Help - diesel in petrol engine

[BigMac]

Problem: car takes unleaded petrol. The tank was approx. half full (say 20-25 ltrs) when approx.�1.50 of diesel was put in by mistake. The tank was then topped up with unleaded (say another 20 ltrs).

Questions: a) do I need to drain the tank or similar to get rid of the diesel? b) what will be the effects?

Thanks for any advice.

[Loosehead]

so you have 40+ litres of petrol and 1.5 of diesel, I would say leave it. If it was petrol in diesel different story. Just use half a tank and top up again, do that a few times and there will be very little diesel left.

so a) No b) Should not be noiticable

[BigMac]

Cheers, mate.

[qapmoc]

Hi BM, Yeah I agree with lh on this, it should cause no problems at all with the quantities you mentioned.

[madein1978]

Easiest of mistakes to make, it shouldn't damage your car, but I would maybe have the catalyst checked just to see this hasn't been damaged, the monolith is easily damaged. Even vice versa isn't harmful, on the contrary, a little bit of petrol in your TDi during the winter will make it easier to start, but we are talking less than an emergency cans' worth.

[kempie]

madein1978 - petrol in diesel (and vice versa)has been discussed on this forum many, many times.

I must point out that although it used to be common enough to put a little petrol into diesel to help the engine start in cold weather, with modern diesels using extremely high injection pressures the viscosity of the fuel is critical. Any petrol present can cause scarring of the pump elements, and the seals can be damaged by compounds found in petrol.

Also read this for shock value.

[DirtyHabit]

Just keep topping up to weaken the mixture. Have you thought what you would do with any fuel drained off? I believe you need a licence to dispose of it????