Fuel Problem

[mikb]

Galaxi 2.3 petrol.

Had a non starter yesterday, called out breakdown whom eventually decided there was deisel in petrol tank!. It had to be towed away as it could not be drained at my property. Anyway it came back in working order but the fuel gauge now appears to be stuck at half way point which was the reading prior to drainage, what could the cause of this be as the mechanic did not know? and how do I fix it. The mechanic only advice was to fill the tank and it would probably release it. Also I have some of the fuel out of the tank before drain off, is there a way to tell if diesel is mixed with petrol?

I,m not wholly satisfied that there was deisel in the tank as i'm normally quite careful.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Mike.

[Andrew T]

Diesel pump fuel nozzles have a larger diameter than Petrol to prevent this happening, i.e. it should be physically impossible to get the diesel nozzle into the restrictor in the filler neck. Could you have added diesel from a can ?

 

I would have thought that if there was Diesel in the Petrol you would have ground to a halt within a mile of filling up.

 

Also could the garage have put Diesel in their Petrol tank ?

[gazza007]

About 1990 when I was driving a Fiat Uno 45.

I filled up at my local Heron on Oldham Road Manchester.

The following day I noted that the car was running very rough, anyway on the way home I noted a tanker at the petrol station & the station was shut, I was informed by the manager that Diesel had been put in the wrong tanks the previous day.

I managed to get hold of the boss at Heron in London. He agreed to pay to have my fuel tank & carbs cleaned at a Marshall & Jeffery's on Deansgate Manchester.

I think the bill was about

[mikb]

Hi Andrew T,

 

I agree the nozzle does not fit in tank as ive been and checked.

I still dispute there was diesel in tank. The car ran perfectly prior to becoming a non starter, no smoke or anything!

I've also been told driving a petrol engine with diesel in tank would cause serious engine damage, is this correct?

I'm sure i've been ripped off for what was probably a minor fault.

Also i've been back to petrol station and spoke to staff, it is a busy garage and no-one else seems to have been affected!.

 

Thanks for your interest.

 

Mike.

[Andrew T]

I'm sure if you had Diesel mixed in you would have experienced bad running first. It seems a funny conclusion for the breakdown service to draw without any other symptoms. (what did they charge you for a pump out by the way?).

 

Can you explain more about the way it failed to start ?

 

Driving with Diesel in the Petrol could well damage the Catalyst.

[mikb]

To tow away, drain and add

[Topbloke]

from the symptoms that you described it sounds like it was flooded . did the vehicle get started or moved on / of the drive prior to you not being able to start it , typical scenario man parks car in garage friday eveing sunday morning decides to clean car/ get some thing out of the garage , starts car moves it back out of garage turn of engine does what he needs to do then starts car drives it into garage turns it of monday morning trys to start it but wont start . what happens is extra fuel is injected at start up (loads of fuel in engine) no heat generated from combustion process , then next time its started more fuel injected (loads more fuel) no heat generated, third time plugs soaked with fuel wont start , not to much problem during summer months as ambeint temp vapourises fuel before next start up. possible that the mech thought that wrong fuel removed the float/sender unit then put it back catching float on wiring etc. if done in warm workshop the plugs will dry out on there own, hey presto it starts