I put petrol in a diesel car.

Page 1 / 2
cate13, Dec 9, 5:38am
Stupid i know. But I was in a hurry and forgot to tell the attendant I use diesel. Ididn't fill it up.The car is still running ok, just slower. What to do! Should I just put more diesel in! Help!

alan1111, Dec 9, 5:41am
What sort of vehicle and how much petrol you stick in!

cate13, Dec 9, 5:47am
It's a Toyota Corolla. I only put $10 worth in. I feel so stupid.

gunhand, Dec 9, 6:01am
How much was in it at the time of putting not quite 5ltrs in it! Im guessing quite empty.You really don't want to be running petrol through a diesel motor. Im no excpert but i wonder if filling with diesel would help dilute it. Mind you it sounds like you have it running through the systems already.
Last diesel I know of to have petrol put in it blew up big time causing over 10k worth of damage to a Merc.But they kept driving while it was going funny as well.
Good luck with the outcome. Your not the first and won't be the last to do it.
I put petrol into a diesel as well but new it before it was drivin. Plenty of diesel in it first though. Tank was drained after a 1km trip to garage and no probs at all. Apart from embrassment.

carmedic, Dec 9, 6:03am
what year is it!
And what ratio petrol to diesel are we talking!

mrfxit, Dec 9, 6:07am
PARK IT NOW, DON'T DRIVE IT any more . OK!

THe tank MUST be drained
Fuel lines cleaned
Fuel filters changed
TOTALLY fresh diesel FUEL put in the entire system BEFORE it gets started again . YES . DO you UNDERSTAND

At the stage you have taken it to, I would be doing an oil change as well BEFORE starting it again

It 'may' already be too late AND . it 'may' be ok after a clean out.

DO you UNDERSTAND!

Petrol KILLS diesel engines . OK

Sometimes the real damage won't show up for a few months.
Sometimes you can get away with being so STUPID.

austingtir, Dec 9, 6:07am
I would either brim it off with diesel or dump the current tank and refill.Obviously the preferrable thing is to dump the current tank and refill.

If its driving o.k i would probably risk it.$10 is just on the verge for me of going past the point that it will be real problem.

If its a near new corolla dont drive it just dump it and refill.If its an old one without the commonrail its probably o.k

mrfxit, Dec 9, 6:08am
Clearly enough that an older diesel engine like that HAS noticed.

bwg11, Dec 9, 6:10am
Done it myself twice. I am told the oil companies say up to 15% is OK in an older non-common rail diesel. I used 20% in a old Prado without problems. $10 is about 4 and a half litres, (roughly 10% of your tank capacity) I would just fill it up with diesel and forget about it.

kevymtnz, Dec 9, 6:10am
lol just put $20 diesel in and u be fine

splinter67, Dec 9, 6:12am
At least there's someone on here that knows about diesel engines just waiting for the flashlube salesman to come along to pedal his magical cure

cate13, Dec 9, 6:13am
Thank you for the hlepful and not so helpful comments. Mrfixt I have already acknowledged I did something stupid. I'm only human and frankly everyone makes mistakes. I have already beaten myself up enough without you getting stuck in as well.

dent, Dec 9, 6:18am
Cate13 what year corolla is it! This makes a diffrence to what you need to do next.

mrfxit, Dec 9, 6:19am
Diesel is a very light OIL
It's THAT oil that is what lubricates the injector pump.
Diesel is fired by compression only (no spark plugs)

Petrol is a very highly refined light weight liquid almost totally devoid of anything resembling oil.
Petrol is fired ONLY by spark.

So, you have drastically thinned out the non volatile diesel with petrol thus removing most of it's lubricating propertys by replacing it with a highly volatile fuelthats normalyl ignited with a spark at much lower compression levels .AND then drove it home .

Mmmm clever .NOT

mrfxit, Dec 9, 6:21am
Oddly enough, it WOULD be a good idea to dose it up for a while with an additive or 2

gunhand, Dec 9, 6:22am
Some people are just perfect tho, you get them from time to time. We ALL make mistakes, its how we deal with acknowladge and learn from them that matters. If its the 5th time this week you have done it well then maybe a stupid lable could be tossed about LOL.

mrfxit, Dec 9, 6:25am
Cool, Part of that WAS directed at you . BUT it's also for the other twits saying "just top it up & drive it, it'll be FINE". TUI .

Now that reallity is all out in the open now, you need to do something about it & be able to live with the possible side effects of whats happened & what you do about it.

Sorry if I sounded a bit grumpy about it but I used to work at a couple of garages & had to deal with this on a weekly basis & deal with the good ppl& the 'know it all" twits

mrfxit, Dec 9, 6:27am
Sometimes the good guys don't shine until the fumes have cleared a bit more

gunhand, Dec 9, 6:30am
Agreed but hey we all make mistakes and as they said was embarressed enough already. But yes do see some interesting advice for sure. Im no excpert as I said so I put "I wonder" LOL.But sounds like its through the system now unfortunatly.

cate13, Dec 9, 6:38am
That's ok mrfixit.I know it seems like such a stupid thing to do. I have NEVER done anything like it before. I don't know anything really about cars and was too embarassed to go to the garage and say anything. I will try your suggestions and be more vigilent in future. It 's not a new model car and was given to me by my Dad who really looked after it. He would be spinning in his grave!

mrfxit, Dec 9, 6:59am
All good, you sound like you're on to it now.
It's not a hard job to clean out the system properly but can be a bit messy & take an hour or 3.
lets hope fort he best & theres no damage done that might show up later.

intrade, Dec 9, 6:59am
go to supercheap auto and Add a half a bottle of chemtech in the tank. is all you need to do then use chemtech as prescribed or use winns edt or flashlube if you dont want diesl pump seal leaking repairs.

intrade, Dec 9, 6:59am
go to supercheap auto and Add a half a bottle of chemtech in the tank. is all you need to do then use chemtech as prescribed or use winns edt or flashlube if you dont want diesl pump seal leaking repairs.
ps i did not read the rest of the posts on here as i no longer care or wish to know what others post .its what to do when you accidently only added 10 liter petro to diesel.

aj254, Dec 9, 7:37am
My brother put half a tank of petrol into his half -full diesel navara (1994) tank, drove it home (25km)before figuring it out. We drained the tank, filled it with diesel, primed the injector pump, and started it up. That was about 3 years ago and its still going well. If its an older car thats what I'd do plus a fuel filter.

mrfxit, Dec 9, 7:45am
Yep some are lucky with a butcher job .>>>