In over 25 years of having a mixture of petrol and diesel cars (a roughly 50/50 split), I've never managed to put the wrong fuel in a car. Today I did, I put exactly 0.72 litre of petrol in my diesel car. The good thing was that the pump didn't want to pump, so when it stopped a second time, I looked at it and realized my mistake.
Fortunately, it turns out that you can get away with up to 5% petrol in a tank of diesel. So with my 55 litre tank, the 0.72 is just 1.3%. This information was from this article:
"... it’s commonly agreed you can mix up to 5 per cent petrol into diesel fuel without disastrous consequences."
I didn't have the research to hand at the time of the happening. I put the wrong (petrol) pump back, and walked over the the garage attendant to ask what people normally do in these situations, and he said it would be okay since I've not put much petrol in. He mentioned the AA had said up to 4 litres of petrol is usually okay. And he recalled having put 12 litres of petrol into his diesel in the past, and it was fine, actually a little bit faster. I was very relieved on hearing this. A lot of the YouTube/Internet pieces make it out to be a complete disaster, without mentioning that a little bit of petrol really isn't going to be a problem.
I drove the car back from the petrol station and all was fine. Fingers crossed nothing turns up later. I think with just 1.3% petrol in the tank, it's going to be okay.
Update 1: After my mistake on Saturday 9th, I took the car for a run on Sunday 10th. And the good news is everything seems fine - sounds fine, no warning lights, goes fine, all good!
Update 2: Still working on Tuesday 12th!
Update 3: Still working on Thursday 14th and I put in a couple of litres of diesel to dilute the petrol diesel mix further. I'll relax now!
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