"I’VE PUT PETROL IN MY DIESEL!” WE SHOW YOU THE SOLUTION

It’s a thought that scares the most seasoned diesel owner- Putting petrol in the diesel tank. Im sure you have all seen this when you have filled up before at the garage. The one bowser accommodating Unleaded, Hi-octane Unleaded and diesel is a common site. This in itself has caught many a diesel owner off guard and allowed them to accidentally fill the diesel tank with petrol. One thing that I have common amongst customers that have come in with petrol in diesel is that they are new to owning a diesel. Habits take years to make and also break and it’s a common thing for a new diesel owner to just plainly forget and put petrol in their diesel tank.

When you get to the point of realising you are, or have, put petrol into your diesels fuel tank, immediately stop and assess a few things.

Pending the amount of petrol in diesel, the best option ALWAYS is to drain out the fuel.

A lot of petrol in the diesel could damage the injection components so drain as much as possible and the I advise dropping a small bottle of 2 stroke oil in as you refill with diesel.

If you have just clicked in say 6 or 7 litres of petrol into a 80 or 90 litre diesel tank (under 10%) don’t panic. We have seen this a lot and my advice is to add a small bottle of 2 stroke oil to the tank and continue to fill the tank full with diesel. As the tank goes down keep topping it up with diesel.

One closing note. With an increasing number of petrol owners moving over to diesels, I have never experienced so many calls about petrol in diesel. This said I have never seen diesels so survivable from petrol in diesel as I have with common rail technology. Well, to be honest there is a heck of a lot less moving parts in a common rail system so this may play into the fact.

Just remember if you do make a mistake next time you’re filling your diesel have a quick chat with your diesel Expert.

Safe Travels

Andrew Leimroth

Berrima diesel- The diesel Experts