petrol in xantia hdi

robertrdt · Post by **robertrdt** » 07 Nov 2005, 14:09

can anyone help?My wife has put petrol in my diesel car,does anyone know how to drain the tank on my xantia hdi.

Rostami · Post by **Rostami** » 07 Nov 2005, 14:20

Just befor you dismatle half of the car: exactly how much petrol did you put in the tank? Can you fill´er up with diesel?

If you get a 10% mix, its OK. If you cannot get a 10% or lower mix, then I would reccomend that you syphon the petrol out. It is the easiest way. Did she turn the ignition on and drive away with the car?

You can access the diesel low pressure pump in the tank by taking out the rear seats.

If you have got pure petrol right to the engine compartment, one ideia is to disconnect the low pressure tube and make the pump work untill all petrol is out.

It all depends to how far the petrol has travelled and how pure it is (e.g. how much diesel is mixed with it)

robertrdt · Post by **robertrdt** » 07 Nov 2005, 14:26

she didnt drive the car, thankfully.She realised what she did and phoned me before she did anymore damage.Does this make the job of removing the petrol easier?

rotodiesel · Post by **rotodiesel** » 07 Nov 2005, 14:29

If you are familiar with the pipework on this car, you can use the electric low pressure pump in-situ to empty the tank if you bypass the pump relay. If there's more that a little petrol in there, be very careful - no sparks for instance.

If the mixture in your tank does not exceed 10% I would agree that damage is unlikely, but I would also add 2% self-mixing 2 stroke oil to the tank to maintain lubricity.

rotodiesel.

robertrdt · Post by **robertrdt** » 07 Nov 2005, 14:33

ive just been informed that there is around 25 litres of unleaded in the tank

James.UK · Post by **James.UK** » 07 Nov 2005, 14:47

Once you get a bit of room in the tank, add some cheap cooking oil from your local shop to make the petrol less volatile, a diesel engine will run on almost any oil based fuel.. You just need to lower the octane level of the fuel mix down to near normal diesel levels, and the quickest, easiest way is to add oil to it....

The fuel you drain off should be ok to use in a Petrol engine.. May smoke a bit though if you had a lot of diesel in when your wife filled it up..

robertrdt · Post by **robertrdt** » 07 Nov 2005, 16:51

cheers to you all for the advice!I`m not einstein when it comes to citroens,i`ve only had this car for 5 months, so i`m a beginner so to speak.I`ll check out the suggestions and let you know how i get on

NiSk · Post by **NiSk** » 07 Nov 2005, 22:15

In the instruction book for my newly acquired '97 SEAT Toledo TDi it states that it is safe to run with up to 30% petrol in the diesel fuel - not that they recommend it - but it apparently doesn't do that much harm (VAG 1.9 TDi engine). Take it for what its worth.

//NiSk

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 07 Nov 2005, 22:54

Hmm,

I can't believe all the people here that are willing to risk a certain percentage of petrol in the diesel - especially with an HDI. Why take a possibly expensive risk ?

There is no way to tell whether they have mixed together or not (will diesel and petrol even mix ? or will one float on top of the other ?) or what damage might be done.

If it was my car I'd be doing everything possible to syphon the tank and chuck away the mixed fuel. (Or use the built in fuel pump to pump it out of the tank if the fuel line is easy to disconnect from the engine and the tank wont syphon...)

Whats more important to you ? The cost of the lost fuel or the well being of the engine ?

Regards,
Simon

zzf00l · Post by **zzf00l** » 08 Nov 2005, 06:18

I agree.... what is the cost of an injector pump on an HDi (they don't like petrol). DRAIN EVERY LAST DROP and keep your engine safe.

uhn113x · Post by **uhn113x** » 08 Nov 2005, 07:46

Mandrake wrote:Hmm,

I can't believe all the people here that are willing to risk a certain percentage of petrol in the diesel - especially with an HDI. Why take a possibly expensive risk ?

There is no way to tell whether they have mixed together or not (will diesel and petrol even mix ? or will one float on top of the other ?) or what damage might be done.

If it was my car I'd be doing everything possible to syphon the tank and chuck away the mixed fuel. (Or use the built in fuel pump to pump it out of the tank if the fuel line is easy to disconnect from the engine and the tank wont syphon...)

Whats more important to you ? The cost of the lost fuel or the well being of the engine ?

Regards,
Simon

It will mix, Simon, but I agree totally - why not just drain the lot (I wonder if it is OK to run the pump as suggested? I would not risk even that). The engine will only get one chance!

robertrdt · Post by **robertrdt** » 08 Nov 2005, 15:47

thanks again for all the advice,i`ve decided to let the mechanics sort this one out.I dont want to do any damage to the hdi engine,i`ve heard that they are very expensive to fix if things go wrong......cheers

uhn113x · Post by **uhn113x** » 08 Nov 2005, 15:53

Fine, but how can you tell that they are not going to do any damage that may not appear immediately?

Draining the fuel is really no more rocket science than draining your bath!