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[noodle]

Hiya, Yesterday i stupidly put 29 litres of petol in my nearly empty diesel tank. I got about a mile before it stopped. I've siphoned almost all of it out but would appreciate any advice on what to do next. It's a 2003,  2.2 manual. Many thanks. 

[albitz]

Personally, I would fill to the brim with diesel and carry on regardless.

[noodle]

Thanks albs. The problem i've got is that it wont start.

[albitz]

Ahh, in that case, you might want to undo the pipes to the injectors and wind the engine over for a while until you get rid of the petrol from the pipes and get diesel back up to the injectors.
Im far from an expert tbh, so maybe someone else will give some more expert advice later.

[Omegatoy]

oh dear, the pump on the 2,2 is very very intolerant of not having diesel in it!! hope for your sake it is alright though, remove fuel filter and replace with new one brimmed with diesel, bleed injectors and keep your fingers crossed

[so comfortably numb]

Thing is the diesel acts as a lubricant and the petrol fuel will affectively degrease the pump

[albitz]

yep - 2 options though. change the pump, or do as omegatoy says and see how it goes - might need to change the pump depending on how that goes.

[Broomies Mate]

I take it you have driven the car until it 'stopped' as it were?

If so, you are likely to have damaged the pump.  Fortunately for you (possibly), the pump would have given up before a lot of Petrol was passed through it.

Before you replace the pump, remove the filter (bypass it with some hose) and crack each injector.  Fill tank with diesel and crank until you have diesel at the injectors.  Then replace the pump, replace the filter with a new one and crank again. (short bursts).  Once you are absolutely sure it is only diesel coming through, re-tighten the injectors and cross your fingers.

[Omegatoy]

Thing is the diesel acts as a lubricant and the petrol fuel will affectively degrease the pump

yep and the new low sulpur diesel is so low in lubricity that the pumps fail quite often anyway!! quality 2stroke oil is your friend!!!

[VXL V6]

Thing is the diesel acts as a lubricant and the petrol fuel will affectively degrease the pump

yep and the new low sulpur diesel is so low in lubricity that the pumps fail quite often anyway!! quality 2stroke oil is your friend!!!

I pop some 2stroke in with each tankful but I never know if I should be using Mineral or Synthetic...

To the OP, if you need to replace the pump you'll be looking for an Omega or Frontera that's being broken.

[Omegatoy]

Thing is the diesel acts as a lubricant and the petrol fuel will affectively degrease the pump

yep and the new low sulpur diesel is so low in lubricity that the pumps fail quite often anyway!! quality 2stroke oil is your friend!!!

I pop some 2stroke in with each tankful but I never know if I should be using Mineral or Synthetic...

To the OP, if you need to replace the pump you'll be looking for an Omega or Frontera that's being broken.

Good fr you Andy!! personally i use synthetic, as when i was mixing mineral with diesel in a can it left a small amount of sludge!!  mixed the synthetic in the same can after i cleaned it  no sludge
as its only used to lubricate the pump or replace the lubricity in the diesel, it probably wont matter? but my gut feeling is synthetic has been designed to disolve completely?

[VXL V6]

  Cheers G.

Shame there isn't a cheaper method of pump repair. Seems a lot of cars with failed pumps end up being scrapped as the pump costs more than the car.

[noodle]

Thanks for all the advice chaps, i eventually managed to get the old girl running. I siphoned as much petrol as i could from the tank, i then removed the fuel filter & soaked up the petrol in the chamber with a clean lint free cloth.  I filled the chamber with fresh diesel & replaced with a new filter.  Filled the tank with £90......"kin £90" of diesel,(its been an expensive learning experiance what with the £40 of contaminated petrol i've had to dispose of) I hope i NEVER do again....  I then cranked it over.... lots of smoke & spluttering untill she fired. I took it for a blast down the local bypass, bit of smoke at first but it cleared & now it runs sweet, if anything,, better the before. Starts ok too. Once again, thanks for all your advice. 

[Bionic]

I used to be a diesel fitter and this was a very common job for me.
Were I you m8 I would put a sticker inside the filler cap to remind me of what fuel it should be. All new cars have them on for that reason....
Expensive lesson yes..... but it could have been far worse.
Glad your sorted though...
 

[aaronjb]

Friend of mine's wife did this in her Honda - it spluttered to a stop fairly quickly and, like yours, was saved with draining the tank and putting the right fuel in it (according to the AA man who attended, it's one of the most common call outs).

Anyway.. turns out you can buy a filler cap that can only be removed by inserting a diesel pump outlet into the filler cap (a petrol filler won't let you remove the cap).. might be an idea? (Although a bad idea if you ask his wife - the first time she used it she managed to empty the contents of the diesel pump end down her trousers..)