Ok so I'm a fucking muppet.... Wrong fuel

[bowser]

I had a similar issue with my boat in France i put 150 litres diesel in to the fuel tank on top of 100 litres of petrol i already had in there cost me over 300 Euros to pump out plus the cost of fuel and the cost to refill with petrol that was our holiday spending money spent in one foul swoop we had to come home after that.

Once home my mate informed me that mixing diesel with petrol shouldnt do much damage it will just smoke more, however putting petrol through a diesel motor is not a great idea.

Not sure what effect the diesel would have on the injectors but the fact you rode 8 miles seems positive. If i were you i'd syphon all the fuel out and put in 98 octane and try to get the new fuel through the fuel pump.

Good luck!!

Funny you should say that, as I wasnt paying attention and put about 5ltr of unleaded in my van until I realized, did some checking and spoke with a AA types all said that 5 ltr in a full tank of Diesel wouldnt do any harm and would probably do it some good, have to say it did run better on that tank !! I now put a couple of liters of Unleaded in with a full tank full once a month or so

 

[getalife]

Audi 100 diesel manual told you to put few gallons of petrol in to stop it freezing in winter.

I didn't read that when I went to Denmark and it was minus some bloody big number. Ground to a halt with waxed up filter. French passenger kept asking if I'd put petrol in, no it's diesel says I. Took a while to realise he was right and I was wrong. Mind you, Danish 70 year old farmer who's door I knocked on spoke bloody good English and towed me to garage for nowt. Was early 80's I think.

Gist is they used to tell you to mix petrol with diesel. Maybe seals are 'better' now?

 

[JJH]

Audi 100 diesel manual told you to put few gallons of petrol in to stop it freezing in winter.

I didn't read that when I went to Denmark and it was minus some bloody big number. Ground to a halt with waxed up filter. French passenger kept asking if I'd put petrol in, no it's diesel says I. Took a while to realise he was right and I was wrong. Mind you, Danish 70 year old farmer who's door I knocked on spoke bloody good English and towed me to garage for nowt. Was early 80's I think.

Gist is they used to tell you to mix petrol with diesel. Maybe seals are 'better' now?

Up to to 20% according to the manual in my 1976 Audi 100 JJH

 

[Bendy toy]

Petrol octane numbers are the opposite of diesel cetane numbers. (more or less).
High octane = low ability to self ignite smooth in a petrol engine but burns late in a diesel and cooks the exhaust.
High cetane. = high self ignition so the fuel burns quickly and smoothly in a diesel but knocks in a petrol engine.
Modern diesel fuel has at least 5% biodiesel. it's goof fuel but quickly knackers up rubber even silicone. So since the late 1990s all diesels have been rubber free with seals from viton or some such. It's also used in petrol systems.
Apart from its non lubrication ability, petrol is far less damaging to seals than biodiesel.
Of course petrol won't self ignite like diesel so 100% is never good. But as someone said 20% petrol won't hurt a diesel.
20% diesel in a GS won't do any harm they are built to run on some terrible stuff. If it's only a few litres top off the tank with posh petrol and ride. A tank full is another story
If starts from cold and runs smoothly just use the mixture and top up with posh petrol when there's some space. If it chunters and knocks the only option is to drain some fuel and fill with posh petrol.

Sent from my phone with mangled spelling

 

[JJH]

Petrol octane numbers are the opposite of diesel cetane numbers. (more or less).
High octane = low ability to self ignite smooth in a petrol engine but burns late in a diesel and cooks the exhaust.
High cetane. = high self ignition so the fuel burns quickly and smoothly in a diesel but knocks in a petrol engine.
Modern diesel fuel has at least 5% biodiesel. it's goof fuel but quickly knackers up rubber even silicone. So since the late 1990s all diesels have been rubber free with seals from viton or some such. It's also used in petrol systems.
Apart from its non lubrication ability, petrol is far less damaging to seals than biodiesel.
Of course petrol won't self ignite like diesel so 100% is never good. But as someone said 20% petrol won't hurt a diesel.
20% diesel in a GS won't do any harm they are built to run on some terrible stuff. If it's only a few litres top off the tank with posh petrol and ride. A tank full is another story
If starts from cold and runs smoothly just use the mixture and top up with posh petrol when there's some space. If it chunters and knocks the only option is to drain some fuel and fill with posh petrol.

Sent from my phone with mangled spelling

I agree there is no need for all this bolloxoligy changing filters and draining ALL the fuel. The only people to benefit are the mechanics who put the fuel into their own cars and dispose of in a environmentally friendly way. Been there done that at the instance of the customer who would not listen. JJH

 

[Sgt Bilco]

I agree there is no need for all this bolloxoligy changing filters and draining ALL the fuel. The only people to benefit are the mechanics who put the fuel into their own cars and dispose of in a environmentally friendly way. Been there done that at the instance of the customer who would not listen. JJH

Bang on JJH. I'd probably syphon as much of the tank as I could and top up with petrol or failing that, brim it with petrol and put up with a bit of smoke for a while

I think there was a ride report on here some years ago when the only fuel a guy could get was a 50/50 petrol/diesel mix which he put in his GS. It coughed and smoked a bit but got him where he needed to be with no harm done.

 

[kirby morgan]

A mate also put in diesel into his 2010 GS He siphoned out the diesel using a length of hose, filled with unleaded, once bike started, it smoked for less than a minute. No filter change, no spark plug change, bike ran fine with no problems for another 30K. Bike sold on in excellent condition.
Don't worry, 1/2 hour max to drain, refuel and restart bike.

 

[JJH]

Some people are making lots of money frightening people with horror stores. I see adverts in filling stations for this. Filled with wrong fuel? Don't start vehicle call oooooo for swift service. JJH sent by my smart iPad by a bit of a twit.

 

[Sam555]

Some really good advice here and proves worth of these forums. I purchased my 08 GSA second hand and the previous owner gave me all servicing receipts (nice chap, he had done same and gone straight to his local BMW dealer (via recovery when realised mistake). According to receipt they removed and flushed out fuel tank, flushed out injectors and fuel lines, new plugs for the princely sum of £282 and that was in 2009! Oops.

 

[joe4550]

Just spent an hr or two with a hose in the tank sucking up the mix (note to self
Petrol/diesel mix tastes like ass) and filled it with hi grade petrol (not diesel this time) and apart from being smokier than a red arrow display team it seams to be working fine apart from a few burps and pops here and there which I'm assuming is the remainder of the diesel going through the system and will look at if it carries on after I have ran
The tank down a few times.

Total cost..

£50 on fuel
A great deal of panic when I realised
And a few mouthfuls of petrol/diesel mix

Cheers for all the help guys... Now.... Anyone want 16L of 50/50 diesel petrol mix?

 

[magic man]

wrong fuel

i did this on my 1150, i had to change the fuel filters then it was fine with new petrol

 

[JJH]

Just spent an hr or two with a hose in the tank sucking up the mix (note to self
Petrol/diesel mix tastes like ass) and filled it with hi grade petrol (not diesel this time) and apart from being smokier than a red arrow display team it seams to be working fine apart from a few burps and pops here and there which I'm assuming is the remainder of the diesel going through the system and will look at if it carries on after I have ran
The tank down a few times.

Total cost..

£50 on fuel
A great deal of panic when I realised
And a few mouthfuls of petrol/diesel mix

Cheers for all the help guys... Now.... Anyone want 16L of 50/50 diesel petrol mix?

Send the stuff to me. Seriousley you have a fuel that can be used in a petrol or diesel car 8 liters won't harm either JJH

 

[lunc]

Our neighbour (who will remain nameless as some on here might know him) filled up his almost new LR Tdi with petrol and drove home. Realising what he'd done he drained it out and refilled and all seemed OK but then contacted LR for advice on what else might need doing. They said he have to change all sorts of stuff (£2.5Ks worth IIRC) and if he didn't his warranty would be void. He told them to take a running jump and sold it on telling them he'd never buy another LR. (He now several years later has a nice RR instead).

Didn't know that about petrol in the diesel to stop it freezing. Handy tip that.

 

[andysdad]

Re the story about an Audi 100 (c.1980?): ancient tech Diesel engine compared with a modern Common Rail or VW PD. Injectors now run at 20000/30000 psi and the pump WILL be damaged by petrol BUT remember diesel is heavier so floats under the petrol. Catch it quick and you might be ok.

Also (for either error) some cars prime the fuel pump when you open the driver's door, so if you realise before then DO NOT OPEN IT!

I've seen £9K bills before now and yes, the car needed it. All fuel lines, pumps (tank and high pressure), filters, injectors etc. get replaced.

Diesel in petrol usually OK apart from gumming up lambda and cat. Changing filters a good idea as heavy diesel sits in them.

A

 

[JJH]

Re the story about an Audi 100 (c.1980?): ancient tech Diesel engine compared with a modern Common Rail or VW PD. Injectors now run at 20000/30000 psi and the pump WILL be damaged by petrol BUT remember diesel is heavier so floats under the petrol. Catch it quick and you might be ok.

Also (for either error) some cars prime the fuel pump when you open the driver's door, so if you realise before then DO NOT OPEN IT!

I've seen £9K bills before now and yes, the car needed it. All fuel lines, pumps (tank and high pressure), filters, injectors etc. get replaced.

Diesel in petrol usually OK apart from gumming up lambda and cat. Changing filters a good idea as heavy diesel sits in them.

A

Load of bollocks petrol floats on diesel shite rubbish of course the dealer is going to tell you to replace everything. As for diesel clogging up filters petrol is the best solvent I have ever seen and would wash it trough pronto. Many years when fuel injection first became common on high end cars there was a fuel pump near the tank which used to become noisy. A drop of diesel was a great way to quiet them down for a while. JJH

 

[Bendy toy]

Neat petrol is likely to damage the injection pump. But pure no sulphur diesel fuel is also minimal lubricating which is one reason why vege ester additives are used. The old sulphides were very lubricating but dirty of course.

A small amount of petrol wont stuff the diesel pump. If you are worried chuck some premixed diesel and 2 stroke oil into the tank.

Petrol wont float on top for long because car tanks fill from the bottom so it mixes on the way in and the fuel pump recirculates fuel from engine back to the tank..

 

[JJH]

Neat petrol is likely to damage the injection pump. But pure no sulphur diesel fuel is also minimal lubricating which is one reason why vege ester additives are used. The old sulphides were very lubricating but dirty of course.

A small amount of petrol wont stuff the diesel pump. If you are worried chuck some premixed diesel and 2 stroke oil into the tank.

Petrol wont float on top for long because car tanks fill from the bottom so it mixes on the way in and the fuel pump recirculates fuel from engine back to the tank..

If you are worried about luberication a it of hydrolic oil will do. It's an old trick if you run a drop of kerosine in your tank. Strictly illegal of course. JJH