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
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.
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