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We keep hearing about the damage done if you put petrol in a diesel car (makes me wonder why they don't just make the diesel car pumps & injectors out of the same materials as those in a petrol car then they wouldn't get damaged , but I digress...) , but what happens to a petrol engine if it gets a mouthful of diesel?
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Should be OK. Not heard of one being damaged.
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I've seen two instances, admitedly with older carburettor engines.
I did it once to an old Volvo - probably about 25% diesel. It ran, but not very well. On getting home I drained out all the mixture into jerry cans, and over the years used it up in lawnmowers etc. The car was fine after refilling with petrol.
Someone did that with our old works van however, and it virtually wrecked the engine. It seems that the diesel wasn't simply burnt, as clouds of black smoke, but ran down the cylinder bores and washed off the oil. The engine aged about 100,000 miles in 10 miles, and ever after consumed oil at a vast rate.
I imagine that with a modern engine there would be issues with injectors, oxygen sensor and catalyst.
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I don't think you can do it with modern cars, that run on unleaded, as the diesel filler nozzle is larger than an unleaded one and won't go in the unleaded filler hole. It won't damage the engine, but may shorten the life of the CAT. I doubt that it would wash the bores, after all it is an oil (similar to upper cylinder lubricant). If the cylinder was firing it would burn off, if not, then it would lubricate the bore. IMO the main damage, with prolonged running, would be holed pistons due to pre-detonation (pinking) because of the diesel weakening the AFR.
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I had this happen years ago in a Hillman Avenger 1500.
Put about 5 gallons of diesel in realised my mistake, I siphoned some out and topped up with a few gallons of petrol. To be honest the car ran like an absolute pig, stuttering, idling very roughly,completely lacking power and pinking like mad.
Even after several tanks of petrol the car never ran right again, and probably needed a top-end overhaul ie valve regrinding etc, but I got rid before this.
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Sounds like a split diaphram in the Stromberg carburettor of your Avenger. They cost about £3.15/6d.........
Bet you wish you held onto it now eh!
Graeme
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Friend is currently running his petrol 205 on 25% diesel. He works in a garage and shortly after the fuel panics they had a lot of people calling them after filling their cars up with the wrong stuff. All the fuel siphoned out went into a tank.
Car goes fine, apparently.
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Problem is, diesel and petrol seperate after standing, so the diesel is probably sitting on top of the petrol and isn't being used!
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If that is true, and he keeps filling up with his 25% mix, he'll soon end up with a tank of 100% diesel! He won't know until he uses the final 1/8 " of petrol, and then it will stop dead.
But isn't diesel heavier?
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This idea that petrol and deisel will remain separate is urban myth. I proved this for myself by putting a 50/50 mix into a jar and leaving it to stand on my workbench for about 3 months before i got bored of the experiment and tipped it into my tank. the two fluids mixed perfectly almost immediately and remained that way.
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>>I proved this for myself by putting a 50/50 mixinto a jar and leaving it to stand on my workbench for about 3 months
You need to get out more ;-) !!
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