What a divvy I am.

Went to the garage first thing and still half asleep put some unleaded into my jtd . It was only a couple of litres before I noticed. I filled the rest of the tank completely with diesel.

Have I done any damage ?

think you will get away with a couple of litres but i only really know petrols and not those horrible oil burners think its worse for petrol in a diesel thanthe other way

You have got me thinking now - one way is okish, one way isn't :chin:

think a petrol can burn off diesel,albeit with copious smoke

A load of articles on the net. Found this, in particular:

Last week I accidentally put 12 litres of petrol into my diesel Isuzu Jeep. I then added 60 litres of diesel. I seem to have gotten an extra 300km on that tank. Why is this, and if I do it again will it do any serious damage to the engine? John Naughton, Dublin
I’m not sure why you managed an extra 300 km; the energy content of petrol is higher than diesel, but not enough to make that sort of difference. However, if you keep putting petrol in you will soon do some very expensive damage to your injector pump and injectors. They work by raising the diesel fuel to a very high pressure – so high that rubber seals won’t hold it. They therefore rely on very small clearances between the metal moving parts – far smaller than in the engine for example. Metal parts moving in such close proximity need a lubricant to keep them from touching and it’s the diesel fuel which provides that lubrication. Petrol is a much thinner oil than diesel and will not give adequate protection. As a result, your pump and injectors will wear very quickly and you have a significant risk of them suddenly seizing up altogether. Imagine trying to run your engine with sewing machine oil instead of engine oil and you’ll get the picture.

But need to check if the same holds true on modern diesels....

Years ago worked for bakery and the old guy on the pumps filled one of the delivery wagons with petrol it was derv goes like stink knackerd the injectors but a couple of litres you should be ok enjoy the experience and performance

I filled my Punto HGT a few years ago with diesel Got from service station onto the motorway lots of smoke kangerooing and banging! AA man pissed himself laughing. Another garage - £60 poorer and 6 hours later we were on our way this time with a tankful of best unleaded. Ah yes - whole tankful of diesel down the drain (or wherever) as well. :chin: Probably went into the garage's towtruck!

AA you say glad Im with green flag

Sadly, the old days of being able to get away with it in a diesel (so long as there is no more than about 20% of petrol in it) are long-gone.

Modern diesels, because of their high-pressure common rail engines and detailed tuning are a much more complex beast than in the old days. Sadly, as you have probably discovered by now, your car will not run and you will need to call the AA (or whomever you are with) to tow you to a Fiat garage.

At this time the majority of the engine pipework will need replacing, the entire engine will need flushing (and cleaning) and certain parts will need removing and replacing/ cleaning (fuel tank, cylinders...). Also, the fuel in the car will need expensive environmental disposal to a controlled site; this alone is hundreds of pounds. No, the diesel/ petrol mix can't just be poured into the drains...

There was a story in this months Top Gear (or CAR) about a bloke with a 407HDi that had done the same thing (putting about 10 litres of diesel in it, then brimming with diesel). He made the fatal mistake of driving the car, which then broke-down about 10 miles from the garage once the fuel has got through the system. Luckily his company footed the bill for the £2,200 it cost for the work to be done. It seems modern diesels with common-rail cost a fortune to fix.

I am not trying to scare you on purpose but it seems nobody with a modern diesel gets away with it...

You can console yourself with the fact you aren't the first and I doubt you will be the last.

Can someone please put the following up as a sticky for the owners of all cars, but specifically a diesel;

If you put the incorrect fuel in your car DO NOT try and brim it with the correct fuel and dilute the solution. THIS DOES NOT WORK ANYMORE.

DO NOT unlock your car for any reason whatsoever; be it to get your phone, coat, bag etc. With most cars unlocking the car can 'prime' the fuel pump which means the damage is already being done. And never, ever start the car; not even to move it to the side of the forecourt, even if asked to do so by somebody at the garage.

Once you have realised your mistake, lock your car and call your brakedown service. DO NOT do anything to your car until they arrive.

If you follow these simple tips you will end-up with embarrasement and a bill for about £400 to drain and clean the tank and environmental disposal of the fuel. If you try to do anything with the car the bill will almost certainly (note; not possibly) be between £2,000 and £3,000, especially for diesel cars.

Now now, lets not be exagerated!!!! I put about 6 or 7 litres of unleaded into my multijet, then, realising my mistake (it wasn't actually me, it was my father who did it and i realised when he had got the 6 litres in!!) filled it with diesel (bout 45 litres).
I started the car and all was fine, several months later all is still fine, absolutelly no problem whatsoever and all i can say is that i have the feeling that during that tank of fuel the car ran smoother than before though this might have just been in my head!!!

So my recomedation is; don't put unleaded in your diesel (or the otherway round by that matter) but if it's a small quantity i shlouldn't worry about it but if you're unsure, pump whatever fuel is in the tank out (easily done with a hose) and fill it up with your propper petrol, whatever is lying in the bottom of your tank after pumping out will surely do absolutely no damage.

Either get it pumped out or run the risk, if it works be worth telling us so we know..... i'd think that the petrol might tend to ignite under high compression somewhat uncontrollably, but hey' never tried it myself so can't comment for definate.

One of the guys at my work put an undisclosed ammount of unleaded into a mondeo 130 tdci. 53 Reg

Ever since it's gone like stink!!!!

That one seems to have enjoyed the experiance!!

120mph in 5th, then you select 6th.....

Of course, It was on a deserted private motorway in the early hours!

well, i just took the risk and everything seems fine so far (after 100 odd miles). It was 2 litres so I guess that was about less that 5% maybe closer to 4 or 3%. I have topped up again so will keep doing so for a wee while. No undesired effects that are noticeable so far. Cars running fine, will keep you posted if anything untoward occurs.

Oh well, you live & learn.

My brother accidentally put about 10 litres of unleaded in his Focus diesel.

Realising his error, he brimmed it with diesel and continued on his merry way.

4 months later after starting to run very poorly it is in the garage awaiting an estimated £2,200 worth of repair work.

He has been told that it has fuel pump damage, cylinder head damage, damaged injectors and various seals in the fuel system are damaged and leaking.

As you can imagine he is a bit sick about it all

i would just keep brimming the tank to keep diluting it down.not much else you can do now

ford focus he should have bought a fiat:slayer: and by the way I was the one who had to drain it out and change the injectors:bang:

Sure, it doesn't happen every time and a small percentage might be OK but I think it is foolish for people to suggest it is OK to put a small amount of petrol in a diesel and then brim it; I think a moderator needs to adapt these posts as the advice MUST to be to leave the car alone; Diesel in a Petrol is one of the AA's most common call-outs (although granted many of these will have filled-up totally).

You might get away with it, but why risk it?

I in no way would suggest anyone dilutederv/petrol but unfortunatly we are only human and s--t happens you are a little monkey get shot of the audi and get the NHS to supply you a fiat:devil:

PNL said:

I in no way would suggest anyone dilutederv/petrol but unfortunatly we are only human and s--t happens

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Indeed it does and I may end up doing it myself sometime; I'm not criticising the mistake, but I am suggesting it is foolish to try and drive the car

PNL said:

you are a little monkey get shot of the audi and get the NHS to supply you a fiat:devil:

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If the NHS gave me a company car then I'd drive it, regardless of what it is. As it happens, I have to buy my own. After 2 Fiats there is nothing in the current range I like/ can comfortably drive...