Start a Car After Filling With the Wrong Fuel
For example, if you filled diesel into a gasoline engine or vice versa. If your engine misses and stalls not long after refueling you may have filled it with the wrong fuel by mistake.
Steps
Gasoline / Petrol engines
- Lift the hood/bonnet. You will need to remove the air filter housing to expose the carburetor, there may be a suitable screwdriver or ring spanner or socket and ratchet/ breaker bar needed to remove securing screws.
- Drain the fuel tank. You are attempting to drain the fuel tank. All fuel tanks have at least two fuel lines attached.
- One pipe sucks fuel from the bottom of the tank, the other is the return pipe it returns unused fuel from the engine. All modern automobile engines have fuel pumps to suck fuel up to the engine.
- You need to determine whether your engine uses a mechanical or electrical fuel pump. Mechanical fuel pumps are bolted onto the engine block or cylinder head.
- Electrical pumps can be located anywhere but are mostly submersed in the fuel at the bottom of the fuel tank.
- If you take the cover off the fuses usually located under the steering wheel and look at the sticker and see any reference to a fuse for the fuel pump then you have an electric fuel pump.
- Locate and remove the fuel line from the carburetor that is supplying the fuel.
- It is connected to the fuel filter that may be visible. Since all modern cars have anti-siphon devices fitted underneath the filler cap of the fuel tank you will use the cars fuel pump to drain the unsuitable fuel.
- Mechanical fuel pumps only function when the engine is turning over. It is not advisable to turn the engine over as the battery would be well flat before the tank would be drained out the fuel line.
- If the car has an electrical fuel pump you may be able to short circuit a wire from the horn or hazard warning or blower circuit into the electric fuel pump circuit after removing two fuses.
- The pump will then empty our the fuel line and into a seven up or cocoa cola bottle which you will fit over the end of the line.
- If this does not work then fill a bottle with petrol and make a hole with the thinnest needle you can find near the bottom. Have a comrade crank the engine while you let the stream of petrol that leaks out the hole over the carburetor.
- When the engine starts and runs on the fine stream stop cranking. The engine will proceed to run and power the fuel pump thus draining the tank. Obviously on engines with a mechanical pump the line would have to be disconnected on the side not hooked to the filter or the pump could not do its job.
- When the line is no longer pumping, fill the tank up with appropriate fuel and put everything back together the way you found it.
- Crank the engine until it starts for no more than twenty or 30 seconds at a time or you risk burning out the starter. Let the starter cool after each session for perhaps two to three minutes. When the engine starts and warms up there may be a slight miss until the last vestige of contaminated fuel in the newly mixed tank is expended.
Diesel Engines
- Much the same protocol although you cannot use the bottle and needle.
- A small amount of petrol is little harm in a tank of diesel, indeed some would fill so purposefully to clean the engine and pass emissions tests.
- If the diesel engine has no electric primer pump then you can use an electric pump removed from a scrap car or a hand operated primer pump available in most auto factor shops if you do not mind muscle cramps.
- Alternatively you could use another fuel tank but remembering that the return pipe from the injector pump or the injectors themselves would have to hooked to it.
- A tank from a lawnmower or similar would do for handiness sake.
Tips
- Gas may be too different for the car, so see your nearest car dealership.
- If so, PLEASE DO NOT try to drive it!
Warnings
- Have a damp cloth on hand for if the carburetor catches on fire.
