In trouble for filling wrong fuel in car? Here’s what to do - DIY

In modern cars, without appropriate badges, it is hard to tell if it uses petrol or diesel engine. This problem leads to confusion. The confusion lands the owners into problems with their engine getting the wrong fuel in the system. This problem might seem like a rare occurrence, but it is fairly common.

But even with this problem being so common many people have no clue on what to do if you get petrol in your diesel engine car or diesel in your petrol engine car. Do not worry; we will explain what to do and how to identify if your tank is full of the wrong fuel.

How to identify if your diesel car has petrol in it?

When it comes to improper fuel, diesel engines react more than petrol engines. Once petrol gets in your diesel engine, it can be very problematic. The intense cleaning and drying qualities of fuel irritate even the rubber seals in diesel engines. It's considerably more difficult to determine whether your diesel engine has been filled with gasoline. The car will spew black smoke as a result of the unburned fuel, finally coming to a complete stop, after which the car will not start.

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How to identify if your petrol car has diesel in it? Diesel is significantly heavier than petrol and has a higher oil content. It will undoubtedly have an effect on the gasoline filter at first. Your car might begin to stutter and stall nearly immediately when the gasoline filter clogs. Because diesel and petrol are intermingled, your spark plugs will foul up with soot build-up. Your car will begin to release a lot of white smoke at this point, and it will eventually lose all power and come to a halt.

What to do if you have wrong fuel in your car?

Once your car is filled with the wrong fuel, the ideal thing to do is not to let the fuel get in the engine. In simple words, you shouldn't start your car. As you might have already guessed next, you should drain the fuel tank.

You can drain the fuel tank by using an inserting a hose through the filler cap. Ensure that you empty the tank and the main fuel line as much as possible. After this, you crank up your engine by turning the key to make sure that any leftover fuel is pumped out.

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For a diesel engine- Once you are done draining all the fuel, connect the fuel line back. If you have a diesel engine, follow it up by filling the correct fuel with additives to clean the injectors. You would also need to open the drain plug (at the bottom of the filter) and take it out.

For a petrol engine- In the case of a petrol engine, you need to clean the spark plug as well. In addition, you need to change the fuel filter as it might have already clogged up from diesel.

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