Filled me diesel up with petrol

[heebeegeetee]

Aaaaarrrggghhhh. My Bora tdi was empty as a very empty thing last night, filled it to the brim then drove home. when this morning it wouldn't start, I realised straight away what I'd done.

Its an older car - a '99 110 bhp, not a PD engine. I reckon the injection gear won't be damaged, what do you guys reckon?

I've only just got the tank drained (siphoned) this evening. However, I'm wondering if I should jack the car up and locate the fuel pipes where they leave the tank and try to drain it further. Is there a fuel pump in the vicinity of the tank? The haynes manual isn't clear about this.

So, what do we think? Will I be ok, or am I looking at a big bill for a damaged fuel system?

[catso]

My Father-in-law did this with his Merc, cost him IIRC a couple of grand to fix - but he did drive it until it 'stopped' Good luck.

Edited by catso on Monday 16th October 00:00

[cptsideways]

Old engine will be fine, try disconnecting the fuel line before the pump, allow it drain off fully. Re-fill & off you go. Should'nt do much damage on the older systems.

[bigjobbo]

I personally would take the sender out and dry rag the inside of the tank. Cant remember if they have one under the back seat, if not tank out. Only saying this because your battery will run flat before it starts. Fuel lines off, and turn over all remaining petty. Stick a ruck of diesel in, and turn. The petty will not damage a diesel component, it's just getting the bastard to start. good luck

[heebeegeetee]

Phew, looks like I got away with it. yes, it was a barsteward to start, but my mate turned up with a slave battery. I emptied the fuel filter of petrol and replaced it with derv, but it still took a lot of starting.

So there I was turning it over on the key when I suddenly thought "its all gone quiet" and thats when I noticed the engine was idling, sweet as a nut.

Seems to be fine, I'll take it to work tomorrow.

I've put the petrol in another car I have, and I have an old truck at work which I needed to get the diesel out of anyway before scrapping it, so all in all i've only had to pay for the clear tubing and cheapo hand priming syphoning jobby (which worked really well).

Thanks for your advice, guys.

[richardthestag]

heebeegeetee said:

Aaaaarrrggghhhh. My Bora tdi was empty as a very empty thing last night, filled it to the brim then drove home. when this morning it wouldn't start, I realised straight away what I'd done.

Its an older car - a '99 110 bhp, not a PD engine. I reckon the injection gear won't be damaged, what do you guys reckon?

I've only just got the tank drained (siphoned) this evening. However, I'm wondering if I should jack the car up and locate the fuel pipes where they leave the tank and try to drain it further. Is there a fuel pump in the vicinity of the tank? The haynes manual isn't clear about this.

So, what do we think? Will I be ok, or am I looking at a big bill for a damaged fuel system?