Petrol In A Diesel Yaris

[dkcampbell]

Today I put petrol in my diesel (2005)yaris, I realised my mistake,phoned the garage I use for repairs, and he advised me to top up with diesel and carry on driving (I had told him that I put in £9.00 worth, but it was £19) I did as advised then drove for about 1 mile and the car cut out. I called breakdown and they have brought the car home. How realistic is the possibility that I can drain the tank myself, and that no other damage has been done?

[reece]

£19 would equal approximately 19 litres which is half a tank

It would also depend on how much was in there, and as you were filling up then I suspect it wasn’t a lot left in the tank.

You would get away with it if it was just a few litres (less than 10%), but the fact you have already driven it and it has cut out in less than a mile means you may have done the damage already.

If it was drained or siphoned prior to the wrong fuel going around your engine prior to starting it, then there would be no damage but I fear problems ahead :(

You did as advised based on the information you gave them which was wrong. If you had called the garage and told them you had actually put £19 in (and not £9) they chances are they would have said don’t start the engine and get a tow!

[dkcampbell]

£19 would equal approximately 19 litres which is half a tank

It would also depend on how much was in there, and as you were filling up then I suspect it wasn’t a lot left in the tank.

You would get away with it if it was just a few litres (less than 10%), but the fact you have already driven it and it has cut out in less than a mile means you may have done the damage already.

If it was drained or siphoned prior to the wrong fuel going around your engine prior to starting it, then there would be no damage but I fear problems ahead :(

You did as advised based on the information you gave them which was wrong. If you had called the garage and told them you had actually put £19 in (and not £9) they chances are they would have said don’t start the engine and get a tow!

There was aprox 8 litres of fuel in the car when i put the petrol in, then when i realised i had put the wrong fuel in I filled the tank with diesel before driving the 1 mile. What sort of damage will I have done?

[reece]

Bit of a nightmare really. The further the contaminated petrol goes in the system the more expensive the repair – it can be cheaper in more extreme cases to fit a new engine.

Worse case scenario would be amongst other things: fuel system seals, diesel fuel pumps, fuel lines and tanks must be drained and cleaned possibly a new catalytic converter if it’s damaged.

Best to get it assessed first then you know what you are dealing with

[dkcampbell]

Thanks, just have to hope that having only driven one mile that the damage will not be too bad.

[reece]

Keep us updated

[Raeman]

It might not be as bad as you think...A few months ago my father in law put £20 of unleaded in his Ford Transit connect diesel and that too cut out after a few miles.

Ford took his van in and drained the fuel out, then cleaned up whatever needed cleaning.

Total cost was approx £150 and that was at the main dealers.

[ormi]

i fix this sort of problem a lot!!!

go under the car and remove the fuel lines this will let the fuel drain out or you can disconnect the fuel filler hose at the tank and suck the fuel out that way.

while thats draining replace your fuel filter once drained reconnect all the fuel pipes you have removed bleed the system and start your car......

then go stand in the corner and promise yourself you wont do it again!!

[dkcampbell]

Update,I decided I couldn't do it myself so got someone out to drain the fuel.

I have driven about 200 miles so far, and fingers crossed all seem okay.

[Johan007]

It will not damage the engine. Done it myself with £40 worth, spent £120 to get it sucked out and felt like a complete tit in the process.

[Red Yaris 54]

It will not damage the engine. Done it myself with £40 worth, spent £120 to get it sucked out and felt like a complete tit in the process.

And so you should!! ;) :)

[nrgizerbunny]

in scandinavia they regularly put petrol into diesel cars to stop the fuel freezing, 10-15% is not uncommon.