craig1410
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| posted on 20/7/15 at 03:29 PM |
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Likely damage from mis-fuelling 2006 Fiesta 1.4TDCI ?
Hi,
A classic "asking for a friend" question for you guys, only this time it really is for a colleague at work who mis-fuelled his car on
Friday. 
It's a 2006 Fiesta 1.4 Zetec TDCi and he says he filled it up some time after the low fuel light came on. It's something like a 40 litre
tank so I'm guessing it would be down to about 5 litres left and he put £20 (around 17 litres) of unleaded petrol in it and drove off. So that
would be roughly 75% petrol and 25% diesel and yet he didn't notice initially. He says he drove to work (~30 miles) and part way home (~10
miles) before the car started to shudder at which point he realised his mistake. He also said it was a bit difficult to get to start before his
journey home.
He called the RAC who got it transported away to a garage for draining and purging etc and he says it is running fine again. Apparently the fuel
filter was changed too and the total cost was £250.
My question is whether you guys think this episode will have done any significant damage to the engine, especially to the common rail diesel pump.
Frankly I'm amazed he managed to drive so far on 75% petrol! He did say that the temperature gauge was climbing at the point when he noticed it
was shuddering.
Any thoughts?
Cheers,
Craig.
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ian locostzx9rc2
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| posted on 20/7/15 at 06:07 PM |
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The fuel system will be damaged I'll give it 3 to 6 months until the hp pump gives up there be metal fillings in the fuel system for sure
,I'm afraid to say.
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ICARUSTROOPER
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| posted on 20/7/15 at 06:09 PM |
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Hi Craig,
It's impossible to say that it hasn't done any engine damage. The fuel pump may have some damage as the diesel also acts like a lubricant
and the presence of petrol can wear some internal pump parts. May be worth replacing the fuel filter if not done and cut it open to check for metal
dwarf. Some manufacturersa after fuel contamination replace all fuel lines pump etc.
Hope that helps.
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ReMan
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| posted on 20/7/15 at 07:16 PM |
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A friend of mine did this once, or more.
No technical finding but Id be disappointed if it has done any significant damage in that space of time
www.plusnine.co.uk
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v8kid
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| posted on 20/7/15 at 08:37 PM |
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I did the same on my Mondeo and it ran another 100k.
Cheers
You'd be surprised how quickly the sales people at B&Q try and assist you after ignoring you for the past 15 minutes when you try and start a
chainsaw
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big-vee-twin
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| posted on 20/7/15 at 08:50 PM |
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Did the same on my Mercedes never had any issues after draining and refuelling.
Duratec Engine is fitted, MS2 Extra V3 is assembled and tested, engine running, car now built. IVA passed 26/02/2016
http://www.triangleltd.com
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joneh
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| posted on 20/7/15 at 09:31 PM |
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Petrol floats on Diesel so 30-40 miles on reserve hence why he didn't initially notice. Normally with 10 or so litres of petrol it eventually
will break down and sort of disolve into the diesel but this amount will need draining, filter replaced and as above checked for metal...
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craig1410
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| posted on 20/7/15 at 10:15 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by joneh
Petrol floats on Diesel so 30-40 miles on reserve hence why he didn't initially notice. Normally with 10 or so litres of petrol it eventually
will break down and sort of disolve into the diesel but this amount will need draining, filter replaced and as above checked for metal...
Apparently petrol floating on diesel is an often quoted myth. A petrochemical engineer responded to this point on a forum thread I came across. He
said the diesel and petrol mix together quite quickly. More here: http://www.petrolindieseluk.co.uk/faq/does-petrol-float-on-top-of-diesel/
As I expected the predicted outcome is mixed. Personally I think he will have taken a lot of life out of the high pressure pump but it might still run
for years.
Thanks to all who offered an opinion. Much appreciated.
[Edited on 20/7/2015 by craig1410]
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mark chandler
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| posted on 20/7/15 at 10:20 PM |
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Modern diesel is so pure it has hardly any lubricatiin properties, I would be more worried that he partially seized it by overheating
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r1_pete
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| posted on 21/7/15 at 08:45 AM |
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I did it on an 02 Peugeot HDI Diesel, it was a company car, I had a similar mix of diesel / petrol, I hammered it on the 100 mile journey home to use
as much fuel as possible, then brimmed it with Diesel.
No noticeable problems in the remaining year I had it. Its still taxed and tested, and certainly wasn't worth the cost of replacement fuel
systems / engine when it went, so I assume its still on its original components.
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 21/7/15 at 11:21 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mark chandler
Modern diesel is so pure it has hardly any lubricatiin properties, I would be more worried that he partially seized it by overheating
Low sulphur diesel has additives to restore the lubricity. Modern diesel engines absolutely rely on the lubricity of diesel which is why running on
petrol can cause significant damage to high pressure pumps.
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scootz
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| posted on 21/7/15 at 11:35 AM |
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Done something very similar years ago... system was purged, filter was changed, and there were no problems thereafter. Maybe got lucky!?
It's Evolution Baby!
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craig1410
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| posted on 21/7/15 at 03:48 PM |
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To be honest, if my colleague managed to drive over 40 miles without realising he was using the wrong fuel then he probably wouldn't notice if
his engine was slightly damaged and running a bit rough as a result...
To be fair, he only passed his driving test a few weeks back and this is his first car. He also said the car was owned by his Granddad and had a full
service history so perhaps all that will have happened is that he has partially undone the easy life the car had before he got his hands on it.
Also, this is the same guy who crashed on his first driving test and had a near miss on his second attempt before passing on the third attempt so it
would seem likely that engine failure is the least of his worries for the future... 
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