If you regularly drive both petrol and diesel cars, there is always the risk that you will have a second thought at the fuel pump and accidentally fill the car with the wrong kind of fuel.
It also happens that mistakes are made at petrol stations, and that, for example, a diesel pump is filled with petrol.
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What happens if you refuel the diesel car?
According to the British roadside assistance company AA is it significantly worse to fill up with petrol in a diesel car than to do the opposite and fill up with diesel in a petrol car.
This is also easier to do by mistake, as the spout on a diesel pump is usually larger than on a petrol pump.
This is because diesel is an oil, thus helping to lubricate the engine. Gasoline is instead a solvent that dissolves oil, and thus impairs the engine’s lubrication.
As the lubrication deteriorates, the friction between the components inside the engine increases. This, in turn, can lead to rapid wear and tear, and the engine can be permanently damaged if it is started with petrol in the tank.
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If you fill up diesel in the petrol car then?
As the nozzle for diesel is usually larger than on a petrol pump, it is, as I said, more difficult to accidentally fill up with diesel in a petrol car.
Should there be the wrong fuel in the pump, however, it is possible to succeed with this misfuelling.
Fortunately, according to the AA, diesel usually does not cause any serious damage in a petrol engine.
The worst that happens is normally that the diesel clogs the fuel system and the spark plugs, and that the car therefore does not want to start.
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Filling Adblue in the wrong tank
On modern diesel cars, according to the AA, there is also a risk of another type of incorrect fueling, namely that you accidentally pour Adblue into the diesel tank.
The blue liquid that helps with exhaust gas cleaning can cause serious damage to the diesel tank itself, the fuel pump and the injectors.
The recommendation if you have accidentally got Adblue in the diesel tank is not to start the car until the incorrect liquid has been removed.
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