Urgent advice needed (petrol filled into a diesel car)

[DEL VR6 0]

Right then folks. Need your help / advice pretty please.

 

My brother in law has just called me to say that he has accidentally filled 9.5litres of petrol in my sisters VW MK5 Golf GT TDi.

 

The tank was almost empty and has a capacity of 55 litres.

 

He has driven about a mile and a half in it and it drove totally fine.

 

The AA man came out and gave him two options:

 

1) Take it to the dealer, pull your trousers down and bend over the desk while they pummel you good and proper. (and charge you £500 for the benefit!)

 

2)Put an additive in there AND fill it to the brim with diesel to dilute what is in there. Keep topping it up with diesel every 5-10 litres.

 

He said that option 2 is a safe bet and commonly practised.

 

As you can imagine he is worried cos its quite a new car and doesnt want to go for option 1 for obvious reasons. (and my sister will kill him when she gets back from her holiday)

 

Over to you folks. Anyone know what to do?

[mic_VR 3]

Get a large jerry can and some tubing from halfrauds or B&Q.

 

Put the tubing in the tank, suck a little through to start it off and drain the petrol into Jerry can. Refill to the brim with Diesel and any 'additives' that have bee suggested. You'll have to dispose of the petrol/diesel mix that you've drained off but hopefully it'll be ok.

 

Although I heard that one way round (can remember whether its diesel in a petrol car or vice versa) was fairly catastrophic.

[Supercharged 2]

Nah - i'd say the AA are giving bad advice, it's still driving on Diesel so no damage done yet but the PD injectors won't like petrol...

 

You need to drain the tank fully, change the filter and refill with diesel before you drive it again.

[DEL VR6 0]

PD injectors

 

what are they? Is this anything to do with "common rail" or "not a common rail" diesel?

[Jim Bowen 1]

didn't they do this on fifth gear?

 

the diesel car ran alright on petrol, but they didn't recommend doing it all the time

[Jim Bowen 1]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/mai ... dies27.xml

 

just reading that, a few paragraphs down, may be helpful

[herisites 0]

Although I heard that one way round (can remember whether its diesel in a petrol car or vice versa) was fairly catastrophic.

 

Yep, petrol in a diesel car is BAD but you can get away with a bit of diesel in a petrol car.

[12 DEG BEN 0]

My old man did it in an audi A2. Audi themselves suggested the second option.

[CTWG60 0]

Over to you folks. Anyone know what to do?

 

I take it this brother-in-law is married to your sister? If so then tell him to quote his vows "For better of for worse" but be aware she may quote back, "Till death do us part" which wouldn't be good.

 

My brother in law did this to his 3 month old Landrover Discorvery TDi, I ended in a new engine job at the dealers but fortunately he found an accidental damage clause in his motor insurance policy and they coughed up. So check your policy first.

[mtc R32 0]

Mate... you've got nothing to worry about!!!!

 

I had a Golf Anniversary PD150 and did virtually the same thing... I put about £15.00 of petrol in it and only realised once I got about 10 miles down the road as it kept cutting out and smoking badly...

 

I got my old man to tow me back to the petrol station and tanked the car with diesel....

 

Car run absolutley fine.... Little smokey to begin with, but that eventually faded away ;)

 

In certain cold countries... They put petrol in there tanks mixed with diesel to stop the diesel freezing :)

[boost monkey 0]

The petrol in the diesel car should run fine generically: The diesel will be running somewhere around 20:1 compression as that's how diesels work, so the petrol will be igniting probably long before TDC in the chamber. So it will run, but you'll be down on power, and the car won't sound like a tractor :shock:

 

Bu then I haven't had experiences of anyone running petrol through a new gen diesel engine, although would it really be that much different? Physics seems more or less the same.

 

@Supercharged, what do you mean the PD injectors won't like it that much? Is it purely the super-high pressure common rail diesel thing?

 

AFAIK, Diesel in a petrol is DOOM. Petrol in a Diesel is Alright...but you'd wanna rectify it really, as with running any machinery on a fluid it wasn't designed for.

 

hth,

 

B Monkey.

[vr6storm 0]

The petrol in the diesel car should run fine generically: The diesel will be running somewhere around 20:1 compression as that's how diesels work, so the petrol will be igniting probably long before TDC in the chamber. So it will run, but you'll be down on power, and the car won't sound like a tractor :shock:

 

Bu then I haven't had experiences of anyone running petrol through a new gen diesel engine, although would it really be that much different? Physics seems more or less the same.

 

@Supercharged, what do you mean the PD injectors won't like it that much? Is it purely the super-high pressure common rail diesel thing?

 

AFAIK, Diesel in a petrol is DOOM. Petrol in a Diesel is Alright...but you'd wanna rectify it really, as with running any machinery on a fluid it wasn't designed for.

 

hth,

 

B Monkey.

 

wrong way round matey..................Diesel in a Petrol engine isn't potentially catastrophic it will just burn off eventually screwing yer emmissions for a wee while...................petrol in a Diesel engine however can ruin the entire fuel system as their is nothing to lubricate the Diesel injection system fubaring the injectors

[boost monkey 0]

but combustion wise, petrol engines can't burn diesel

 

but

 

diesel engines can burn petrol?

 

so half-right?

[CorradoVR6-Turbo 0]

You are forgetting what lubricates the high pressure pump(the expensive bit) its the diesel ,and petrol will dilute that and allow the high pressure pump to disintegrate inside thus been unable to compress fuel for the common rail.

 

But ive come across this many times,90% have been fine with removing what is left in tank and brimming it with fresh diesel. then there have been a few cases as what I have said above occurs,but due to ignorant drivers how just run there vehicles until it stops.

[vr6storm 0]

but combustion wise, petrol engines can't burn diesel

 

but

 

diesel engines can burn petrol?

 

so half-right?

 

 

they can when its diluted with petrol but it doesn't fluck them up

[boost monkey 0]

Ok, yes you're right it doesn't really break them but if you brimmed a petrol car with diesel then it would need the tank draining which is costly.

 

You are forgetting what lubricates the high pressure pump(the expensive bit) its the diesel ,and petrol will dilute that and allow the high pressure pump to disintegrate inside thus been unable to compress fuel for the common rail.

 

But ive come across this many times,90% have been fine with removing what is left in tank and brimming it with fresh diesel. then there have been a few cases as what I have said above occurs,but due to ignorant drivers how just run there vehicles until it stops.

 

tbh, I didn't know this at all, so thanks for pointing it out! Been a long time since I was near/driven a diesel and it deffo wasn't a new generation HDI/ Common rail!

 

I guess it must be down to the fast that the diesel is a more complex form of hydrocarbon than petrol is, and as such it's long(er) chain molecules are more suited to act as a lubricant and a fuel whereas petrol is more just a fuel.

 

Good to know, cheers :D

[vr6storm 0]

Ok, yes you're right it doesn't really break them but if you brimmed a petrol car with diesel then it would need the tank draining which is costly.

 

 

what a pipe and some sucking action costly :lol: :lol: :lol:

[biggrim 0]

Ok, yes you're right it doesn't really break them but if you brimmed a petrol car with diesel then it would need the tank draining which is costly.

 

 

what a pipe and some sucking action costly :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Sucky sucky, five dollar!

[boost monkey 0]

PMSL!

 

I have no desire to know what Diesel tastes like, unless someone tells me it tastes like Guiness :shock:

 

Siphoning is a good plan though for sure! Glad we emptied the tank on the deads shell before we took it off, had about 1 gal in!

 

promptly made it's way into Ron 8) :lol: