Petrol in a Diesel Car

[bkmullin]

Guys
I put £10 of unleaded in my wife's Pug 206 1.9D last night before I realised what I was doing. I figured if I filled itto the neck with Diesel, then it should be fine.

I then rang 2 mechanics who both said it should be OK to drive. But my mate, who's pretty clued in, reckons it could wreck the engine. I took the Pug to work this morning (about 10 miles) and it drove fine.

What do you guys reckon?

 

[MikeA3]

Had a similar thing happen to me a few years back, My mum borrowed my old seat ibiza diesel and kindly filled it up with 4* - the whole tank.

it actually went (although it sounded more like a bag of spanners) i ended up getting the engine flushed through by a local garage for about £35.

i'd guess that with only £10 of petrol and the remaining tank full of diesel you might be ok but i'd probably get it flushed through just in case.

It'd be cheaper than a mechanics bill for a damaged engine etc.

 

[jcs356]

A small amount of petrol in a basic diesel engine is ok. If it is a modern hi-output turbo with something like PDI then I'd get it drained.

 

[AndyMac]

I did the same last week £16 of unleaded then £38 of diesel after I realised what I'd done (see post in B6 forum). Apparently you can get away with about 10% petrol in a tank, but as jcs says it depends on how sophisticated the engine is. In the latest tdi's even a small amount can wreck it. Unfortunately there's no definitive answer as there are too many variables.
Best to be safe and get it flushed and a new fuel filter. Or worst case keep topping it up with diesel as soon as there's any space in the tank. Just cause it's running ok doesn't mean it's not damaging the engine. Diesel is a lubricant which the engine relies on, petrol is a solvent which will induce wear on the injectors etc.
If it was at a BP station then you can file a claim and they should pay out as they're getting 400 complaints a day about the colour coding of their pumps. Still waiting to here on my claim.