petrol in diesel car

[sausagechips]

my boyfriend is having an incredibly bad day(dad been rushed to hospital) anyway to cut long story short was using his dads car (a diesel car) and has put petrol in it!!
he never realised until it stopped working....got about 15 miles though.
If he trains it and then puts diesel in it will it work again as it is firing apparently just not starting

[mattie]

Nope, if he had drained the tank before starting the engine, it would have been okay. But having driven it for 15 miles, he will have to get it towed to a garage so that they can assess the damage. Could (and probably will be) expensive.

Trying to start it again isn't helping.

[paddywak]

I've a motability car so it didn't cost me when I did it, but the garage told me that it was recomended that the system should be drained and flushed and this is what they did. I was told it would normally cost around �100.00p plus the cost of a refill. What ever he does he's got to drain the petrol off before refilling, but if it will be ok without flushing I cann't say. I just know my old car ran ok for the rest of the time I had it

[paddywak]

In regards to matties post I realised what I had done almost as soon as I drove off the fore court, stopped and phoned the RAC who trucked my car to the garage, as mattie says driving for 15miles may have done some damage

[sausagechips]

apparently hisfriend who is a mechanic has out �20 of diesel in and it is working fine ( he only put �5.00 of petrol in)

[kempie]

Older style diesel engines may tolerate a small amount of petrol (although it definitely isn�t recommended) without too much damage, the newer Common Rail Diesels are unlikely to tolerate any level of petrol without damage.

The difference in ignition timing of the two fuels could cause damage to the crankshaft and bearings.

Diesel also acts as a lubricant for the engine whereas petrol is a solvent and will strip this lubrication from metallic moving parts.