Petrol in a diesel engine

On Apr 29, 7:59 am, "Doki" <mrd... RemoveThis @gmail.com> wrote:
> "malc" <malunspamwh... RemoveThis @blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
>
> news:VrqRj.17015$yD2.4751@text.news.virginmedia.com...
>
>
>
> > Ken wrote:
> >> The other thread about someone using the wrong oil prompted the
> >> following:
>
> >> Does anyone know what exactly happens if you fill a diesel tank with
> >> petrol? Someone once filled a petrol tractor from the diesel tank and
> >> it was not happy (just drain and replace). But I am curious about how
> >> petrol performs in a diesel engine. I doubt that the result would be
> >> spectacular. Diesel has a higher energy density than petrol so petrol
> >> is unlikely to blow the thing up. So I would expect that petrol would
> >> work. As with oil, I suspect that the net result would be nuisance
> >> rather than disaster.
>
> >> But has anyone tried/experienced it?
>
> > This has been done to death on uk.rec.cars.maintenance. The consensus is
> > that modern common rail cars can't go very far like that as it knackers
> > the injector pump (which relies on the lubrication of the diesel). An
> > older simple diesel like a 405 or earlier Xants should be relatively ok so
> > long as you don't go too far, they do get very rattly and bangy though or
> > so I've been told.
>
> You used to be able to add quite a lot of petrol to your tank of diesel in
> days of yore to prevent waxing during winter. Apparently 25% petrol was
> allowed in old Golf diesels, and a bloke in PPC running a 205D on veg oil
> adds a bit of petrol to a tankful to thin it down a tad. In something like a
> ZX or similar that's nice and simple, you should be fine.
>
> Common rail and you'll kill the pumps...

The consensus seems to be that if you put petrol in a diesel tank by
mistake, if the proportion of petrol is low when you discover the
error, probably filling up with diesel immediately will be sufficient.
If the proportion of petrol is high (>50%?) maybe drain the fuel tank
and replace. As I said, the reverse is not the case. Someone (everyone
denied having done it) put diesel in a petrol tractor here and it was
unhappy - it would stop often and restart with difficulty. Drain and
change was the only option.

Waxing of diesel was a problem in Australia about 20 years ago - the
refineries changed their settings (and denied having done so) and
whole fleets of tractors were unstartable in winter until you blasted
them with heat. The outcry/outrage of users was sufficient to prevent
it happening again (up to now anyway).
 >> Stay informed about: Petrol in a diesel engine 

"malc" <malunspamwhite RemoveThis @blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:VrqRj.17015$yD2.4751@text.news.virginmedia.com...
> Ken wrote:
>> The other thread about someone using the wrong oil prompted the
>> following:
>>
>> Does anyone know what exactly happens if you fill a diesel tank with
>> petrol? Someone once filled a petrol tractor from the diesel tank and
>> it was not happy (just drain and replace). But I am curious about how
>> petrol performs in a diesel engine. I doubt that the result would be
>> spectacular. Diesel has a higher energy density than petrol so petrol
>> is unlikely to blow the thing up. So I would expect that petrol would
>> work. As with oil, I suspect that the net result would be nuisance
>> rather than disaster.
>>
>> But has anyone tried/experienced it?
>
> This has been done to death on uk.rec.cars.maintenance. The consensus is
> that modern common rail cars can't go very far like that as it knackers
> the injector pump (which relies on the lubrication of the diesel). An
> older simple diesel like a 405 or earlier Xants should be relatively ok so
> long as you don't go too far, they do get very rattly and bangy though or
> so I've been told.

You used to be able to add quite a lot of petrol to your tank of diesel in
days of yore to prevent waxing during winter. Apparently 25% petrol was
allowed in old Golf diesels, and a bloke in PPC running a 205D on veg oil
adds a bit of petrol to a tankful to thin it down a tad. In something like a
ZX or similar that's nice and simple, you should be fine.

Common rail and you'll kill the pumps...
 >> Stay informed about: Petrol in a diesel engine 

"Ken" <kkerrison.RemoveThis@ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
news:7071b1e1-8020-4f65-ab2a-8129bb49e527@l17g2000pri.googlegroups.com...
> On Apr 29, 7:59 am, "Doki" <mrd....RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote:
>> "malc" <malunspamwh....RemoveThis@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
>>
>> news:VrqRj.17015$yD2.4751@text.news.virginmedia.com...
>>
>>
>>
>> > Ken wrote:
>> >> The other thread about someone using the wrong oil prompted the
>> >> following:
>>
>> >> Does anyone know what exactly happens if you fill a diesel tank with
>> >> petrol? Someone once filled a petrol tractor from the diesel tank and
>> >> it was not happy (just drain and replace). But I am curious about how
>> >> petrol performs in a diesel engine. I doubt that the result would be
>> >> spectacular. Diesel has a higher energy density than petrol so petrol
>> >> is unlikely to blow the thing up. So I would expect that petrol would
>> >> work. As with oil, I suspect that the net result would be nuisance
>> >> rather than disaster.
>>
>> >> But has anyone tried/experienced it?
>>
>> > This has been done to death on uk.rec.cars.maintenance. The consensus
>> > is
>> > that modern common rail cars can't go very far like that as it knackers
>> > the injector pump (which relies on the lubrication of the diesel). An
>> > older simple diesel like a 405 or earlier Xants should be relatively ok
>> > so
>> > long as you don't go too far, they do get very rattly and bangy though
>> > or
>> > so I've been told.
>>
>> You used to be able to add quite a lot of petrol to your tank of diesel
>> in
>> days of yore to prevent waxing during winter. Apparently 25% petrol was
>> allowed in old Golf diesels, and a bloke in PPC running a 205D on veg oil
>> adds a bit of petrol to a tankful to thin it down a tad. In something
>> like a
>> ZX or similar that's nice and simple, you should be fine.
>>
>> Common rail and you'll kill the pumps...
>
> The consensus seems to be that if you put petrol in a diesel tank by
> mistake, if the proportion of petrol is low when you discover the
> error, probably filling up with diesel immediately will be sufficient.
> If the proportion of petrol is high (>50%?) maybe drain the fuel tank
> and replace. As I said, the reverse is not the case. Someone (everyone
> denied having done it) put diesel in a petrol tractor here and it was
> unhappy - it would stop often and restart with difficulty. Drain and
> change was the only option.

I really wouldn't chance any proportion of petrol in a common rail car. For
the sake of losing the cost of a tank of fuel VS the cost of swapping the
pumps, it'd be the tank of fuel that's swapped every time for me.
 >> Stay informed about: Petrol in a diesel engine