petrol in a diesel car

Z

zee

hi there guys, about 3 weeks ago my mrs put a approx 3liter petrol into a diesel car before she relized. tank was nearly empty, so i told her to fill the tank up with diesel. but now about 1 week ago, our car is giving us a start up problem. it does start up but after few attemps. i dont really know what to do..i think i might have to change the fuel pump and the filter..i dont really know where to start from..any help would be appricaited...out car is nissan almera 2.2 diesel 03..i live near heathrow if you guys know any good cheap mechanics please let me know..
 
Have you got AA cover? My girlfriend did the same, you shouldnt drive it at all once you've realised and just get it pumped out. She did so, called the AA, they came and pumped it out and it was fine.
 
and now its not ;)

could be serious... i imagine the effect of having petrol in the combustion chamber will be similar to pinkin, and if you drove it for two weeks... i dunno what the damage might be...

for the far as i am aware, a petrol engine WILL run on diesel, but should only be done for a short time and only to clear the system, but a diesel engine WILL NOT run on petrol. although its not recommended to do either.
 
its important not to start the engine and get immediate assistance from a recovery service. This will limit the damage caused and will help reduce the amount of work required to rectify the situation. The further any petrol progresses through the system the more damage it can cause.
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If you have run the engine its very likely some major damage has been caused :(
 
My uncle did this in his Audi recently and drove a bout 5-10 miles before realising, I think it cost him about £200 to put right basically gararge remove fuel tank and flushed it out and flushed the fuel lines and chnaged the filter luckily as he only drove it for a short time no other damage was done so they just filled the tank with diesel and its been fine since... but as you've driven for a few weeks the damage is probably worse, best bet is to take it to a garage
 
may i recommend a brown paper bag on your head? they might laugh at you for this is all...

driving it for two weeks was a little silly, but live and learn
 
Im sure the petrol strips and damages seals within a diesel engine as diesel acts like a lube

maybe the problems have only just shown up as the petrol floated on top of the diesel a bit like oil on water. Once the level dropped enough now the pump has sucked up the petrol
 
CoV said:
Im sure the petrol strips and damages seals within a diesel engine as diesel acts like a lube
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Correcto. That coupled with the fact that the diesel pumps in the Di are the weak point of that car. The pumps rely on the diesel for lubrication. You could try changing the pump and filter, but as others have said, there could be engine damage as well I'm afraid.
 
one note for everyone,

If you hav put diesel in a petrol or otherway round, DO NOT open the car using the fob as on some cars this primes the fuel pump, if you call the AA before you have done this then the fuel has not been primed so will not be in any other part of the system except the tank wich is easier.
 
The seals in petrol and diesels will be made of the same rubber so there isn't a problem there. The petrol will have hadthe effect of thinning the diesel down to some degree, TBH a filter change and keep filling it up with diesel should do you. More than likely that the hard starting is something else seperate.
 
Because diesel is designed to self ignite, and petrol isn't, could the starting problems may simply be down to the petrol resisting self ignition?
 
I used to think that the squashing of diesel is what ignited it but found out that, engine draws air in compresses it with a high compression ratio, this makes the air nice and hot and THEN the diesel is injected and we have burn.
 
It may well not be true, but without numbers you can't rule it out. Why would diesel engines need a different fuel if petrol would ignite in a diesel engine though?
 
With a common rail It may have caused damage but with the ratio of petrol to diesel you'd be very unlucky for it to have done so. I've done the same and topped up with petrol, it's usually fine (well with older systems like mine). In fact when I went in to pay for the few litres of petrol (I think it was about 2) the guy said lots of taxi drivers did it to improve performance and economy.
 
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