Help! I've put petrol in my diesel car by accident!

Adam14Adam14 Posts: 2,607
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Hi there everyone

Well...I can't believe I have done this, but when I was at the garage earlier this afternoon, I accidently put £20 of petrol in Peugeot 207 1.6 HDI car.

I have never done this before in all my years of driving. Anyways, I just came home and took the car out earlier for a little bit, and it started to judder. It then totally dawned on me what I had done. I started to panic as to whether I would get home, and not knowing what to do, I went to the garage and filled it right up with diesel. I then go the 0.5 mile home ok, it was still going and seemed to respond to the diesel.

What do I do now??? Should I chance it, and see if I can keep it going until the petrol is gone. Or should I get it drained... I feel in a nightmare situation.

I'm surprised the car let me even put petrol in it, I thought new cars came with a mechanism to prevent this.

14 litres of petrol
33 litres of diesel.

Any advice would be much appreciated... I await a sleepless night. lol
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Comments

  • mourinhosmissusmourinhosmissus Posts: 5,591
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    You shouldn't have started it.

    This happened to my sister's in-laws - they phoned a garage and a mechanic had to come out to the petrol station and drain the tank.

    I'm not a mechanic but I reckon you've either buggered it for good or you're going to have to dig very deep to get it fixed.

    Sorry.
  • roth30roth30 Posts: 3,264
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    http://motortorque.askaprice.com/articles/auto-0711/help-ive-put-petrol-in-a-diesel-engine-frequently-asked-questions.asp

    Cant help a great deal as i don't drive. But found the above article which might help.
  • Squealer_MahonySquealer_Mahony Posts: 6,483
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    Hiya,

    My friend let her uncle borrow her diesel car and he put petrol in it.

    She chose to just keep topping it up with diesel and burning out the petrol. It did chug and stuff when starting up.

    Shes a farmer and her car is old though.

    I think its worse to put diesel in a petrol car than putting petrol in a diesel car.
  • Waj_100Waj_100 Posts: 3,739
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    Adam14 wrote: »
    Hi there everyone

    Well...I can't believe I have done this, but when I was at the garage earlier this afternoon, I accidently put £20 of petrol in Peugeot 207 1.6 HDI car.

    I have never done this before in all my years of driving. Anyways, I just came home and took the car out earlier for a little bit, and it started to judder. It then totally dawned on me what I had done. I started to panic as to whether I would get home, and not knowing what to do, I went to the garage and filled it right up with diesel. I then go the 0.5 mile home ok, it was still going and seemed to respond to the diesel.

    What do I do now??? Should I chance it, and see if I can keep it going until the petrol is gone. Or should I get it drained... I feel in a nightmare situation.

    I'm surprised the car let me even put petrol in it, I thought new cars came with a mechanism to prevent this.

    14 litres of petrol
    33 litres of diesel.

    Any advice would be much appreciated... I await a sleepless night. lol



    You did the right thing in filling up with diesel.

    The worst thing is putting diesel in a petrol car.

    Ideally, you should have the tank drained.

    Put some Redex in your fuel tank to give some extra lubricant to the fuel pumps if you are driving the car to a garage.

    Don't get conned into an expensive repair, at most you will need a new fuel filter and a tank drain.
  • jules_cjules_c Posts: 146
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    My hubby has done the same thing several times.... Had to have the AA out to drain the tank and flush the fuel lines (he even managed to drive it until it conked out once) but the car has survived each time :)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 14,815
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    I did the very same thing when I first got my diesel car, put £20 worth of petrol in it. Luckily realised straight away, didn't start it, called the RAC and they towed me to a garage, had the tank drained, cost me £40, plus the loss of the fuel that was in the tank, so all in all cost me £70. An expensive mistake. :(
  • GlenGlen Posts: 12,076
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    Waj_100 wrote: »
    You did the right thing in filling up with diesel.
    The best thing to do would be to stop driving it as soon as the error is realised so as to not put any more petrol through the engine, rather than just diluting it.
    The worst thing is putting diesel in a petrol car.
    Putting petrol in a diesel engine is more likely to cause a lot more damage than putting diesel in a petrol engine.
    How much damage can be done depends on the age of the engine, more modern engines can suffer a lot more damage. Sometime the entire fuel system can need replacing.
  • ubermanuberman Posts: 2,221
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    Fifth Gear tested this scenario by putting petrol in a diesel then driving it and vice versa:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5xhPAundL4&feature=more_related
  • Adam14Adam14 Posts: 2,607
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    Thanks everyone for your advice.

    I'll just get the fuel tank drained, and hope for the best. Ironically enough, I cleaned it this afternoon in preperation for selling it... lol, it's a funny old world.

    I would be sad to lose all the diesel I put in it, but it was the only thing I could do. And I had to drive it back home after I realised - no garages open at 10 at night, even though I hated doing it.
  • GlenGlen Posts: 12,076
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    uberman wrote: »
    Fifth Gear tested this scenario by putting petrol in a diesel then driving it and vice versa:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5xhPAundL4&feature=more_related
    Although, as they pointed out in the film, a modern car is not going to have the same fuel system as an Astra from 18 years ago.
  • jackyorkjackyork Posts: 6,608
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    Adam14 wrote: »
    Thanks everyone for your advice.

    I'll just get the fuel tank drained, and hope for the best. Ironically enough, I cleaned it this afternoon in preperation for selling it... lol, it's a funny old world.

    I would be sad to lose all the diesel I put in it, but it was the only thing I could do. And I had to drive it back home after I realised - no garages open at 10 at night, even though I hated doing it.

    Hi mate, i will tell you my experience, it is up to you if you want to do the same as me...I have a 1 year old Nissan Qashqai Diesel on two occasions I have put 10.00 petrol in by accident on both occasions I topped it up with 20.00 diesel this happened 8 months ago and 4 months ago, my car has not had any further problems. IMHO you will be OK but if I was you, when the tank goes under half I would refill again to dilute it more.
  • jackyorkjackyork Posts: 6,608
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    Petrol in Diesal is not as bad as Diesal in petrol, You have not buggered your car up.
  • Adam14Adam14 Posts: 2,607
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    jackyork wrote: »
    Hi mate, i will tell you my experience, it is up to you if you want to do the same as me...I have a 1 year old Nissan Qashqai Diesel on two occasions I have put 10.00 petrol in by accident on both occasions I topped it up with 20.00 diesel this happened 8 months ago and 4 months ago, my car has not had any further problems. IMHO you will be OK but if I was you, when the tank goes under half I would refill again to dilute it more.

    Cheers Jack. I'll keep you all posted.
  • jackyorkjackyork Posts: 6,608
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    Adam14 wrote: »
    Cheers Jack. I'll keep you all posted.

    Don't worry mate, my car has been fine since.
  • GlenGlen Posts: 12,076
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    jackyork wrote: »
    Petrol in Diesal is not as bad as Diesal in petrol, You have not buggered your car up.
    Why? What damage is likely to be done to a petrol engine by putting a fuel you can't spell into it?
    Compared to the damage petrol can do to the fuel system or cylinders of a diesel engine due to the lack of lubrication.
  • jackyorkjackyork Posts: 6,608
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    Glen wrote: »
    Why? What damage is likely to be done to a petrol engine by putting a fuel you can't spell into it?
    Compared to the damage petrol can do to the fuel system or cylinders of a diesel engine due to the lack of lubrication.


    Can you read ??? MY CAR HAD NO PROBLEMS after I made the same mistake as the OP.
    You are no help to the OP.
    How big do you feel pulling someone up on a minor spelling mistake, I have no time for people like you.
  • HypnodiscHypnodisc Posts: 22,728
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    I put 5 litres of petrol in my diesel car by accident, and then filled it up with 40 litres of diesel and it was fine.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,547
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    I thought it was ok as long as the amount of petrol was no more than a quarter of the fuel?
  • lawrenma2lawrenma2 Posts: 4,060
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    My Mum bought a diesel car about a year ago. I bought her one of those things from Halfrauds which you put on the fuel cap, when it opens, you hear a voice saying "warning, diesel only". :D

    Anyway, somehow she managed to put petrol in it (being a woman :p. It was only £2 worth before she realised. Luckily a taxi driver was nearby and saw the look of horror on her face. He said if she tops up with diesel it'll be fine, and taxi drivers often put a few quids worth of petrol into their diesel engines, as it apparently helps to clean the engine.
  • Vast_GirthVast_Girth Posts: 9,793
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    Ive done the exact same thing, and my car just drifted to a halt.

    Had to call RAC and they put me through to a specialist company who came out to the roadside. Next thing i know a big van turned up with "WRONG FUEL UK" on the side to drain my tank. It may as well have said "look at the big idiot here" underneath. Anyway charged me £80 and drained my tank.

    I think if you only put a bit in you can get away with diluting with diesel, but £20 worth i think its definitely worth getting your tank drained. If its at home you can probably do that yourself...
  • scorpio manscorpio man Posts: 4,960
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    When I was on the lorries some years ago I always added a few quids worth of petrol to the diesel, more so during extreme cold weather conditions to help stop waxing.

    It also seemed to give the engine a little more humph
  • Adam14Adam14 Posts: 2,607
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    Vast_Girth wrote: »
    Ive done the exact same thing, and my car just drifted to a halt.

    Had to call RAC and they put me through to a specialist company who came out to the roadside. Next thing i know a big van turned up with "WRONG FUEL UK" on the side to drain my tank. It may as well have said "look at the big idiot here" underneath. Anyway charged me £80 and drained my tank.

    I think if you only put a bit in you can get away with diluting with diesel, but £20 worth i think its definitely worth getting your tank drained. If its at home you can probably do that yourself...

    LOL at that mate... I know it's not funny, but that is a brilliant anecdote. It's the type of thing that would happen to me. Wow, how subtle - Wrong Fuel UK! haha :)

    Still not tried it again yet, I'm waiting to later on until the roads are less busy...
  • Bulletguy1Bulletguy1 Posts: 18,429
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    Considering the small amount of mileage involved you will be ok....plus topping it up with diesel will help though i'd have been tempted to have drained it out when you first realised what you'd done.

    Far worse the other way round.......diesel into a petrol engine which is a big no no!!
  • Bedsit BobBedsit Bob Posts: 24,344
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    You shouldn't have started it.

    The OP didn't know, when they started it, that they had put the wrong fuel in.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,146
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    jackyork wrote: »
    Can you read ??? MY CAR HAD NO PROBLEMS after I made the same mistake as the OP.
    You are no help to the OP.

    i dont mean to be mean spirited here, but i could possibly say the same about you as you may be giving the wrong advice - i work for one of the prestige manufacturers and i can tell you that theres shed loads of people who took the advice to top up the tank with diesel and turned down waiting for someone to attend and have the car checked.

    some get away with it, some dont - it might not be now or next week - it could be 6 months down the line when their trying to claim warranty on a fuel pump or injector failure and its rejected as the department can tell if its had petrol in it.

    wrong fuel is a minefield with multiple factors defining wether you need repairs, flushing or just topping up with the correct fuel - my advice is better safe than sorry but everyone will have a different tale to tell (eg in your case it was fine)


    back to the OP - it happens all the time so dont feel too embarrassed, we probably deal with around 20-30 cases of this a day in the UK alone - the best (or worst i suppose) ive personally dealt with was actually with a truck driver who managed to fill almost 1000 litres (it was fitted with belly tanks) of super unleaded petrol before he realised his mistake. From the way his boss spoke on the phone i doubt he will ever make the same mistake for that company again!
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