DISQUS

Davak · 3 years ago

My excellent mechanic is the man who deserves all the props. Other than he only officially works on American cars, he is the most amazing mechanic I have ever known.

If you need an honest mechanic in Raleigh:

Robbie's Truck and Auto Service
502 S West St
Raleigh, NC 27601
(919) 833-2966

Q:
We need to fix him up an official tech-recipes swag packet...

qmchenry · 3 years ago

Oh, yeah, he's the man! I'll definitely send him some swag.

dale mc nulty · 3 years ago

Why didnt you get a cheap siphon and drain the tank?

qmchenry · 3 years ago

We considered siphoning. The main reason I rejected that idea was that we would have ended up with 6 gallons of diesel+gas. I didn't feel comfortable letting that drain away into the sewage system and we were still at the pump -- I don't think the station owner would have appreciated that anyway. Starting the engine with a high ratio of diesel would have been catastrophic, so we couldn't move far. The other option was to get several large fuel cans and siphon the carpalm into them, but I couldn't think of a reasonable way to dispose of those. Being far from home, I couldn't think of a legitimate use or means of disposal for a 66% diesel, 33% mixture.

Also, David's mechanic buddy told us that, because of the shape of gas tanks, etc, it would probably be impossible to get much of the diesel out. If we had topped off the tank, siphoning would be a great solution as it would have gotten a lot of the diesel out, probably down to where we were in this situation or a little less. David, how'd he put it? "Have you heard of dilution?" I remember laughing at that.

In the end, diluting the diesel as much as possible worked for us. If siphoning is an option, it would definitely help dilute the bad stuff.

Martin · 3 years ago

"the fuel filter as this is not a quick replacement"

You never said what was your car? I have a '82 BMW e28 518 carburator and changing fuel filters takes less than a minute, as well as air ones.

qmchenry · 3 years ago

Seriously, not kidding about me and cars. I'd be more comfortable (and probably more successful) at making a computer out of stuff in our kitchen drawers than replacing a fuel filter. Even if the fuel filter came with the same kind of cartoon-style, word-free, pictograph assembly instructions that come with computers.

I tend to believe our dealer service department. They estimated 2-3h of labor to replace the filter in our Toyota Highlander. That estimate may be high, but they also recommended against it at all. I worked in as a pre-sales engineer for a computer reseller for a spell -- if a customer actually needed service and I suggested that they not get it, I'd get more than a wrist slap for sure.

Davak · 3 years ago

Yeah, that's what Robbie said.

The first time I learned the magic of dilution was in my surgery rotation.

This guy was shot in his abdomen and had stool in places that stool shouldn't be. We were washing out his belly when one of the other medical students said, "Why not just give him antibotics?"

And the surgeon said, "The solution to pollution is dilution."

Classic.

kftgr · 3 years ago

"Why not jsut give him antibiotics?"

Now THAT is scary, to think that a potential medical professional would have that kind of mindset. Just hope that if that med. student is now practicing, that he/she learned a lesson from that. Still not as scary as the 7th year med students that I know of...

Back to the tip, does the same recourse apply to putting gasoline in a diesel car?

qmchenry · 3 years ago

Edit: check out Todd's response below this one for a good description of gas in a diesel engine...

I got to hang out with medical students a lot back when, as David can attest. As a result, I see doctors as a lot more human than I did growing up. I also really, really don't want to be sick.

Good question about the inverse problem, gasoline in a diesel car. I don't know, although I suspect it is a similar problem/solution. Low concentrations of gas probably wouldn't be a big deal (and if a diesel engine ran louder, who could tell?). I doubt that a diesel engine would run on 100% gasoline, so there is probably some magic concentration beyond which bad things would happen. It seems like diesels are a little more tolerant of contaminations in fuels (I know I can't put used cooking oil in my gas car).

If anyone has had the fun of experiencing gas in diesel, let us know how it turned out.

todd · 3 years ago

Gasoline engines simply quit running on diesel, diesel engines explode when run on gas. Diesel fuel is not very flammable, nearly anything can be used as fuel for a diesel engine including cooking oil. Diesel engines compress crappy fuel to the point where it will burn. Gasoline engines dont compress fuel nearly as much because the fuel is so flammable. When gasoine is run in a diesel, the very high compression ratio will cause an explotion resulting in catostrophic engine failure. Diluting the gas is possible but removing all gasoline possible present in the fuel system is very important. If any gasoline made it into the fuel line (you tried to run the engine), I wouldnt risk it, the engine will explode.

qmchenry · 3 years ago

Good to know, Todd. Thanks for sharing. Makes sense, now that I think about it.

Jerry · 3 years ago

Hi all you tekeeys lol , well it's getting close to thanksgiving so the spelling is appropiate. Well gasoilne in a diesel? hmmm. In the old days 1979-1984 diesel fuel was not as refined and the additives were not as good as they are today (sorta like a comadore 64)and used to jell up in the winter months,18 degrees f and below. We used to put one gallon of gas to 19 gallons of diesel to keep it from jelling( haveing jello pudding pops in your fuel tank just didnt work).Now in the warmer weather putting gasoline in a diesel motor could cause much more damage then diesel in a gasoilne motor. if you put gasoline in a diesel and drove the diesel it would ping like spark nock but much more violent. and when starting the diesel motor with gas it would try to start then feel like it is locking up with a sound like sombody threw nuts and bolts in your motor, and if you were lucky enough well unlucky enough to be able to drive it you very well would crack a piston or bend a connecting rod ( sorta like so much spyware running on your pc and and you keep using it that the cpu gets so hot and burns up.New motor anyone? lol. I dont know how I got to this site but it was good reading. thanks.

Amar · 3 years ago

I had a similar situation exactly 4 days ago. My tank(12 gallon capacity) had 3 gallons of regular gas and at a gas station i pumped 3 gallons of diesel into it. Fortunately, i did not start the ignition. When i took my car to the service guys, they said i am OK as long as i havenot started my ignition. So they drained my gas tank and refuelled entire tank with grade 91 gas. This is required to dilute all remaning diesel to the extent possible.
My car did not complain so far and will be keeping a watch on the mileage. This cost me $100 and will accept this, if my car doesnot complain.

heidi · 3 years ago

So, we just found out one of our employees, who is 2 hours away, just filled our diesel van with gas. A mechanic we talked with said up to 10% gas would not be horrible, but he put in about 20 gallons. We're still working on it . . . .

qmchenry · 3 years ago

Heidi, we were definitely fortunate to get only a few gallons into our tank and that diesel into our gas car sounds better than your gas into diesel. Thanks to everyone who has contributed their experiences here. I didn't find much when I Googled for it during our experience, so I hope all of this information helps other folks. Good luck, Heidi!

heidi · 3 years ago

So, we just found out one of our employees, who is 2 hours away, just filled our diesel van with gas. A mechanic we talked with said up to 10% gas would not be horrible, but he put in about 20 gallons. We're still working on it . . . .

no luck with siphoning. We are going to tow to a mechanic in the morning.

Amy · 3 years ago

I found this site the other day when my husband called to tell me he had just put about 5 gal of gas in our F250 diesel pick up. he was in a hurry and had about a 1/4 of fuel so he just put $10.00 in it
(also we have not been driving much latly)anyway he had driven about 20 miles and the truck started acting up he thought that it was a fuel promblem that we had had once before as we were talking I asked is it doing the same thing? at that point he said "maybe I put gas in it" it took me a moment to recall that he was in the truck and gas was not okay :) he stoped and pulled the reciept out of his pocket and sure enough that is what he did. He called his stepdad who has always driven a diesel and was told that with that small of an amount he could fill it with diesel and just refuel every few gallans and it should be fine.

that is what we did, he put 16 gal of diesel (topped it off) in it and we have driven it everyday for the last 4 days everyday putting more diesel in it and it seems to be fine. We were warned that it would be possible for the truck to do funny things like try and keep running after you turn it off etc. we had none of that.
Also, we were told that if you had more than 20% gas in the diesel you would not want to try and run it out.

The truck is running fine, and it has since he filled it with diesel. Thanks for having this site it was the only thing I could find.

BTW the truck did not explode :)

Heather · 3 years ago

I just bought a 2 year old car this weekend... and it drove like a dream all during the test drive. On the way home, i started noticing a lag in acceleration, and then in the morning my car didn't start. So much for an almost brand new car off the lot! Turns out some guy AT THE DEALER filled up my tank with diesel after my test drive. Go figure... now I am fighting with them to replace all the parts, rather than just cleaning them. I don't want to worry the entire time I have this car that the engine will not work as efficiently as it should. Do you guys think I am overreacting here?

qmchenry · 3 years ago

Oh, no.. that's terrible. Heather, it depends on how much diesel fuel ended up in the tank. If it was just a little (2 gallons or less), it probably isn't a big deal. However, since your car wouldn't start the next morning, I suspect it was more than just a little diesel. Since they were at fault, it seems like they need to make it right. Since I can't tell you what is right, you might feel better if you found a 3rd party, a mechanic you could trust to tell you what they would do if they were in your situation. Good luck!

marie · 3 years ago

Well here's a good one. My husband bought me a new 2007 X Unlimited Jeep. I had it exactly 7 days and 30 minutes before I had to be at a Christmas party, it stopped dead in the middle of an intersection. It would not do anything. I called my husband, he called a toll truck and took it to the dealership. They tried for 3 days to figure out what was wrong. Today, they called and said, "someone put diesel in your gas tank!". Needless to say I was upset. They said, they will drain the gas tank and flush the engine and that it will be just fine. Cost $500 We think , my husband must have put diesel in it by mistake or we got ahold of a station that mistakenly put diesel in the wrong holding tank. Who knows. Considering diesel pumps are marked in green and have a spring around the spout.

Joe · 2 years ago

I thought the Nozzle on a Diesel Pump was larger so it could not fit into a Gas burning Auto Mobile. Did they stop this practice? If so, that was a bad Idea.

Kathy · 2 years ago

I found all the comments both helpful and interesting. We just gave our 27 yr old daughter our 2002 Honda Civic in excellent shape with 20,000 miles on it. She just called hysterically because it died after she had just filled it with gas. She went to a gas station she had never been to and thinks she put diesel in the tank instead of regular gasoline. She is awaiting AAA and the police as she is stuck on a major thoroughfare. She works in Burbank California and was heading home to Santa Clarita. After reading all of the above, I asked her how much Diesel and she said that the gauge was on "E", so it looks like the whole tank. It looks like this will cost a bundle. Anyone out there know good mechanics in the area? We have no clue as we live on the East coast. Thanks!

Mark (South Africa) · 2 years ago

Hi,
I have done a few insurance assessments on diesel vehicles that were filled with petrol (you guys call it gas). The damage is caused because petrol does not have any lubricant in it, which quickly causes damage (within 5 or 6 km the engine will act up)to the moving parts in the injectors and high pressure pumps etc.

While the vehicles are under warranty it is very expensive to repair them, as understandably the vehicle agents will only use new original parts, so that their warranty can be honoured. However they do automatically assume that the parts in the fuel system are damaged beyond further use and replace all of them.

The cost to repair a BMW and Mercedes is around R40,000 i.e. about $5,700 and a jeep cherokee is R60,000 i.e. about $8,500. No discounts!!!! (We're robbed badly here in South Af.)

In older cars it might be possible to re-use the parts after inspection, or else to use alternative parts, at a fraction of the cost.

Mark (South Africa) · 2 years ago

Oh yes, I forgot to add, It's an insurance issue here because we are not allowed to fill our own vehicles and have to rely on pump attendants employed by the filling station. (job preservation and all that). Also makes fuel much more expensive.

Jim shik · 2 years ago

I found these discussion very useful. It saved my vehicle today. My wife accidentaly filled Diesel in 2004 Sienna. We have only 25K miles on the minivan. There were about 3 gallons of regular gas in the tank when she filled in about 4.5 gallon of Diesel. She drove about 1.5 Km smoothly before vehicle started choking. She pulled over and parked the car in nearby parking lot. Later we drained about 1 gallon diesel out of the van and filled up almost 14 gallons of 91 octane gas. The van did not started or started but stopped in two seconds. After trying for about 10 times and giving the race all of the diesel in the engine area got burnned out and new mixed (diesel + gas) getting in the engine. Finally the engine started , I left the engine running for about 1/2 hours before driving. It drove almost same as before.

From Bea · 2 years ago

We were on vacation in Carlsbad,CA. We pulled up to a Chevron station in Carlsbad and filled up our tank, with we thought was unleaded gas. I STARTED THE ENGINE, drove away and immediately my car (Nissan) seemed to be "choking". We went back to Chevron. The cashier told us we pumped diesel and that it happens all the time at that station. I had my car towed and the tow company said they get plenty of business from people due to this problem. We had to get home but had to an extra day. We went to a Nissan dealer paid $400 to get the diesel gas out and lines cleaned. I have called, written, emailed, sent certified mail to Chevron to help us with this expense. We get the runaround!! Their diesel pump is right next to the unleaded gas on the same line!!! BEWARE OF THE CHEVRON IN CARLSBAD. A driver happened to pull up while we were speaking to the attendant and told us that it had just happened to his mother. He told us to add a "cleaner" but we had filled up...we had to have it repaired correctly. This occurred in August '06 and I did not find anything on the website about this problem until I came across your webite. Has anyone else written about this gas station? (And yes, the diesel pump fits!)

Colleen · 2 years ago

My daughter who is 16 and just got her car, filled her car with diesel accidently... I forgot to give her the 411 about gas I guess... Her car had about 1/4 tank in it and she filled it up with Diesel. Luckily that was only minutes from our house, but she did drive it for about 5 min before it pooped out, around the corner from our house. It didn't want to go for sure... I moved it from where she parked it to our house around the block before I knew that she put diesel in it... she just thought the car crapped out or something... so, tomorrow I am going to call the towing company and have them take the car in to be drained and cleaned... She's only had the car for 2 weeks...

Gen · 2 years ago

Yep, just put diesel in the car. Boy do I feel obtuse. I ran back to the service station just behind the gas station. Fortunately the service attendants near the gas station where I fueled checked the car and said it had a flush tap (luckily I live walking distance). All they will need to do is flush the fuel, change the filters and pump a bit of gas to get the cars started, about a $150-200 dollars for repairs…I cried like a baby, not about the money, last job on the car has cost $800; $150 was nothing compared to that. I cried because felt so lost and mortified. My friend said I feel bad now…but that we’ll look back at the incident and make fun of it (or rather make fun of me) in the future. I found this website doing a search on the damages the car could sustain. I’m happy I’m not the only one out there that has made the same mistake. Reading all your comments has helped me come down a bit and stop the weeping. I guess being a new driver is a scary thing. Your website has been really helpful to me. I’m in my early twenties, have live alone for many years, and I’m currently overseas. For parents out there be good to your kids when they make this kind of mistakes. I’m suffering right now and have no one to cry and hold on to. Make your kids feel comfortable, I really wish my mom was here. ;)

Jeff Korinko · 2 years ago

I have a case where my client was driving his 2003 Chevy Silverado 3500 Diesel truck and pulling a large RV trailer. He stopped at a gas station and put in about 26 gallons of diesel fuel [per the receipt]. He got back on the highway and traveled about 46 miles before his engine died. His truck was towed to a Chevrolet dealership where he was told that his pistons and cylinders were burned up, likely due to gasoline in his diesel fuel. The gas station vehemently denies that its diesel fuel was tainted with gasoline. My client had traveled at least 1800 miles up until this incident without any mechanical problems. Does anyone have any insight into this issue? It is the reverse of the original problem.

Teresa Beverley · 2 years ago

thanks first and foremost to qmchenry and then of course all of your comments.

i will let you know what happens in my case: early this morning because i found my tank out of gas (i thought i had 1/4 of a tank and was leaving for work early to fill up the tank), i did some quick thinking and realized i had gas in my shed for my lawn mower. the plastc fuel container i found, i was told, had gas in it: i put approx 1 gal in it and drove to the nearest station to place more gas in it(approx 1 mile). it sputtered as i entered the station. i only put 2.5 gal of additional gas in it and began leaving the station. but it wasnt having it and quickly stopped (i learned later that afternoon that there were 2 plastic containers of fuel in my shed; i only saw the one that, yep you guessed it, had diesel in it). i had it towed to the dealership. thus far, no work has been done on it; and since i do not have $500.00, i am going to take option #1 and continue to pray. i will also consult a few more mechanics prior to making this grueling decision. but thanks for all of your input. hopefully the following suggestions will help as well:
1. take the time to smell: gasoline is much more potent smelling.
2. label your gas cans in your shed.
3. keep your tank at 1/4 tank so you dont run into the "out of gas" dilema and make crazy mistakes like this.
4. last, i did NOT learn today that i have cancer or receive some other tragic news. today, i learned that we need to slow down, think, be willing to arrive to our destination late... and call someone we know who truly is having a tragic day and need a shoulder.

yes, i am upset with myself but i have all of you to thanks for this input - Teresa

shane · 2 years ago

well i feel like a idiot i filled my work truck brand new.first fill ever i was not famiarly with the the pumps was told by other driver that the digital pump system would only let me put diesel in but they gave me wrong chip and i did not even look at the label on the pump because where i fill up is all diesel for the last ten years and just was use to it this truck 220000 dollars. i started pumping the gas in it 12 gallons and realized it was gas and not diesel fuel this is a cement mixer truck and i felt sick all day and night and couldnt wait to talk to my boss who just dropped me off to pick up my new truck luckyfor me i did not start the engine and no gas got in the fuel line it was about 12 gallons gas and 30 gallons diesel we drained it and changed the fuel filter and it runs perfect still can not belive how stupid i was

Benjamin · 2 years ago

I was tuning my engine (302 GT-40 stroked to a 347) in my 2000 F-150, popping a bit over 210 psi per cylinder. I ran to the gas station and filled up a 5 gallon gas can with super premium unleaded, added octane booster and lead addative to the tank and then added the gas(diesel!!!!! The funny thing is that the gas station doesn't even sell diesel. But sure enough, there was a bit left in the can and it was a blueish greenish color. Man, my truck didn't like it as I drove it to a gas station to fill up the rest of the way. 20 gallons of premium, three bottles of octane booster and lead addative, and the thing is still pinging at anything over 1/3 throtle. I am down to less than a quarter tank left so hopefully when I fill back up, the problem will be solved. Glad to know there are other people out there with simular issues!! Keep your heads high and your feet out of the pedal to mimimize pre-detonation as it will all come out in the wash/refil!

Rick · 2 years ago

Theresa,

Having both diesel and gasoline equipment at my farm, I have worried about getting the two fuels confused. I quickly learned from a neighbor that gasoline should always be in red or orange containers and diesel fuel in yellow containers. You can find the yellow in most places that sell fuel containers. I have never had a problem after using the different colors. My daughter had a slight problem when she ran out of gas and her mother came to the rescue with a can of my chain saw gas and oil mixture. The car smoked a bit, but I guess nothing bad ever came of that. I actually had the chain saw gas in a red container and the mower gas with no oil in it in an orange container, but I guess my wife didn't realize that. The gas with oil in it has a much darker appearance, by the way.

Rick

jim · 2 years ago

My brother put in about six gallons of gasoline in my turbo passat diesel. I drained it out and filled up the tank with kerosine (more refined diesel). Started up rough but ran and after five minutes was fine.

Stan · 2 years ago

Can someone explain why it would be neccessary to clean/replace fuel lines and filters if diesel were put into a gasoline car? I would think simply draining it as much as possible and diluting it with gasoline would be good enough.
How would diesel harm the fuel lines or clog the fuel filter of a gasoline engine?

Rose · 2 years ago

I madevery stupid mistake today to put half tank of diesel in to my just brought second hand Toyota05I started the engineer and only run about 5 min , the car was terriably choking and then stopped. Good thing is I was lucky enough to pull over in the sideway not at the dead end intersection. I was told by my friend , the cost to repair is at least $1000. so I just treat them as a lose from stock market otherwise I will go crazy...

Thanks a lot for all yr guys input and make me feel not that stupid and learn a lot of infomtion and experience.

burbank · 2 years ago

hi..1
its a nice experience...
..if im you,i will help those people which realy need a help...i mean those people that in the in dangerouse...
cause of accident...

Mallory · 2 years ago

Well, after reading these comments I feel alot better about my situation. I am boring my moms explorer for the weekend. My friend and I decided this morning we would drive 2 hours to go shopping. I run out of gas, go to the gas station and put 7 gallons of diesel in it! I am freaking out calling dealerships and they are saying tow it. Finally, I talk to this sweet old man and he said fill the rest with gas and I made it home. Is everything gonna be okay from here on out?

shawn · 2 years ago

am really glad i came across this thread. last evening, i put 6 gallons of seemingly bad gas in my suburban. the vehicle was on empty when i put the gas in and i drove about 15 miles on it when all of the problems (sputtering,dying,etc..) began, so i'm down to about 5 gallons left in it. rather than taking it to my mechanic, i believe i will buy the fuel cleaner and fill it up with the high octane stuff. really hoping that does the trick, since i have a 42 gallon tank, i'm only looking at about 12% bad fuel in the system. it should be pretty easy to get it diluted.

Lisa · 2 years ago

I'm so glad to find this website. On mothers day I put diesel into my friends truck. It was on empty and I put approximately 9 gallons in it. We were over a hundred miles from home!!!!! We tried siphoning it but could not get a hose into the tank!! Truck would not start so I had it towed to her house and 2 days later to the dealership. Still waiting to hear the verdict on $cost and repairs but they seem to think emptying tank and flushing the fuel lines would work. I'm paying for my mistake and was prepared to essentially buy her a new truck. So glad it doesn't look that way now. Guess I cannot be trusted to pump any kind of gas.
I learned that if the pump handle is green it is not gasoline! Also, if it is too big, it's not gasoline! I'm not blonde, I swear. I don't normally do stupid stuff, but this was definately not smart!!

Kerrie · 2 years ago

I am thrilled to find this website, but my problem is on a tad smaller scale than an automobile. Nevertheless, I'm hoping that all you savvy engine techs can help me out! I have a chainsaw that was relatively new that my brother-in-law borrowed....unaware that a chain saw has to have a gas/oil fuel. He filled it with regular gas. Is there hope, or is this chainsaw pretty much history? I appreciate any and all input!

Shaun · 2 years ago

I was hard at work when my wife continually tried reaching me on the cell. Finally got time to answer and received the bad news that she had put diesel into our Rav4. She did want to start because her friend told her not to run the car and to call the dealership. I asked how much she pumped - are you ready for this? - it was only $0.20 or $0.30 worth! (She's not blonde either but...) So I told her since she was nearly on empty (I had drove the Rav4 the night before and knew it was near empty) that she should just fill it up with Regular and be on her way. She said she would just let me fill it up and I told her she had better do it while she was there and BEFORE she drove it with diesel in the tank - even though at today's prices that was maybe about 5-6 drops of gas! She even told me that she was wondering why the nozzel didn't fit into the tank - HINT HINT HINT! I'll have to drive it to see if there is any lingering effect, but I doubt enough got in there to make any difference (Rav4 has about 14 gallon tank and she only got 20 to 30 CENTS worth). Guess we were lucky she caught it before any true damage was done. Came across this site while being interested in what would have happened if.....

Samantha · 2 years ago

I am so happy to have found this site and see I am not alone in this easy mistake. I did the same thing a few nights ago, but I drove it not knowing that I shouldnt have for about 5 mins before my car stopped in the intersection. Luckily someone helped me to move my car to the side of the road and my roadside asstistance came and towed it to the dealer. I almost passed out when I was told it was going to cost over almost $1000!!!I guess I will have to suck this up to a learning experience.

Garry · 2 years ago

My wife drives an 04 Jag XK8. She only use premium gas and only buys at Costco and Safeway in California. Neither Safeway nor Costco sell Diesel in our area and yet, when her car quit the dealor says that there is diesel fuel contamination. The car would run for a while and then die. It would restart and go alittle longer(several miles). The dealor put many miles on the car road testing and it would be OK for awhile and then quit. Does anyone have an asnswer for us. Thanks.

eliz · 2 years ago

I drive a vw diesel jetta. Never did this before, but filled it with gasoline this AM, car is at mechanic for weekend, will find out later...I drove it for awhile not realizing the problem, then if felt like a fuel problem, had it towed. Gas station I went to is not one of my regulars, the pump had mutiple selections including diesel. This time Diesel was:YELLOW, I usually get diesel at two or three stations, all self pump and all are GREEN. Bad mistake!

Alex · 2 years ago

First I would like to know how you get the diesel pump into your gas car the diesel pumps "ends" are larger than the gas pumps that is what baffels me the most.

jasmine · 2 years ago

I put 3 gallons diesel into my new jeep! drove for a mile. engine started to go rough so I pulled over and just realized what I did! my question is should i take it to a mechanic or the dealership??

Vince · 2 years ago

My wife mistakenly added about 4 gallons of diesel to the 5 gallons of gas remaining in the tank of our Honda Element. She wondered why the nozzle wouldn't go into the filler hole, so she didn't fill up all the way. She made it home OK, but she couldn't get it started the next day. It didn't take long to figure out what happened, and we decided to remedy the situation ourselves instead of following any of the $600-$1000 estimates we got to flush the tank and lines, replace the iridium plugs and fuel filter (part of the in-tank fuel pump), and inspect the injectors. I uncoupled a quick disconnect in the fuel line just before the fuel rail at the front of the engine, stuck on a 6 foot plastic hose leading to a large container on the floor, and turned the key to the "run" position until the fuel pump stopped (about 3 seconds.) After the initial surge, gravity took over, and the tank was drained as dry as possible after about 5 hours. While this was going on, I cleaned the carbon off of the spark plugs and filled gas cans with 14 gallons of premium gas, and bought a bottle of Techron fuel system treatment. When the tank was empty, we poured in the Techron and premium gas, got the fuel pump going again to flush the last of the gas/diesel mix out of the fuel line, and reconnected the fuel line. After 4 tries to start the engine and 10-15 seconds of rough idling, the car ran fine. I'll check the plugs again after a couple more tanks of gas.

Joan · 2 years ago

Our local Turkey Hill had diesel fuel put into the unleaded regular underground tank. Up to 50 cars filled up at the pump before the mistake was discovered. My daughter's van started jerking a couple of miles away and the engine began to smoke. The tank was almost completely empty when she fueled up. Turkey Hill will pay to have the van towed and repaired, but what a nightmare!

d.j. aguirre · 2 years ago

I loaned my '87 bmw 320I to a friend. he said that he put 20 euros worth of diesel in my almost empty gas tank. a local mechanic claims that it'll cost 1300. euros to fix. i am relieved after reading all these reports. looks like this misinformed mechanic is trying to make an extra euro. maybe, he is under the impression that i have a diesel engine. especially since he has said that my car in a ticking time bomb. i'll know more when i return to italia next week. grazie mille for all your experinces. CIAO