herbiemercman Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 (edited) hi guys & girls, if you are a petrol head junky and love your car then the worst thing you can do is brim it with diesel. mega embarassment when you try everything on the garage forecourt and then the attendant comes out and says "are you having trouble" ? yes it just wont start ! "I know she said, you put diesel in it" ! My reaction was to tell her to "F" off, but i quickly looked at my receipt, sh-t, i have. So the wife came out with my merc and i am towed home, for the benefit of other members who may be a dick head like me i will describe how i resolved this problem, as there are conflicting info on this site and other sites about the cures and possible consequences. My action was to syphon the diesel from the tank, i had put the car on an incline leaning towards the filler cap, this enabled me to get 11 galls out so 1 gall remained. I then removed the fuel return scavenge pipe from the end of the fuel inj rail, and cranked for 3 or 4 mins. The fuel will only pump with cranking. I then added 500 cc's of "redex" fuel cleaner and five gallons of petrol. I then charged the battery which had run down with my previous cranking etc. I cranked the car for a few minutes and no joy, not even a cough, I had left the fuel return pipe dissconnected so figured this may stop the fuel rail from pressurising, so reconnected. After more cranking it started on two pots and i kept cranking as it would die otherwise, it eventually started on all six and you could not see the rear of the car for smoke for 4 or 5 mins, it then settled down as if nothing had happened, perfect tickover and same power delivery on a quick blast around the block. Really chuffed and the 11 galls of diesel is going in my merc, 3 lit tdi. I did not remove the fuel cover / pump etc under the spare wheel, I felt it unnecessay and could create other problems etc. So i will run her for a while and then new plat plugs and a new 2 nd stage fuel filter cartridge, engine oil and filter as well. If i had called out the numerouse fuel recovery mobile services it would cost me £200 + £90 worth of diesel. Hope this info helps other members, I know some may take the p-ss but i can take it now my car is ok. herbiemercman. (knucklehead). Edited February 5, 2014 by herbiemercman added extra text. (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz6002 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 petrol head junky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Well done, I did this in my first supra too and although I had always wondered how people could make this mistake I found out all too easy. Only thing I would say about your method is rather than cranking it, you could have shorted linked the "fp" pin using a apaper clip or piece of wire in the diagnostics port to run the pump without cranking, sadly the brushes in these starter motors are now getting a little tired and prone for failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herbiemercman Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 Thankyou Shane, good tip i did not know about, i am aware that cranking excessively is not good for the longevity of the starter, mine just received more stress this week than for the past 15 yrs. It is a manual trans so i can always bump start her if the starter dies on me. herbiemercman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iky Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Isn't there a drain bolt under the tank? I remember seeing one the last time I was under the rear. Unless im confusing it with one if the tank guard bolts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2soops Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 No drain plug on these, best to pump out as mentioned above. Was a drain on the mk3 but that had a steel tank not plastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 almost did this once with my skyline, fortunately noticed after 1.5 liters. filled the remaining tank with petrol and it ran fine. maybe even smother than ever. I would be careful putting that diesel in the merc as it is contaminated with petrol. Diesel in a petrol motor is embarrsing but petrol in a diesel motor melts things. Lady I used to work with filled a diesel with petrol and snapped a rod in the motor! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattdavies Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 almost did this once with my skyline, fortunately noticed after 1.5 liters. filled the remaining tank with petrol and it ran fine. maybe even smother than ever. I would be careful putting that diesel in the merc as it is contaminated with petrol. Diesel in a petrol motor is embarrsing but petrol in a diesel motor melts things. Lady I used to work with filled a diesel with petrol and snapped a rod in the motor! I have heard of people putting a little petrol in diesel on a regular basis, can't remember why but they had no problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I have heard of people putting a little petrol in diesel on a regular basis, can't remember why but they had no problems Really? will have to look that up. if so he'd probably be ok as it was what maybe 5 liters of petrol mixed with over 50 of diesel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buster Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 little petrol in a diesel car wont hurt a bit I hear of people doing it to in cold country's to stop the diesel from freezing...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Massey Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Petrol is a good cleaner is diesel cars, helps burn off carbon deposits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gpro Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 hi guys & girls, if you are a petrol head junky and love your car then the worst thing you can do is brim it with diesel. mega embarassment when you try everything on the garage forecourt and then the attendant comes out and says "are you having trouble" ? yes it just wont start ! "I know she said, you put diesel in it" ! My reaction was to tell her to "F" off, but i quickly looked at my receipt, sh-t, i have. So the wife came out with my merc and i am towed home, for the benefit of other members who may be a $#@! head like me i will describe how i resolved this problem, as there are conflicting info on this site and other sites about the cures and possible consequences. My action was to syphon the diesel from the tank, i had put the car on an incline leaning towards the filler cap, this enabled me to get 11 galls out so 1 gall remained. I then removed the fuel return scavenge pipe from the end of the fuel inj rail, and cranked for 3 or 4 mins. The fuel will only pump with cranking. I then added 500 cc's of "redex" fuel cleaner and five gallons of petrol. I then charged the battery which had run down with my previous cranking etc. I cranked the car for a few minutes and no joy, not even a cough, I had left the fuel return pipe dissconnected so figured this may stop the fuel rail from pressurising, so reconnected. After more cranking it started on two pots and i kept cranking as it would die otherwise, it eventually started on all six and you could not see the rear of the car for smoke for 4 or 5 mins, it then settled down as if nothing had happened, perfect tickover and same power delivery on a quick blast around the block. Really chuffed and the 11 galls of diesel is going in my merc, 3 lit tdi. I did not remove the fuel cover / pump etc under the spare wheel, I felt it unnecessay and could create other problems etc. So i will run her for a while and then new plat plugs and a new 2 nd stage fuel filter cartridge, engine oil and filter as well. If i had called out the numerouse fuel recovery mobile services it would cost me £200 + £90 worth of diesel. Hope this info helps other members, I know some may take the p-ss but i can take it now my car is ok. herbiemercman. (knucklehead). Next time open the boot. undo the cover for the fuel pump. Disconnect the fuel hose from the pump and connect a new hose to the pump then going to a bucket. Run 12v power to the battery and your done all fuel empty without cranking for half a day and potentially killing the starter motor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herbiemercman Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 (edited) thanks for comments guys, i agree the car's own fuel pump was the right option, allthough i am hoping there will not be a next time. lol. the bit about petrol in diesel is correct, but the damage is based on overheating the combustion chambers etc, so i am looking at circa max 20% dilution:innocent: and i will add half a litre of fully synth oil, my big 7 seater bus is the indestructable td 3000 amg, indirect injection so no worries. I'm a lancashire lad from a mining town and could never throw away 11 galls of diesel. lol. Apparantly the companies who provide the wrong fuel in cars service are always buisy and never buy fuel for their own cars, suppose a perk of the job, they did not get my fuel or the £200. herbiemercman. Edited February 5, 2014 by herbiemercman spelling corrections. (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott-tt Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I done this years ago put petrol in a 1.9 diesel Clio it still ran with a tenner of petrol in it but very smokey I drove it to a garage my dad knew, cost me £70 to get the tank flushed out very embarrassing. Old diesels could handle this sort of thing but I don't think you'd get away with it so easy in a newer one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supra_ufo Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I run two diesel cars and I am afraid that one day I will end up doing this! thanks for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lbm Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 There once was a very stupid mod on here who filled his Supra with diesel early one morning. I forget who it was though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abz Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 There once was a very stupid mod on here who filled his Supra with diesel early one morning. I forget who it was though. It was you Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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