Putting gasoline in a diesel tank by mistake is an all-too-common incident, especially among families and fleets using mixed-fuel cars. Because the diesel nozzle is 25mm in diameter (high-flow nozzles are even larger), it won’t fit into a petrol filler neck with a diameter of 23.6mm.
The lubricating characteristics of diesel fuel are relied upon by diesel engine fuel pumps, and a petrol-diesel mixture has far less lubricity, potentially causing substantial injection system damage.
A small fraction of petrol in a diesel tank wasn’t as engine-killing as it is today before the emergence of high-tech, common-rail-injection diesels. An older mechanical-injection diesel might handle a little amount of gasoline a few litres in a 90-litre tank, for example without causing severe problems.
We had high-sulphur diesel back then, which had more lubricity than today’s very low-sulphur diesel, so the diluting effects of petrol did not have as much of an impact on the lubricating quality of diesel. Older injection pumps had larger tolerances and could handle lower-quality fuel better.
A small amount of petrol in a diesel tank example, one litre in a 90-litre tank may not damage the fuel system, but anything more is dangerous. Instead of starting the engine, it’s advisable to err on the side of caution and call for help. A tilt-tray job and tank drain and refill with clean diesel may cost a few hundred dollars, but it’s better than paying up to ten thousand dollars for a new fuel system, or up to twenty-five thousand dollars if an engine rebuild is required.
If a misfueling occurs at a bush service station, the owner should have a recycling drum available to empty the tank contents into.
Because there will always be some fuel remaining in the tank, siphoning out fuel isn’t an appropriate method for draining the tank. Furthermore, because petrol floats on diesel, the remaining gasoline in the tank is likely to be petrol-rich.
The only way to drain the tank is to open it and catch the gasoline mixture in a container, which may need to be drained and refilled several times.
Before heading out into the woods, double-check your tank drain and make sure it can be undone if necessary.
Preventing mis-fuelling
In addition to the normal warning stickers, a brightly colored gasoline cap is a useful aid.
There are also filler-neck devices on the market that prevent petrol from being mis-fuelled into a diesel tank.
Four of these are neck fittings that prevent narrow petrol nozzles from opening their neck restrictors – Diesel Fill, SoloDiesel, Diesel Key, and Fuel Angel.
The only disadvantage of these designs is that they will not accept a high-flow truck bowser nozzle and will need to be removed if that is the only nozzle available.
The Diesel Smart Cap, designed in South Africa, is unique in that it is merely a cap, not a neck fitting. The cap will open with a diesel nozzle, but not with a petrol nozzle. If a high-flow nozzle is the sole option, a plastic key can be used to unscrew the cap completely, revealing the regular full-sized filler neck.
Is it true that gasoline floats on top of diesel?
None of them will be able to float on top of the other. Because diesel is heavier than gasoline, why won’t it float on top of it? Water is heavier than the fuel. Will water mix or settle to the bottom of your gasoline or diesel tank if you add it? Water and petroleum are incompatible solvents.
Is diesel a floater or a sinker?
The petrol will float on top of the diesel at first, preventing it from being drawn into the low-level fuel pick-up. It will then gradually disseminate into the diesel fuel.
Is it possible to blend diesel with gasoline?
As unbelievable as it may seem, motoring organizations estimate that every three to four minutes, another unlucky motorist in the UK may pump the wrong gasoline into their car’s petrol or diesel tank.
If it’s never happened to you, be glad, but don’t mock others who have accidentally put gasoline in a diesel car. Any one of us might become part of the statistics on our next trip to the gas station if we are distracted, fatigued, stressed, or simply forgetful.
It’s not the end of the world if you mix gasoline with diesel fuel and realize it at the pump. Yes, getting your petrol tank pumped will be inconvenient and costly, but the true harm will happen when you drive away. You could end up with a charge in the thousands of pounds if you’re unfortunate.
The majority of misfueling incidents (about 95%) occur when gasoline is mistakenly put into a diesel vehicle. Because diesel pumps have bigger nozzles that don’t fit into new petrol automobile filler necks, it’s more difficult to misfuel the opposite way around.
Will a small bit of gasoline in a diesel cause any problems?
Different materials are used to construct diesel engines. This holds true for the gasoline system as well. Even a small amount of gasoline in a diesel engine can cause serious harm to the fuel system.
What happens if I fill up my diesel automobile with gasoline?
Putting gasoline in a diesel automobile can cause serious engine damage, which should be addressed as soon as possible by a competent service. When petrol is mixed with diesel fuel, a solvent is created, which lowers lubrication and can cause serious damage to the fuel pump and its associated fuel system.
What if we put gasoline in a diesel engine?
It’s normal to put gasoline in a diesel tank, especially if the vehicle is a dual-cab ute with a big filler neck intake that accommodates hi-flow diesel nozzles.
Older diesel automobiles and stationary diesel engines that power agricultural machinery may accept a little quantity of petrol in the system, but newer common-rail diesels cannot, due to the tight tolerances built into the fuel system’s architecture.
A diesel fuel pump is lubricated by diesel fuel and operates with a very tight tolerance at high pressures. When petrol is added to diesel, the lubricating characteristics of the fuel are reduced, which can damage the fuel pump due to metal-on-metal contact and form metal particles, which can cause significant damage to the remainder of the fuel system.
Detonation, also known as pre-ignition, detonation, or misfire, can cause serious engine damage in diesel engines due to uncontrolled fuel ignition under the considerably higher compression ratio.
If you realize your mistake before leaving the service station forecourt, do not attempt to start the car because this will circulate contaminated fuel through the system. A call to NRMA roadside help and a tow to a mechanic to drain the tank, replace the filters, and refill the tank will be the best-case situation.
However, attempting to drive the car could result in thousands of dollars in fuel system repairs and time off the road. If you started your automobile and drove away before realizing your mistake, pull over to a safe location as quickly as possible and turn off the engine to prevent further harm.
Attempting to siphon the petrol out of the tank is not advised; you will not be able to take all of the fuel from the tank, and you may wind up endangering your safety or the environment.
Is it possible for diesel and gasoline to be separated?
When you put diesel in a gas vehicle, what happens? The fuel pump will struggle to transfer the diesel/gasoline mixture through the system since diesel fuel is thicker and denser than gasoline. Additionally, the diesel will be unable to pass through the fuel filter easily. It will instead clog the fuel filter.
Is gasoline more or less heavy than diesel?
Diesel is a heavier fuel than gasoline (larger molecules). Diesel fuel is denser and has a lower viscosity than gasoline. The autoignition temperature of diesel fuel is lower than that of gasoline.
Is it true that gasoline cleans diesel injectors?
The best way to unblock injectors with DIY is to purchase a specialist injector cleaner. Typically, this addition contains solvents and solutions that dissolve dirt particles and aid in the removal of water oxidation from the fuel.
We do not advocate relying on rumors or “homemade solutions” to clean injectors, such as mixing fuel with diesel. In addition to being inefficient, it has the potential to harm modern cars’ sensitive fuel systems and reduce engine efficiency.
Will a diesel engine be harmed by a gallon of gas?
Let’s imagine you mix a small amount of gasoline with your diesel fuel by mistake.
The first thing it’ll do is lower the flash point of the diesel, which can be harmful because pockets of greater gasoline concentrations can form in a tank. As a result, the flash point would be inconsistent throughout the tank.
Given the wide difference in flash point temperature between gasoline and diesel, it only takes a small amount of gasoline to drastically lower the flash temperature. Even a 1% gasoline contamination lowers the diesel flash point by 18 degrees Celsius. This indicates that the diesel fuel will ignite early in the diesel engine, perhaps causing damage to the engine.
Contamination with gasoline can harm the fuel pump and cause diesel injectors to malfunction.
This occurs due to a lack of lubrication. To put it another way, gasoline is a solvent, but diesel is an oil. Diesel has enough lubricity to keep the fuel pumps and injectors lubricated. By replacing the oil with gasoline, the lubrication is lost, resulting in damage.
Beyond them, you’ll get incomplete combustion, which produces a lot of black smoke at first. Beyond being a cosmetic issue, the vehicle’s computer will modify the fuel-air combination to compensate for the absence of combustion. This will significantly reduce your power and performance. Furthermore, if you continue to use the fuel, you risk overheating or covering the vehicle’s computer sensors in soot that they become unable to detect anything.
Putting Diesel into Gasoline
Now consider the opposite situation: you’re mixing a higher flash, heavier fuel with a lighter, more volatile base fuel (gasoline) that burns at a much lower flash temperature. Some may believe that this “diesel-in-gasoline” scenario is less dangerous than the opposite. However, this is not the case.
The loss of octane is a major concern when gasoline is contaminated with diesel fuel. When considering how gasoline burns in an engine, the octane rating is a gauge of the fuel’s ability to ignite at the proper moment – not too soon. Once pumped into the chamber, gasoline with a lower octane rating will ignite too rapidly. The gasoline ignites and explodes, but the piston is still rising, and the subsequent pressure wave collision causes a knocking sound (at best) and damage to the piston and rod (at worst). Octane, in a way, slows down and delays combustion.
To match today’s car engines, gasoline must have an octane rating of 87-91. The octane rating of diesel fuel is 25-40. By mixing 2% diesel fuel with gasoline, the overall octane rating is reduced by one point. The octane of diesel that has been contaminated by 10% drops by 5 points, which is enough to cause issues in most engines. With increasing percentages of diesel fuel in gasoline, the octane depression rises linearly.
- Because diesel fuel is heavier than gasoline, it might settle to the bottom of your gas tank, causing both gas and diesel to be injected into the intake manifold or cylinder. Partially-burned diesel fuel, depending on the mix, can leave large deposits on pistons, valves, and spark plugs. You buy a car or truck that runs poorly, and if you continue to drive it, you risk catastrophic harm.
- If enough diesel fuel gets into the cylinders, the cylinders can hydro-lock, resulting in a blown head gasket, broken cylinder head, or other catastrophic issues that can lead to your vehicle’s premature death.
- This diesel fuel can seep through the piston rings and into the oil crankcase, diluting the lubricating oil. This can cause damage to all lubricated internal engine elements, resulting in significant engine failure due to accelerated wear.
- Unburned diesel fuel will ignite in the catalytic converter if it enters the exhaust system unburned. The fire will fill the holes in the catalyst, ruining it and costing you thousands of dollars to replace.
The Bottom Line – Don’t Drive It
Because it’s hard to tell how much of the improper kind of fuel is in your tank and fuel system, the best advice is to have your car towed to a mechanic’s garage where the problem may be fixed.
They will remove all of the fuel from the filter and flush the system to remove the issue fuel once they arrive at the garage.
Some could say, “Well, my _______ (fill in the blank with a friend, coworker, relative, or general practitioner) got some in his tank by accident, and he drove it and it was OK.”
There’s no way to tell how your circumstance compares to theirs in certain instances (and human nature dictates that we downplay our descriptions of prospective difficulties if they arise from a mistake we’re responsible for).
You have been told not to drive the car if you believe the improper gasoline has been dispensed. In any event, we advise you to avoid taking that risk.
