Diesel in Petrol urgent help

[pulse]

Today i accidently put £9 of diesel in my 84 sec 500 then realised and topped to the brim with £52 of petrol. There is another thread on here which talks about mixing petrol in a diesel engine and the summary was so long as it wasn't much it will be ok.

Is it the same for the other way round?

Would a petrol engine be affected more or lesss with the added bit of diesel?

I drove the car home the 10 miles and didn't notice anything amiss with the engine sound. Should i get it flushed out or or just run it till the diesel is gone?

 

[Mid_lfe_Crisis]

Should be ok it might smoke a little but it wouldn`t bother me .it seams only a small percentage.

 

[Rory]

I remember reading that diesel doesn't burn as quickly as petrol (in an explanation as to why diesel engines are lower revving) so don't be tempted to rev the knackers off it to clear it out, or the diesel will wash all the oil out.

Also, keep topping it up to further dilute the diesel.

 

[mlc]

You have about 15% diesel. I think that should be fine although I would expect the exhaust to be quite dirty. Top up again when youve used the first 1/4 tank then try to run it quite low before filling up fully again.

During this process avoid pushing the engine, try to treat it gently as if you were running in a new engine.

Just lucky that you spotted it at the £9 mark!

Mark.

 

[blassberg]

am i right in thinking that pulse doesn't have a catalytic converter but if he did he could have runied it?

 

[pulse]

thanks for the advice guys, ive not had the car that long and is 21 years old so i'm wary of doing any damage to this old engine.

i have to take the motorway everyday to work, about 20 miles there and back, it will be tempting to hit the throttle but stick at a steady 60mph?

 

[pulse]

i do have a cat but dont know if i've ruined it.

 

[Rory]

thanks for the advice guys, ive not had the car that long and is 21 years old so i'm wary of doing any damage to this old engine.

i have to take the motorway everyday to work, about 20 miles there and back, it will be tempting to hit the throttle but stick at a steady 60mph?

I imagine that even at motorway speeds the engine's pretty low revving?
You could poss have a problem if one (or more) of the plugs oils up - I don't know if that's likely, but would you notice a 1 cylinder misfire on this engine?

 

[Richard Moakes]

i do have a cat but dont know if i've ruined it.

A cat on a 21 year old car?

Mine is 16 years old, and definitely has no cat !

Richard

 

[pulse]

as i understand from prev owner, cat was fitted post but still dont know if its knackered. I dont hear any misfire yet but i guess theres still time for things to go wrong. No smoking either which i'm happy about (yet)

 

[dlrodgers]

One possible benefit is that you will get a thin coating of oil through the exhaust pipe which should protect it and therefore give it a longer life. Deisel exhausts always last longer for this reason.

 

[SLinKyjoe]

As stated, top up with petrol at 1/4 full mark. and I would suggest you do this a few times to dilute the fuel. it wont harm the engine too badly as long as you dont thrash it. Rather than empty it, i would be inclined to keep topping it up for a few times.

anyhow it happens.

 

[pulse]

thanx for the advice guys. I have been topping it up (quite regularly on this 5ltr!) and upto now no real visible problems, ie no smoke from exhaust but i have noticed it is misfiring again. The last time this happened i was happy to find out it was just a loose spark lead or ht lead. Hopefully its something as small as that as i haven't had chance to check properly yet.

 

[markyce]

A little late for a contribution but....

You will not have any problems at all.

My dear wife put 67 litres of diesel in a six cylinder Opel Commodore we had 10 years ago, after draining the tank and refilling with petrol the car stuttered for about 5 miles and then went on, over the next 3 years, to do 50+ k miles before I sold it on.

 

[pulse]

Hi all

its been a while since i first put diesel in the car. I think it has all been cleared out of the system. Just a couple of points where i need some advice. I noticed that the exhaust is now smoking, where is didn't before. Its especially bad in mornings but does clear up a bit after a while but still more than before. Also, exhaust sound like its blowing. Will have to get this checked but are these problems a result of having diesel in the car?

 

[television]

Hi all

its been a while since i first put diesel in the car. I think it has all been cleared out of the system. Just a couple of points where i need some advice. I noticed that the exhaust is now smoking, where is didn't before. Its especially bad in mornings but does clear up a bit after a while but still more than before. Also, exhaust sound like its blowing. Will have to get this checked but are these problems a result of having diesel in the car?[/QUOT

Putting diesel in petrol normally just lowers the octane rating making the car pink. In my younger days, during a fuel crisis I once used parafin from road side lamps to get home and add that it was hard to find my way home through the smoke. Next morming only way to start was to pour petrol in the carb
Do not confuse smoke with condensation first thing or when cold.
Using oil is something else,

If it blows out smoke when you accelerate and drive its rings or bores

If it only smokes after standing ie traffic lights, and then clears, its valves/ guides worn
Malcolm

 

[television]

I forgot to mention the Cat, Though I do think there was enough diesel to harm it, the law is,
If you have a Cat fitted on the car it must meet current MOT regs, even if this was not fitted on all cars in the UK from new. in this case if it was damaged you could take it off, and when you have your MOT do not take the old MOT with you.
Malcom