My sister put gasoline in her diesel car and now she might have to get a new car. I don’t even have a driver’s license and have a rudimentary understanding of how simple combustion engines work. Why is the car maybe dead, can it be fixed?
In: Engineering
It’s not as serious as you think, you won’t need to buy another car. If you pour gas and the engine still doesn’t start, you can remove all the gasoline with a pump, and the problem will be solved. If you happen to start the vehicle and drive a few kilometers, it will be a bit more challenging to clean the entire system, but even so, it will remain in very good condition to continue driving without issues
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A diesel car will actually run on gasoline for a short time. Gasoline burns easier then diesel so the engine will run just fine. The problem is that diesel is a much better lubricant then gasoline. So diesel engines use the fuel to lubricate parts in the injection pump and injectors. Without enough lubrication these parts wear out after just a few minutes. You can replace these components but in a lot of cars and engine models you have to disassemble so much to get access that it is cheaper to buy another similar car rather then pay the mechanic for the work. What you usually do is to stop the car as soon as you notice, tow the car to a mechanic who will try to get as much of the gasoline out of the system as he can. Then you fill up the tank with diesel and hope that everything works fine. If not then you get a quote for replacing the pump and injectors and take it from there.
Putting diesel in a gasoline car is not as big of an issue. The gasoline engine will have a very hard time running on diesel. It might do it if it is warmed up but likely not. And it will never start cold on diesel. There will be a lot of sot as well which will damage components in the exhaust system like the oxygen sensor and catalytic converter. So if your car runs rough or stops after filling diesel on it then you empty the tank of diesel and refill it with gasoline and hope for the best. You do not have to be as careful bleeding out all of it. If you get issues with the oxygen sensor the cars computer will tell you. These are cheap components that are easy to access. So filling diesel on gasoline cars is usually not a death sentence.
To add a solution. Once recognized that you put in the wrong fuel, stop the engine and have it towed to a mechanic that can work on your type of car. Like everyone said, damage can occur if you continue to run the vehicle.
It’s cheaper to do this vs having a seized engine and a totaled vehicle. Notify family and work about the emergency and adjust plans accordingly.
Usually nothing will happen, if the tank was empty it will damage the engine quickly if you mixed them then you shouldn’t drive because you might hurt the engine but it will run on a mix. Refill with diesel at the next station and you will dilute it even more.
Eventually it will be fine, if you started with a mixture that is high in diesel.
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Unless your sister hydrolocked the engine (which is possible) then a new engine shouldn’t be needed – open up the fuel line to the rail, jump the fuel pump relay, and let the pump take all the gas out of the tank.
Fill up with diesel and run the pump again until diesel comes out.
Change the oil in the engine as it’s possible some gas could mix with the oil and that’s bad for the cylinder walls.
After that, it should run fine. May be tough to get it started.
Diesel is oily, gasoline is not.
Diesel engines are generally designed with this in mind. The fuel lubricates some very precise and expensive parts of the fuelm system, such as the high pressure fuel pump and fuel injectors.
Without this lubrication (ie, if you use gasoline instead of diesel) these parts can be damaged. The cost of replacing them can be enough to total the vehicle.
**If you misfuel your vehicle, do not attempt to start the engine**. It is relatively easy to have the fuel tank drained. It is less easy to have the whole fuel system drained and flushed. It is complex to have the whole fuel system replaced if you ran the car and damaged those parts.
Diesel into a gas car:
Gasoline is much more volatile, meaning it burns easier, than Diesel, and if you really go at it, you MIGHT hydro lock your engine? maybe? but you would really want to ruin something. because the Fuel sent into the cylinders won’t burn. It could also damage your catalytic converter if you try too long to start it. Drain the tank/system, fill with fresh fuel and away you go.
Gas into a Diesel is a bit more interesting, Because gas ignites so much easier than diesel, then you run a high risk of causing “ping” or Pre-detonation, where the gas explodes when the piston is on an up stroke. This is VERY VERY bad for an engine, as it is working against the pressure building in the cylinder. When this happens in poorly tuned/running gas cars, this can destroy an engine, it is devastating in a diesel. If it runs for just a short time, you might be OK, drain the tank, and bleed the fuel system and away you go. but if you run it for very long on gas, you will have damaged your engine.
Diesel in a gasoline car won’t burn, it’ll sit in the sump and exhaust. Happened to me.
Gasoline in a diesel car might very well incinerate the car. Happened to my sister.
Modern cars adjust ignition timing and fuel/air mix to try to optimise economy/power, and that can help the car run a bit longer but they will fail, and pre-ignition in the diesel running on petrol is fairly likely to be catastrophic and life threatening.
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