rocky Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Hi, can anyone tell me what damage I will have done putting petrol in to my defender puma and running it for about 7 miles? It ran ok just noisy. My big worry is what it will have done to the pump, as it is lubricated by diesel oil. Soon as I realised what I had done I stopped and had the vehicle recovered. It is at the garage now and hopefully drained etc tomorrow. I had 4 gallons of petrol for my generator alongside 5 gallons of diesel. I'll not make that mistake again. Any thoughts greatfully received. Rocky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 The excessive noise (rattle?), is the petrol detonating too soon. Petrol also explodes, whereas diesel burns, so not very good for a diesel engine, but probably not in the short term. Was there much diesel in tank in relation to the amount of petrol you put in it? There may have still been enough diesel in the mix to lubricate the pump in the short term. I would have drained the system and filled with diesel and kept an eye on it. Garages have a bad habit of saying that your engine is wrecked, when this is rarely the case. I've only once come across critical engine damage when petrol has been put in a diesel - this sort of thing was quite a common occurence a while back and usually just needed a system drain. If the engine sounds ok when you get it back, then it's unlikely that you've done any damage to it. One my customers recently wrecked his own engine in a similar way. He poured neat petrol over his diesel engine - while it was running . The engine sucked in the hot petrol fumes and away it went. Very dramatic and terminal - I have it here for engine replacement Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frax Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Hi you should be OK, I take it that there was 5 gallons of diesel to 4 gallons of petrol in the Defender. I would think that the diesel would still be enough to lubricate your pump. A friend of mine filled his Sprinter with petrol (he is a mechanic) when he was in a rush and his van was empty, it was recovered after about a mile and drained and has run OK ever since. Regards Frax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocky Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 There would be just over half the amount of petrol to diesel. Does the petrol wreck the pistons etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frax Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 No not for that mix and that time run, it would have sounded bad due to the bad burn. Once it is drained, do the filter as well, fill with diesel and all should be fine. Frax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocky Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 Thanks for the replies, I'll post the results. Rocky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frax Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I am sure that more will be along soon with good words of wisdom. Frax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CwazyWabbit Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 .... One my customers recently wrecked his own engine in a similar way. He poured neat petrol over his diesel engine - while it was running . The engine sucked in the hot petrol fumes and away it went. Very dramatic and terminal - I have it here for engine replacement Les. What on earth was he trying to do? Clean it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yostumpy Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 In the winter I regularly add 1.5 lts of petrol to 15 ltrs of veg oil and then mix that 50/50 with derv, in my 300 tdi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CwazyWabbit Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 In the winter I regularly add 1.5 lts of petrol to 15 ltrs of veg oil and then mix that 50/50 with derv, in my 300 tdi. I should imagine 5% petrol is a little different to 33% petrol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyNissanPrairie Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 friend accidently tanked a nearly empty Rangie L322 Td6 with petrol and hammered it down a motorway till it pretty well cut out. Drained and run fine since (18months ago) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 What on earth was he trying to do? Clean it? He replaced a leaking rocker cover gasket, started the engine to check it was fixed, then poured petrol over the engine to rinse the oil off. Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gromit Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 He replaced a leaking rocker cover gasket, started the engine to check it was fixed, then poured petrol over the engine to rinse the oil off. Priceless :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocky Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 Hi, Thanks for all the replies. Got the 90 back this afternoon--tank drained--line flushed and new fuel filter. Runs fine, hope it stays that way. Regards, rocky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPendrey Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 Well done. I once made the same mistake, but realised at the pump what I'd done... so only put about 5 litres of petrol in amongst 60 litres of diesel (in a Ford Galaxy TDi)... It never ran so well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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