Possible Engine Damage?

[Sparky67]

After having a petrol hire car for some time I unfortunately put petrol in my 63-plate Insignia CDTi tank on Saturday. Fortunately I caught myself, and filled the tank to the brim with diesel. The mix was about 35P:65D. I then carefully drove about 10 miles to where I had to be, the engine seemed fine, and later in the day drained the tank completely through the filter housing and refilled with diesel. It drove 30 miles home OK where I changed the fuel filter. It has started and driven fine this week so far, I can't feel any difference, with no sign of smoke in the exhaust. I've got 1000 miles ahead of me in the next couple of weeks. Have I got away with it? What could be the longer-term damage?

[Big Dave]

What could be the longer-term damage?

Possible fuel pump damage more than anything else I would have thought due to reduced lubrication properties of having diluted the diesel with petrol.

The engine itself will still be lubricated by the engine oil.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-new...n-a-diesel-car

[Sparky67]

Thanks for the link Dave. Just been looking at eBay for pumps - is there one in the tank and one on the engine?

[Dog_Book]

Yup, with what you have said and the fact it running quite happily I’d say you’ve been lucky and it’s all ok.
If something had been damaged I’m sure you’d hear it by now

[northpole]

it won't cause any damage... it actually cleaned out the engine and the fuel system... you did what you needed to and that is change the fuel filter and replaced the mixture with proper diesel... problem sorted you just have very clean injectors/fuel pump/lift pump and super clean pistons/valves and ports... the biggest damage might be in the DPF.. but if the engine runs fine it'll be fine also

this happened to me also and this was with an audi quatro 2.7 tdi (tuned to 350bhp) and i didn't caught myself i was driving and the engine started to act up... called the AA and they came emptied my tank and gave 20 liters of diesel... restarted the car and it ran better than it ever did before... when i got home I took the glowplugs out...and put a scope down it... the engine was clean... like a petrol car... went and checked the fuel filter.. it was extra dirty so replaced that the day after.. the car never ran so much smoother and idled a bit lower than before the incident...

basically you gave the engine and fuel system a very crude clean up almost as effective as a terraclean.

[Rhodie]

It all comes down to luck. I had a mate who bought a 6 month old preface 1.9 after having petrol cars all his life. This in fact was his first diesel. Anyway he bought it will a full tank and 2 weeks later filled up from nearly empty with petrol instead of diesel, on his way to see his parents in Basingstoke (this was from Hull by the way). All seemed fine until he stopped around Bedford at services for a coffee, and said that it struggled to start when they wanted to set off, but still drove ok. Carried on to Basingstoke, spent the weekend with parents, thinking he would take the car back to the dealer when he got back to Hull. Dealer phoned him an hour later to say they had found the problem. They drained the tank and changed filters etc but told him if there any lasting damage it would not be covered under warrantee. Couldn't argue with that About 500 miles round trip. He had the car for about 7 years, no problems re fuel whatsoever. Just goes to show how bulletproof these engines are.

[Sparky67]

The car has now done over 1000 miles since the misfuel. No noticeable changes to performance, no new noises, and the computer thingy shows the last 950 miles on holiday (to and from France from Brum - 2 people plus luggage) at 52.3mpg.

Thanks for the advice and thoughts. Not sure if I have been lucky, or the companies which advertise misfuel rescue are playing it very safe by saying 'whatever you do don't start the engine if it's over 5% petrol in a tank of diesel'...?

Anyway, the chap who showed me how to drain the tank, and then did all the wet and smelly work under the filter housing while I turned the key every few seconds to run the pump, is getting a nice bottle of bourbon next week!! The least I can do after saving me £200 or so

[Sparky67]

And a year and eight thousand miles later everything is still fine