What happens if you put petrol in a Diesel engine?

[muzzer]

yes was the astra the guy who emptied put some petrol in it and got it running for me
he actually siad he does loads and its very rare that it does any damage

[HDi fun]

SOme people have been lucky and got away with this. Others have been hit with massive bills for all the injectors and a high pressure pump.

[Chris Green]

Originally Posted by HDi fun

SOme people have been lucky and got away with this. Others have been hit with massive bills for all the injectors and a high pressure pump.

Think I fell into the 'lucky' category. Topped my Citroen C4 2.0 tdi with about 20% petrol (I checked later - this is the one local garage where ALL the hoses are black!), drove from west London to Swindon before the car objected. Pollution fault light came on and put car into 'limp home' mode (just as well it did really!). AA guy cleared the fault via the OBD port but didn't suspect the wrong fuel, but the condition came back 10 miles from Hereford. It wasn't till I got to where I was going that I spotted the till receipt! Booked it into nearest Citroen dealer and had it drained, with a change of fuel filter.

No lasting problems and that was 15,000 miles ago, although I sold it last week. Just wait for the fuel pump to crap out now!

[HDi fun]

You were very lucky. I've got the 2.2HDi and apparently rail pressure is something like 1300bar so I really hope I don't put the wrong stuff in.

[waynne]

Ditto that. You are a lucky driver. Don't suppose you mentioned it to the new owner?

Hang on I've just bought a C4 2.0 Tdi from a guy in West London with a pencil moustache!

[Chris Green]

No you're Ok - I haven't enough hair to cultivate a pencil moustache. Anyway, palmed it off on a dealer. Caveat Emptor

[HDi fun]

That's fair enough. Dealers have a duty of care that's a bit more formal than is required of a private seller. They'll check it over thoroughly with any luck. Additionally, if the pump does fail they have access to labour and parts at trade prices so it's not likely to be so costly to fix anyway.

I would advise you don't make the mistake with the Leon though. The 2.0 units are common rail and the pressures are HIGH. Any loss of boundary lubrication in the pump, such as caused by dilution of diesel fuel with petrol will wreck it pretty quickly.

[chrisjacks]

if you fill up with the wrong fuel, for example you put petrol in a diesel.

IF you have locked the car and gone to pay for it, DO NOT unlock the car, you can cause damage by unlocking it.

this is becuase diesel engines used to take a while to turn on, that same time is still there it just starts when you unlock the car now so the pump can turn on even if you unlock it.

[waynne]

Good point that chrisjacks. Some older cars don't prime the pump until the key goes in the ignition. It pays to listen carefully as you unlock the car to see which yours does!

[HDi fun]

It pays more to not fill a diesel vehicle with petrol

[waynne]

Speaking fuel caps anyone?

[HDi fun]

I think that's already been done.