Petrol in Diesel Tank

Just out of interest, what would be the symptoms if petrol had been put into
a diesel car.

I own a 1.9 Diesel Turbo Meridian.
Put a tenner in the tank on Thursday afternoon (tank was fairly empty, but
not enough for the light to come on) - drove home, approx a mile and a half
and parked up.

Started up Friday morning, got down the road and the engine felt like it was
gaining and losing power, turned around, just got home as the car stalled.

Car started about an hour later, drove around the block, same symptoms
again, variable power surges and then stalled.
Have attempted to turn the engine once, but no luck, just doesn't want to
know.

I've checked the battery - full charge.
Pulled out the fuel filter, looks clean (car got serviced a couple of months
ago, so I know it's not been in for ages).
I did have a sniff, not sure if the smell is pure diesel or if any petrol is
mixed in.

Bearing in mind I've had absolutely no problems with the car before filling
up on Thursday - could these symptoms suggest petrol in my tank.

Thanks for any replies.

Mark

 

If thats what you done i think petrol will ruin the diesel pump, which could
explain the loss of power you described, which could potentially be
expensive if you took it to a garage.

Have you not got the reciept for the fuel to check? Check the feel of the
fuel in the filter, it should feel oily if its diesel. If i were you i
wouldnt start it again until you know for sure that its got diesel in it.

 

I put fuel in at Tesco's, so I guess it really is an outside chance they
have mixed up fuels in their tanks.

If my fuel pump had packed up, could that lead to loss of power etc ??
The most frustrating thing is that I don't know what is wrong with the thing
at the moment :-(

Thanks again for any replies / help

 

Have you checked for air leaks in the pipes leading to your pump and/or
injectors Also check injectors for tightness. It sounds more like an air
problem to me. Check your gaskets in your fuel supply especially the ones
usually accessed for priming. Good luck.

 

Thanks for reply Vass20 - will see what I can find

 

Hi,

And the pump is the least thing you could expect... Injectors may also be on
their way out.
Sometimes it just destroys the engine.

 

Did you bleed the air out of the system after you checked the fuel filter?
If you are sure you filled up with diesel, it is extremely inlikely that
Tesco have mixed the fuels. Think og the number of other people who would
also be affected. you would hear about it.

It certainly sounds like an air problem to me. All the classic symptoms.
Brian.

 

Well sounds like you didnt put any petrol in it then, but still sounds like
a fueling problem. As other has said check for leaks to see if air is
getting into the system somewhere.

 

Same thing happened to us. We got a batch of infected fuel. It was hard to
get rid of but various stuff from the auto shop worked..

Good Luck

John

 

Hey Mahseve,
if you are that worried why don't you dilute whatever is in your tank with
more diesel. Some people add a small amount of petrol to get more oomph but
I don't know what effect that has long-term. If it were going to harm your
engine (quite unlikely) it would have happened by now. I still reckon
you've got an air bleed problem but I don't know too much about turbos ( to
me they're things that Sikhs wear on their heads!!!) so I guess that might
be affected. If you put a tenner's worth of diesel that would mean about
three gallons (assuming you're in UK) so if you top up your tank there will
be a lesser proportion of petrol mixed in if you filled from the wrong pump.
I don't think for a second that Tesco are in anyway to blame even if I don't
have any shares in them.

You did say you had it serviced, so it could be the fuel delivery pipes were
disturbed when the heaters were changed. I remember my pipes letting in air
where they screw into the injectors once upon a time and that gave me the
same problem. If your rubber washer on the bleeding glass is naff, you will
have a complete refusal to run. I think that's where you will find the
problem. Good luck.

 

Gents
I once put a £1 worth of petrol in my 406 turbo Diesel. On talking to my
son who works in the fuel industry I diluted it by filling the tank with
diesel. This was 4 years ago and I have experience no problems as a result
of this mistake.
I would look to make sure you have the system primed properly. Try undoing
the banjo union on the pump whilst pressing the priming bulb until no air is
forced out much like bleeding brakes. Check the washer on the fuel filter is
not damaged and seating correctly. Check there is no water in the fuel
filter by draining the filter with the pipe fitted at the front of the fuel
filter container.
Mike

 

I have had the same problem.
My feul tank has a filter to get air in the tank, when the fuel goes out.
This filter was stuck.
You can test it through leave the tank open en drive youre block's arround.

ciske