I'm a prat

[doc400sp]

Put diesel in MK2 this morning , gauge was reading 3/4 full and drained 33ltrs .So is she empty ?

[DT1]

The gauge isn't exact, but that should be most of it, but why not take out the back seat and have a look?

But even if there is a gallon or so left, if you fill it up to the top it should run OK...maybe a bit less power and a bit more smoke.

Just keep topping it up with petrol to dilute it every time you get a chance.

p.s. doing it the other way round, petrol in a diesel engine, is a lot worse.

[doc400sp]

Cheers DT1 , £20 off petrol and £40 off diesel , knew I could keep thinning it out with car running crap .Couldn't remember if it was rocco or daily diesel that would go boom.

[wassell]

The gauge isn't exact, but that should be most of it, but why not take out the back seat and have a look?

But even if there is a gallon or so left, if you fill it up to the top it should run OK...maybe a bit less power and a bit more smoke.

Just keep topping it up with petrol to dilute it every time you get a chance.

p.s. doing it the other way round, petrol in a diesel engine, is a lot worse.

sure its not the other way round? i'm lead to believe you can drive a diesel with petrol in the tank up to about a 50:50 mix without too many problems (enough to get you home if stranded, though not advisable). Whereas the diesel in a petrol engine can/will screw the filters and injectors. also, as petrol burns a lot easier than diesel it makes sense that diesel in a petrol will not burn properly if at all. just sommet to clear up before one of us lands ourselves in the crapper haha .

If it were me, id remove the tank then drain it properly. rinse with a litre or two of petrol, dispose of this then refit and fill up with some good petrol.

[go-for-it1]

A small amount of petrol in a diesel car is ok on older diesels as it will help to clean injectors but certainly not a 50:50 mix, more like 1/2 a gallon in 20. Modern diesel cars use diesel as the lubricant in the injection pumps and these pumps have such fine clearances that petrol will wash the lubrication off the internals and cause expensive and irrepairable wear. Diesel in a petrol car will be ok if it is just a small residue in the tank and frequent dilution is advisable. Symptoms would be rough running and more smoky exhaust but wouldn't cause long term damage so long as we are talking about a small amount of diesel. If your tank looks almost empty through the access under the rear seat then top the tank up with petrol and then dilute frequently with more petrol.

[wassell]

nice one, cheers :)

[eamon1.3]

All that abuse you give poor jim and look what you go and do

[doc400sp]

I know , but at least I drive a diesel during the week .

[whiteshark]

Theres a reason I've never owned a diesel. Bummer Kevin. Have you thought about syphoning it out with a hosepipe ??

[doc400sp]

It's out already Phil , have a vaccum pump for just this sort of job .

[whiteshark]

Good to hear, beats Suckin' Diesel!!!

[Nate]

putting the wrong fuel in either way round isn't a problem at all if you don't start it.

putting diesel into a petrol should cause no long term damage. depending how much you put in, it might smoke a bit when cold, or smoke a lit all the time. if you get too much in, then it will soot up the plugs and stop running altogether. for the past 6 years i have run every petrol vehicle i've owned on "contaminated petrol" - ie petrol that i've drained out of miss-fuelled cars with no problems at all. admittedly it is less advisable on modern stuff (potential for cat or lambda probe problems) but so long as it is mostly petrol it is unlikely to be a problem. the only time i've had a problem getting a petrol filled with diesel running again is when they've been driven until they stop. that said, i've never had one that i couldn't get running.

putting petrol into a diesel will be fine in the short term - they are much easier to get running than the other way round. it's only 25 or so years ago that putting a gallon of petrol in before you filled up was encouraged during the colder months to stop the fuel waxing in the pipes. older diesels will be fine with a bit of petrol thru them now and then (my caddy was quite happy running on a 50/50 mix of petrol diesel, any more petrol than this, and it did get a bit hesitant when it was cold, but i have run it on 80/20 by putting the wrong bucket of fuel into it) but newer diesels (common rail, pd etc) WILL suffer damage if they are run with any petrol in at all. the high pressure fuel pump (which can be anything up to 2,500bar/30,000psi) is lubricated by the diesel flowing thru it and nothing else. if you add petrol, it doesn't get lubricated properly and will wear prematurely, and you are unlikely to get one replaced for under a grand. the tiny metal filings that come off it then get pushed thru the injectors, causing them to fail also. on a typical common rail these can be up to £400 each. most main agents will replace anything that the contaminated fuel has touched to be on the safe side. so if you've started it, everything in the fuel system between the filler cap and the engine gets swapped (filler neck, tank, low pressure pump, fuel lines, fuel filter complete assembly, fuel cooler, high pressure pump, injectors) as it is the only way to guarantee there will be no long term effects. that said, most of the newer diesels that i've had to do fuel drains on are fleet vehicles, and so by the time the problem comes to light, the car will be on its 2nd, 3rd, 4th owner. there is a top tip from this though. if you're buying a used modern diesel see a little "think diesel" on the inside of the fuel flap and it says AA fuel assist on it, i'd suggest not buying if you're planning to keep it any length of time

[doc400sp]

Nate , thanks for that very clear instruction . My daily is a common rail diesel so I guess the mixed fuel will be going in the scirocco . It will be well diluted with petrol though .