diesel
nick205

posted on 10/9/12 at 09:56 AM Reply With Quote
Bugger, Bugger, Bugger - petrol in a diesel

Feeling a total idiot! Manage to put petrol in my diesel Passat yesterday

Unfortunately I drove it a few hundred yards before it konked out so petrol right through the system. It's being sorted this morning by my usual garage so fingers crossed for no lasting damage.

Numpty sticker firmly attached to forehead for the next few days






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RichardK

posted on 10/9/12 at 10:02 AM Reply With Quote
Should be ok, it's the other way round when bad things happen.

Cheers

Rich





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phelpsa

posted on 10/9/12 at 10:04 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by RichardK
Should be ok, it's the other way round when bad things happen.

Cheers

Rich


Really?

Petrol in diesel causes fuel pump and injector issues, the other way round just causes a lot of smoke in my experience!






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MikeRJ

posted on 10/9/12 at 10:10 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by RichardK
Should be ok, it's the other way round when bad things happen.

Cheers

Rich


No it isn't, petrol in a diesel is far worse than diesel in a petrol.

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jollygreengiant

posted on 10/9/12 at 10:15 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
quote:
Originally posted by RichardK
Should be ok, it's the other way round when bad things happen.

Cheers

Rich


No it isn't, petrol in a diesel is far worse than diesel in a petrol.


Correct there. Unleaded, even a small amount, nadgers up the seals in the fuel line, eventually leading to, worst case scenario, injection pump failure.





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zetec

posted on 10/9/12 at 10:29 AM Reply With Quote
Depends on the system used. My old Ford Focus TDDI went 5 miles down the motorway before dying. System flushed out and still nothing wrong 30K later. Something said for old tech diesels.





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emwmarine

posted on 10/9/12 at 10:32 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by jollygreengiant
quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
quote:
Originally posted by RichardK
Should be ok, it's the other way round when bad things happen.

Cheers

Rich


No it isn't, petrol in a diesel is far worse than diesel in a petrol.


Correct there. Unleaded, even a small amount, nadgers up the seals in the fuel line, eventually leading to, worst case scenario, injection pump failure.


Don't agree. People used to put up to 10% petrol in diesel in winter before winter diesel additives became more effective.

My good lady put 15 quid worth of petrol in our diesel disco. Having then filled it up fully with diesel it drove a bit smily but was ok. Ran for another 100k ok.

But even a small bit of diesel in petrol will kill the injection system and the Cat if it gets through.





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RichardK

posted on 10/9/12 at 11:42 AM Reply With Quote
I guess Nick will let us know who's right, I know I put about 2 litres of petrol in my octy vrs diesel early on in it's life but as soon as I realised I brimmed it with diesel and never had any issues.

Maybe I was lucky?

Cheers

Rich





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chillis

posted on 10/9/12 at 11:49 AM Reply With Quote
Yeh I've done that er twice
Second time managed to get from uxbridge to dunstable before I even re-alised. Got me home but was V difficult to get started the next day.
Just drained it out and put fresh in but it was painful having to bin 30 odd litres of super unleaded!

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D Beddows

posted on 10/9/12 at 12:05 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by RichardK
I guess Nick will let us know who's right, I know I put about 2 litres of petrol in my octy vrs diesel early on in it's life but as soon as I realised I brimmed it with diesel and never had any issues.

Maybe I was lucky?

Cheers

Rich



Naaaah I've done exactly the same with my Golf PD TDI (only I put just under 6 litres in), did exactly the same as you afterwards and kept it brimmed for a couple of weeks - 10,000 miles later it's never even hiccuped.

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nick205

posted on 10/9/12 at 12:05 PM Reply With Quote
Garage just called to say all OK - PHEW!

Had to take the low pressure pump out of the tank to get the fuel out, but a full flush through showed no debris in the system and it's running perfectly. Fuel filter replaced as a matter of course.

Off to collect now!






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BenB

posted on 10/9/12 at 12:29 PM Reply With Quote
I think people panic too early. My mate filled up his (almost empty) Transit Connect diesel van with RON95 and drove all the way from Leeds to London! Wouldn't start after switching it off- presumably the sparks weren't doing much and it was just dieselling on the petrol. A quick drain and all was good. No signs of problems even a year later when he sold it on.
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ian locostzx9rc2

posted on 10/9/12 at 01:17 PM Reply With Quote
Modern Common rail diesels dont like it have seen loads of car which are drained correctly new filters fitted etc then 3 to 6 months down the line high pressure pumps destroy themselves and metal filings deposit all through the fuel system ...
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nick205

posted on 10/9/12 at 03:47 PM Reply With Quote
Mine's a PD (pre-common rail) motor so hopefully less sensitive in this respect! It seems to be running OK, but time will tell.






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MRLuke

posted on 10/9/12 at 04:02 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by ian locostzx9rc2
Modern Common rail diesels dont like it have seen loads of car which are drained correctly new filters fitted etc then 3 to 6 months down the line high pressure pumps destroy themselves and metal filings deposit all through the fuel system ...


Isnt that why you have a fuel filter?

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MikeRJ

posted on 10/9/12 at 04:04 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by emwmarine

But even a small bit of diesel in petrol will kill the injection system and the Cat if it gets through.


Sorry but this simply isn't true. Too much diesel will certainly stop a petrol engine from running, but it's is extremely unlikely to cause any permanent damage to the injection system. Enough petrol in a common rail diesel is almost guaranteed to cause expensive damage if not caught very quickly, since the high pressure pumps rely on the lubricity of the diesel to work.

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ian locostzx9rc2

posted on 10/9/12 at 04:50 PM Reply With Quote
Fuel filter filters from f/tank only high pressure pump goes directly to injectors so if pump drys out due to petrol in system the damage is done!
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StevieB

posted on 10/9/12 at 05:03 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by emwmarine
quote:
Originally posted by jollygreengiant
quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
quote:
Originally posted by RichardK
Should be ok, it's the other way round when bad things happen.

Cheers

Rich


No it isn't, petrol in a diesel is far worse than diesel in a petrol.


Correct there. Unleaded, even a small amount, nadgers up the seals in the fuel line, eventually leading to, worst case scenario, injection pump failure.


Don't agree. People used to put up to 10% petrol in diesel in winter before winter diesel additives became more effective.

My good lady put 15 quid worth of petrol in our diesel disco. Having then filled it up fully with diesel it drove a bit smily but was ok. Ran for another 100k ok.

But even a small bit of diesel in petrol will kill the injection system and the Cat if it gets through.


Yep - I did pretty mucht he same thing in Penrith once then brimmed it with Diesel once I'd realised my mistake then drove it home quite nicely to York without problems (I stopped again at Scotch Corner and filled it up again with Diesel to thin it out more).

If I'm honest, it actually drove a little bit better with the petrol mix, and certainly did another 50k without any issues.






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Fatgadget

posted on 10/9/12 at 05:12 PM Reply With Quote
I thought it was impossible to insert a petrol pump nozzle into a diesel tank nowadays?
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Davegtst

posted on 10/9/12 at 05:45 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Fatgadget
I thought it was impossible to insert a petrol pump nozzle into a diesel tank nowadays?


Hell no, it's how i make my living. Puttting diesel into a petrol is alot harder due to a diesel nozzle being wider than the petrol one but it still hapens. I've done 4 cars today, keep em coming



Fuel contaminations

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Dave Ashurst

posted on 10/9/12 at 07:16 PM Reply With Quote
I don't know why but my petrol car runs noticeably better with a dash of diesel in the tank.
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NS Dev

posted on 10/9/12 at 07:58 PM Reply With Quote
friend of mine put petrol in his common rail diesel, tank almost dry before he put it in..............it made it about 2 miles, said he wondered why it cut out a couple of times.........

new high pressure pump required, I saw the innards of the old one......... absolute scrap.

[Edited on 10/9/12 by NS Dev]





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JoelP

posted on 10/9/12 at 08:05 PM Reply With Quote
I was stood at the pump once cursing it because it wouldnt go in That was shortly after i went back to petrol after years of diesels. Very lucky near miss!





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SteveWalker

posted on 10/9/12 at 08:42 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Fatgadget
I thought it was impossible to insert a petrol pump nozzle into a diesel tank nowadays?


No. Diesel nozzles are the same size as leaded petrol ones used to be, so it is perfectly possible to put the smaller unleaded nozzle in by mistake.

I think you can buy something that fits into the nozzle and prevents a nozzle being inserted unless it is big enough to operate the release mechanism.

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nick205

posted on 10/9/12 at 08:49 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Davegtst
quote:
Originally posted by Fatgadget
I thought it was impossible to insert a petrol pump nozzle into a diesel tank nowadays?


Hell no, it's how i make my living. Puttting diesel into a petrol is alot harder due to a diesel nozzle being wider than the petrol one but it still hapens. I've done 4 cars today, keep em coming



Fuel contaminations



Interesting.

As someone who deals with this professionally can you comment on experience of likely/possible long term damage?

Car in question is a 57 plate Passat 2.0 TDI PD, no DPF. It was driven 2-300 yards out of the filling station before it died. First thought was I'd stalled it so tried re-starting, but immediately obvious it wasn't going anywhere so pushed/towed from there. The fuel light had just come on and I brimmed it with unleaded at 3pm Sunday. It was drained and cleaned 10am Monday.






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