Idiot Calling - diesel in E type

[Tony]

The E Type was due for its MOT so off I go and as my orange light was flashing low fuel I called into a petrol station and did the stupid thing of putting Diesel into my car. I realised I my mistake 30 litres into the process. without starting the car or putting on the ignition I pull the car over to the back of the petrol station and syphoned off about 35 litres which is as mush as could get. Idecided that there would be very little diesel left so totally filled up the tank with fresh leaded fuel.
The car started Nd drive well for a about half a mile and then spluttered to a halt. i received a tow home but I am now having trouble with the car not starting. I thought maybe there was still diesel in the bottom of the of the tank so drained of a gallon at the fuel filter but no joy. Does diesel and petrol statistfy and if so will the diesel go to the top or the bottom of the tank.
I would have thought that with a large percentage of the fuel now being petrol I might get lumpy running untill the diesel burnt off. Any thoughts or do I dump all the fuel and start again.

[cactusman]

Diesel and petrol will mix. I would guess you still have diesel in the fuel line, tank, carburettors or the filter. I would drain the fuel tank completely. Put a gallon of fresh fuel in and allow the pump to flush through the fuel line. Mean time empty and clean the float chambers and check the plugs are not fouled up.

[Tony]

Thanks Julian, I will start the big flush tomorrow. Now what do I do with 90 litres of petrol and diesel mixture. I hate waste

Ps sorry about the grammar and spelling in my post. I was rushing out and did not have time to correct the errors, but I knew you would get the jist of the problem.

[christopher storey]

Tony - don't panic . Give me a ring and I will come and help you . You do not need ( at this stage at any rate ) to drain off everything, but to disconnect the pipework near the carbs and pump through to see what is coming out . Providing it is nearly wholly petrol, the next thing is to take the float chamber lids off and syphon out what is in the chambers. It is probably also an idea to take out the front filter, as my experience is that these filters are " blinded" by any substance other than petrol getting into them. The effect of a small quantity of diesel in the petrol will be to lower the octane rating quite a lot, so provided we can get it running reasonably, long gentle running avoiding any low speed or heavy throttle work should enable you to gradually use up the adulterated fuel

[frogeater]

Hi Tony.
I hope you Will find a happy solution.
For the mix, it's really really not ecological but if you have some bad plants in your garden, thats the answer Said me some old persons, because the fuel kill and the diesel fix on the plant....

[Tony]

Thanks everyone for their comments. Fortunately the 4th Emergency service turned up and fixed it for me. Saved me a lot of money and fuel so thank you Christopher Storey for your help. I owe you one or is it three, losing count.

Tony

[Hugo]

A bit late seeing this so probably redundant. I wouldn't worry too much - I reckon a Jag engine would almost run on diesel when hot, not very happily perhaps, so a bit of diesel left in the tank will do no harm. Might be problematic cold starting though.
As to Christopher's point about the filter becoming 'blinded', there is another factor in the cold temperatures we have been having - diesel will separate out when cold, and the filter will let the lighter elements through, but it will soon get blocked by the waxy substance that is left. You can't just melt it either, you have to throw the filter away. Those with long memories ight recall the 'Winter of discontent' in 1979, when it was particularly cold (minus 15 C at one point) and lorries were stranded on the motorway shoulders lighting bonfires under their fuel tanks in a vain attempt to get going. I was one of them (in a bus). The wreckers couldn't get to us as their diesel had frozen too.
When I was an impecunious teenager I used to sometimes run my motorbike on paraffin (BSA sidevalve - 5:1 compression ratio). If you let it cool down you had to drain the carb & fill it with petrol to get going again.

[ralphr1780]

Tony, diesel has better solvency power than gasoline, and will subsequently dislodge and partially dissolve crud hanging in your tank and lines. So unless your tank was recently cleaned and resealed, and the lines renewed, you can expect to have gradually clogged filters + needle valves.
I would disconnect the fuel supply at the carbs and run the pump to empty the tank into a jerrycan. Then clean or replace the filter, reload back the fuel in the tank careful to leave the fine sediment in the jerrycan, and repeat at least twice.
Finally, clean the carbs float chambers + filters + needles, and you ready to run again.

[Tony]

The car is running well at the moment on the contaminated fuel after the float chambers were cleaned out. I will let you know if things change for the record. Mot tomorrow which will be interesting.
Thanks again for all the comments and support. Life never gets dull with an E Type

[Hugo]

Life never gets dull with an E Type

So it's the car's fault you filled it with diesel? ;)

[Tony]

Lost me on that one Hugo?

[Hugo]

You said life never gets dull with an E Type

[Hugo]

It would never have happened in an Aston

[timhum]

I did the same thing in my TR3a. I was filling a nearly empty fuel tank so I decided to syphon as much of the diesel mix out as possible and then re-filled with petrol. Emptied the float chambers and primed the pump until I could smell some petrol rather than pure diesel coming through then fired it up. Quite a few miles with smoke but that cleared and all running as before.
What a waste of a few hours through my own stupidity
Tim

[Geoff Allam]

Diesel in the tank seems to be a fairly common mistake. As I have my car presently completely dismantled I was thinking of putting a restrictor plate in the filler a few centimetres down from the top to prevent the larger diesel nozzle from entry. Does anyone know if such a thing is produced commercially? Is there some downside to this plan I am jot thinking about?

[Hugo]

I have a feeling there is if you really think you need such a thing. Try eBay? Just to complicate matters, in England, gasoline nozzles are green and diesel are black, while in the US they are the other way round.