{"id":3267,"date":"2013-11-18T06:30:29","date_gmt":"2013-11-17T20:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.privatefleet.com.au\/?p=3267"},"modified":"2020-06-20T01:31:24","modified_gmt":"2020-06-19T15:31:24","slug":"petrol-into-diesel-diesel-into-petrol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/home\/petrol-into-diesel-diesel-into-petrol\/","title":{"rendered":"Petrol into Diesel; Diesel into Petrol"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"old-petrol-pump\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever put the wrong sort of fuel in your car, you are not alone.\u00a0 When one member of my family (who will remain nameless*) filled a diesel-powered work ute with petrol the other afternoon, the local garage said that it was the second time it had happened that day.<\/p>\n

What happens if you put the wrong sort of fuel in your car?\u00a0 If you drive a diesel and have put petrol in the tank, you\u2019re in real trouble.\u00a0 Petrol acts as a solvent and reduces the amount of lubrication that diesel can do to the engine parts \u2013 and diesel engines need that lubrication.\u00a0 The sooner that you realise that you\u2019ve put in the wrong fuel, the better.\u00a0 If you\u2019re still at the bowser when you realise what a nitwit you\u2019ve been, don\u2019t start your engine.\u00a0 The petrol can be drained from the fuel tank (along with everything else in the tank) and the wretched stuff won\u2019t get into your engine and ruin it.\u00a0 If you start the engine \u2013 well, there goes your engine!\u00a0 They say that if petrol does get into the workings and start chugging around inside, a whole new motor is going to be cheaper than an attempt to repair it. \u00a0If the car is on the older side, a whole new car might be in order.<\/p>\n

What about the reverse?\u00a0 What if you put diesel into a petrol engine?\u00a0 This is less of a disaster and you won\u2019t kill your engine if you switch the ignition on.\u00a0 What will happen when you switch the ignition on is\u2026 not a lot.\u00a0 You see, diesel engines have a lot more compression than petrol engines to get the air hot enough to ignite the fuel.\u00a0 Petrol engines just don\u2019t have what it takes.\u00a0 This is a very short description and there\u2019s a fair bit of science going on here, but let\u2019s stick to the point.\u00a0 Again, you\u2019ll have to get towed away so your car can have its tank pumped out but if a bit of diesel\u2019s got into the system, it isn\u2019t the end of the world.\u00a0 But prepare for some rough running.<\/p>\n

Manufacturers of cars and of bowsers have sensibly made the diesel and the petrol nozzles, and the holes they go into, different sizes.\u00a0 Diesel needs a bigger nozzle, so the chances that you\u2019ll shove diesel into a petrol is slim, unless you have an older vehicle.\u00a0 This won\u2019t help you if you try to put petrol into a diesel, as you can fit a small nozzle in a big hole.\u00a0 However, the way the nozzle wobbles around should tip you off.<\/p>\n

The expense, hassle and humiliation of having to get a full tank of gas pumped out of your vehicle and chucked away can be avoided by either (a) not going on autopilot when at the bowser if you have two cars with different fuels or (b) getting one of the petrol pump attendants to do it for you.\u00a0 If they make a mistake, it\u2019s their expense and hassle.\u00a0 Besides, you get to talk to a real human being (great after a day behind a computer or making endless phone calls) and ensure that your local garage keeps employing teenagers who would otherwise be making trouble.<\/p>\n

\"DieselFuel_195121818\"<\/a>*No, this person was not me. I know about this event because I got the call and had to head out with my big Ford Fairlane<\/a> to tow this person to the mechanics so their car could have its stomach pumped.\u00a0 Family member is getting enough leg-pulls from everyone else so there\u2019s no need to preserve their name for eternity online. http:\/\/credit-n.ru\/offers-zaim\/moneza-online-zaym.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve ever put the wrong sort of fuel in your car, you are not alone.\u00a0 When one member of my family (who will remain nameless*) filled a diesel-powered work ute with petrol the other afternoon, the local garage said that it was the second time it had happened that day. What happens if you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3267"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12077,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3267\/revisions\/12077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}