Few Litres of Petrol in Diesel Qasqai 1.5
Discussion
A couple of weeks ago my missus put a few litres of petrol in the diesel engine of her 2017 1.5d Qasqai before realising, then filled the rest of the tank up with Diesel and drove off! 400 or so miles later it's still going without a bother and now she tells me! Do you reckon she just got away with it or the engine still could pack it in and need to be flushed and primed again? She's being driving around for 2 weeks and even filled it up with diesel again when it was half empty. I through modern diesel cars would pack it in instantly after only a drop of petrol.
Really? More likely not depending on the quantity of petrol against diesel. How do you think both fuels are transported? A typical tanker is only ever nominally empty, the aluminium actually "sweats" meaning that there are always traces in the compartment. They don't pick what goes in based on what it carried previously. That is reserved for aviation fuel.
With that dilution, I would not expect any issues, especially as she has re-tanked since.
Way back, people would mix in a litre or two of petrol in a tankful of diesel to help starting in the winter. Not necessary, nor advisable now. You may, and only may, have issues with seals but I doubt it and you can only wait and continue ensuring you only use diesel. Nothing you can do now.
Way back, people would mix in a litre or two of petrol in a tankful of diesel to help starting in the winter. Not necessary, nor advisable now. You may, and only may, have issues with seals but I doubt it and you can only wait and continue ensuring you only use diesel. Nothing you can do now.
NeverLearn22 said:
A couple of weeks ago my missus put a few litres of petrol in the diesel engine of her 2017 1.5d Qasqai before realising, then filled the rest of the tank up with Diesel and drove off! 400 or so miles later it's still going without a bother and now she tells me! Do you reckon she just got away with it or the engine still could pack it in and need to be flushed and primed again? She's being driving around for 2 weeks and even filled it up with diesel again when it was half empty. I through modern diesel cars would pack it in instantly after only a drop of petrol.
It would be useful to know the exact quantities - does she have a receipt, or paid via an app, or can you even track through the amounts on the debit card and work back from a typical fuel price?If it really was a couple of litres in a full tank, that might 50 litres, then your at max 4% dilution.
If a 'couple' was actually ten, and the tanks only 40, then thats 25%.... So depending on how honest and accurate she has been with the figures it could be a different story!
Catastrophic effects of a full tank of petrol would be instant but long term effects, who knows.. You might just have put a few tens of thousands of miles of wear onto a high pressure mechanical fuel pump for instance...?
Spot of googling and interestingly this article give a nominal 5% as the figure for 'you will *probably* get away with it'
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/95327/wrong...
I know a diesel mechanic who now works as a workshop manager for a major plant company. He says this misfuelling thing is a bit of a con really, assuming you aren't running so much of the wrong fuel in an engine that it fails to start or misfires then you'll be absolutely fine. Diesel, biodiesel and E10 petrol are hydroscopic and your car definitely won't run on water, so all engines can definitely run on lightly contaminated fuel.
If you'd brimmed the tank and run it up the road you'd probably have quite a different tale to tell, however if it genuinely was a couple of litres (I'm thinking 5 ltr in a 65-75ltr tank) and she did mix it thoroughly with Diesel I expect you've got away with it. In effect you've created "winter diesel" and in reality the car will be validated to run with much worse mixed in to the diesel throughout the world.
In short I think you'll be fine
In short I think you'll be fine
There is a lot of confusion and bull over misfuelling.
People have misfuelled severely (near full tank), had the car taken to the dealer and ended up with £5k+ bills (new injectors, new hpfp etc) paid for by their Insurer (and a few Insurers don't cover misfuels).
Most people I know that have done it have the tank drained via one of those misfuel companies, fuel filters replaced and system flushed through, paid a bill of a few hundred pounds and the car has run happily forever after, amen. Just go to a misfuel company or an independent garage. Let's say there is some damage, but the car has run for 100k since then. So what?
People have misfuelled severely (near full tank), had the car taken to the dealer and ended up with £5k+ bills (new injectors, new hpfp etc) paid for by their Insurer (and a few Insurers don't cover misfuels).
Most people I know that have done it have the tank drained via one of those misfuel companies, fuel filters replaced and system flushed through, paid a bill of a few hundred pounds and the car has run happily forever after, amen. Just go to a misfuel company or an independent garage. Let's say there is some damage, but the car has run for 100k since then. So what?
I was topping up the tank in my old E Class diesel. I put about 5-6 litres into an 85 litre tank. I brimmed it with diesel, I drove 240 miles and then refueled to the top with diesel again. Never had a problem with it.
A full tank or from near empty may have been more problematic but 5-10% didn't cause any issues at all.
A full tank or from near empty may have been more problematic but 5-10% didn't cause any issues at all.
Thanks All. Hard to say how much petrol was put in. By her account, she only had it filling for a few seconds. We don't have a receipt, I can just see the overall card payment in the statement. I'd say approx 5 litres (+/- a litre I guess). That was then diluted by a full tank of diesel and then another half tank since then. I said 400 miles since the mistake, actually it's 300 but no problems since. I asked her if she noticed any decrease in power or stutters, or problems starting, but nothing. All appears fine. Absolutely will fill with the posh diesel for a while.
With that dilution, I would not expect any issues, especially as she has re-tanked since.
Way back, people would mix in a litre or two of petrol in a tankful of diesel to help starting in the winter. Not necessary, nor advisable now. You may, and only may, have issues with seals but I doubt it and you can only wait and continue ensuring you only use diesel. Nothing you can do now.
Way back, people would mix in a litre or two of petrol in a tankful of diesel to help starting in the winter. Not necessary, nor advisable now. You may, and only may, have issues with seals but I doubt it and you can only wait and continue ensuring you only use diesel. Nothing you can do now.
Pica-Pica said:
With that dilution, I would not expect any issues, especially as she has re-tanked since.
Way back, people would mix in a litre or two of petrol in a tankful of diesel to help starting in the winter. Not necessary, nor advisable now. You may, and only may, have issues with seals but I doubt it and you can only wait and continue ensuring you only use diesel. Nothing you can do now.
I thought the issue was supposed to be pump lubrication but that would scarcely be an issue unless you ran the thing on neat petrol.Way back, people would mix in a litre or two of petrol in a tankful of diesel to help starting in the winter. Not necessary, nor advisable now. You may, and only may, have issues with seals but I doubt it and you can only wait and continue ensuring you only use diesel. Nothing you can do now.
My other half did the same a few months ago and it has not caused any problems. She has done about 3k miles at least since then and an MOT.
I was reading somewhere that in colder climes they dilute diesel by 5% or so with unleaded anyway to stop it sludging up when the temp drops during winter.
I was reading somewhere that in colder climes they dilute diesel by 5% or so with unleaded anyway to stop it sludging up when the temp drops during winter.
Pica-Pica said:
Zener said:
sgtbash said:
Head gasket failure within the next few months, i'm afraid.
what absolute garbage 
future HGF failure indeed Zener said:
Pica-Pica said:
Zener said:
sgtbash said:
Head gasket failure within the next few months, i'm afraid.
what absolute garbage future HGF failure indeed Gassing Station | Engines & Drivetrain | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff