[JamesAJF]

went to the garage a little while ago and i accidentally put £4.00 worth of petrol in my diesel van   and now im worried its gonna mess me van up i ended up putting £50.00 worth of diesel in it to try dilute it do u think i will be ok or will it mess me van up? van seems to be running fine at the mo.

[stuart mc]

it will be fine don't worry about it

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

it should be fine mate , years ago it was the normal to do this to stop diesel freezing in the winter , remember my old dad doing this with  the trucks 

[JamesAJF]

thanks guys just feel a bit off a brat lol deff gonna have to look at what im doing next time been so worried that me van is gonna stop working been looking up on web and seems like i might just get away with it i will let u no if it don't work tomoz thanks guys.

[stuart mc]

thanks guys just feel a bit off a brat lol deff gonna have to look at what im doing next time been so worried that me van is gonna stop working been looking up on web and seems like i might just get away with it i will let u no if it don't work tomoz thanks guys.

it will be fine mate, it is other way round before it becomes a problem

[Kevin OBrien]

Keep topping up with diesel

[wpclean]

£4 of petrol equates to 2 teaspoons worth, so you will be ok 

[DG Cleaning]

It should be fine I'd run the current tank through then change the fuel filter

[JamesAJF]

Keep topping up with diesel

yer someone else said that i think i will do that for a few days just to be n the safe side

[JamesAJF]

 thanks guys for your help i think i will be ok i guess £ 4.00 worth is not a lot these days anyway with the price of fuel going up lol

[Dan crowther]

My son is a mechanic. He said that it would be the ideal to have it drained etc but if less than 10% petrol then just do as others have advised and keep topping up when you think you've used 5-10 litres. You could have reduced the life of various components like the fuel pump etc as the petrol acts as a solvent and vastly reduces the lubrication qualities of the diesel, which in the modern engines is not good, as diesel fuel pumps etc operate on very fine tolerances and at very high pressures and need this lubrication to stop metal to metal contact and the wear that comes from that. You shouldn't notice any ill effects though apart from the possibility that the engine management light may come on temporarily. Longer term there is a possibility that the fuel pump may have a slightly shorter than expected life but obviously that would be years down the line.
Some have said about people putting petrol in diesel trucks etc. this used to be done to stop waxing etc in extremely cold tempertures and this was before the modern common rail engine. Anything made after around 1997 this definitely should not be done as damage will be done.

[JamesAJF]

well i worked out that there is about 70p of petrol to every £10.00 worth of diesel so i think it might just go though ok i hope lol im not sure how much a fuel pump is but im guessing it not cheap i need to get it serviced soon so i will get the fuel filter changed.

[bobplum]

my son ran out of fuel one night, i went to him got the petrol tank,confirmed it was a petrol engine,went to the local petrol station which i use all the time for my diesel van..........and put fuel in the can took it back, placed it in the car, still wouldnt work, lots of black smoke it dawned on me i had put diesel in the can because i was so use too the routine of the same petrol station etc i automatically put diesel in............£25.00 worth of petrol later and some very large black smoke clouds we got it going, a R reg micra.

The strange thing was it cleared all the crap out of the engine and it runs brilliantly since

[[GQC] Tim]

Petrol in diesel car isn't the end of the world, the other way around can do a lot of damage.

Expensive to get it drained as well, think my dad had to pay £250. The funny thing? He had never ever owned a diesel car, and filled up my mums little KA with diesel.   

[andyM]

my son ran out of fuel one night, i went to him got the petrol tank,confirmed it was a petrol engine,went to the local petrol station which i use all the time for my diesel van..........and put fuel in the can took it back, placed it in the car, still wouldnt work, lots of black smoke it dawned on me i had put diesel in the can because i was so use too the routine of the same petrol station etc i automatically put diesel in............£25.00 worth of petrol later and some very large black smoke clouds we got it going, a R reg micra.

The strange thing was it cleared all the crap out of the engine and it runs brilliantly since

Diesel in a petrol engine will usually wreck the catalytic convertor amongst other components.
You got lucky. 

[bobplum]

my son ran out of fuel one night, i went to him got the petrol tank,confirmed it was a petrol engine,went to the local petrol station which i use all the time for my diesel van..........and put fuel in the can took it back, placed it in the car, still wouldnt work, lots of black smoke it dawned on me i had put diesel in the can because i was so use too the routine of the same petrol station etc i automatically put diesel in............£25.00 worth of petrol later and some very large black smoke clouds we got it going, a R reg micra.

The strange thing was it cleared all the crap out of the engine and it runs brilliantly since

Diesel in a petrol engine will usually wreck the catalytic convertor amongst other components.
You got lucky. 

i think the fact it was  a R reg micra and had been around the clock helped as well
he had been driving for 6 months before he realised it had no water in the rad.it should be on top gear

[Michael Peterson]

lol 4 if anything will make it start easier, they mix a little petrol in with the diesel in cold countries to help