Put petrol in a diesle

[UKMuFFiN]

Im an idiot.

Had a hired car to go to manchester for a conference/meeting thing in Manchester, a focus sport tdci, very nice. Getting back, it ran out just as I was getting home, so put £10 worth in to get me to work the next day. This morning, wouldnt start properly but managed to get it going, drove bout 1/2 a mile with it sounding bad so pulled over, rang my mate in work, who asked me the obvious. Doh! Im waiting for burnt trees, recovery people now.

Anyone else done this?

[mp3c]

That might cost you, the rental company will need to flush all of the petrol out of the engine. Still its an easy mistake to make when you dont know the car, usually they have a label on the fuel cap.

[dangel]

If memory serves me well - it's not that bad this way round (compared to sticking derv in a petrol). I would of been tempted to top her up with derv and see if it'd run through (cos it's not my car)

I'm a bad person..

[iranu]

It has always amazed me that you can physically put a petrol nozzel into a diesel filler and vice a versa.

Make one nozzel square and the other round and correspond this to the tanks intake shape. Job done. It would save millions of pounds each year.

[UKMuFFiN]

It has always amazed me that you can physically put a petrol nozzel into a diesel filler and vice a versa.

Make one nozzel square and the other round and correspond this to the tanks intake shape. Job done. It would save millions of pounds each year.

Genius!

My mate in work has assured me theres a few people in work have done it, and my dads done it before, so im not that ashamed lol.

[Howard]

If memory serves me well - it's not that bad this way round (compared to sticking derv in a petrol). I would of been tempted to top her up with derv and see if it'd run through (cos it's not my car)

I'm a bad person..

Other way round isn't it? It damages the fuel filter among other things?

[pollaxe]

Got stuck for several hours in a van when the driver put petrol or diesel into the wrong kind of engine.. I was half asleep in the back when I half heard the driver say (in a panicked voice) "Is this petrol or diesel??"

We got towed by the RAC to a garage somewhere and they pumped the fuel out. Took a few hours, apparently not starting it was critical (which the driver didn't). We still take the p*** out of him from time to time for it though it's an easy mistake to make (wrong fuel).

[dangel]

Other way round isn't it? It damages the fuel filter among other things?

I'm not sure - I thought i saw a car proggy where they managed to run a derv on petrol and it basically worked..
With only a tenner in a empty tank you could top it off and prolly work it though enough so that the rental company never knew

[[GSV]Trig]

Mate of mine did it the otherway round, jesus did it smoke, he realised after he'd only put a few quid in so topped it up with petrol and ran it, needless to say it ran like crap and smoked a bit but it was fine after that..

[GoNz0]

you should be fine, done it myself and as i had only put a fiver of unleaded in the AA towed me back and filled to the brim with diesel, you can add a small amount of unleaded into deisel to stop it freezing, so its not the end of the world.

[UKMuFFiN]

So is this just a scare story? - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/...7/mfdies27.xml

Usual cost being - £7000 :-|

[GoNz0]

yeh i think thats a scare story as no one who replyed here after doing it has said they had to have a new engine.

and like i said, a small mixture of unleaded is advised in countries that have cold winters to stop diesel sludging/freezing.

obviously if your stupid enough to jump on the M1 and floor it up to a hundred after filling your empty tank to the brim with the wrong fuel then you deserve to fork out for a new engine :s

[stytagm]

So is this just a scare story? - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/...7/mfdies27.xml

Usual cost being - £7000 :-|

Depressingly, the clue is in the word "Telegraph", it's nearly as bad as the Mail for reactionary doom-saying and knee-jerk firebrand xenophobia, just with longer words!

[doddsy]

My mate's brother done it more than once to his car. Good thing my mate's a mechanic!

[Mrs Dak]

If memory serves me well - it's not that bad this way round (compared to sticking derv in a petrol). I would of been tempted to top her up with derv and see if it'd run through (cos it's not my car)

I'm a bad person..

I put diesel in a petol car and drove from Bristol to Reading before I realised what I had done. A tow from an AA man, and a clean through at a garage cost about £70 iirc, I was so mortified at what I had done. Car still running OK 4 years later.

[chicken]

It has always amazed me that you can physically put a petrol nozzel into a diesel filler and vice a versa.

Make one nozzel square and the other round and correspond this to the tanks intake shape. Job done. It would save millions of pounds each year.

I've heard one is larger than the other so it can only happen one way (not that I've tested this theory). The problem with the square/round idea is that the square nozzles won't fit in any existing cars, unless the square is diagonally smaller than the circumference of the circle, making it possible to put it in the wrong tank again. Other than that it's a great idea, wish they'd implemented it from the start!