The 'E' Type Forum

I let my wife out in my V12 the other day!! Bad move - she put petrol in (super unleaded she said) and shortly after it started playing up. She got the car home but it doesn't sound well ie missing very badly. Pulled the plugs and the right 6 are completely black - left 6 blackish with carbon but not nearly as bad (see photo of one of the right hand side ones ).Its been filled to a much higher level than I normally put in and I wondered if anyone had experienced this before? Is it possible some muck in the fuel tank has gone into the carbs or did she put diesel in? Would it even run on diesel? Any help gratefully appreciated.

Yes, a petrol car will run (poorly) on diesel especially if there was fuel already in the tank. Suggest you drain the tank and flush out with petrol and see how you get on.

Thanks David is there instruction on the site anywhere about how to drain the tank?

Hello Bernie,
very easy. there is a drain plug(screw) in the sump of your tank. Just look under your car, left side rear end under the tank. There you can completely drain your tank.
Best regards
Sven

You might be wise to pay a company to drain the tank as if it is full you will then have a large volume of yuk but highly flammable liquid to dispose of. Most domestic waste facilities do not accept fuel. Bona fide companies will take away old fuel. If you are a member of the AA or RAC I think they have a miss fuel drain service too...

Great idea - thanks Julian

Or if you have an old banger, you can slowly use what ever you drain from the E in that.
However not if it's a diesel.

If it has been filled with diesel then you would expect considerable knocking as its anti-knock qualities are minimal . In addition, if you can get to touch some of the fuel ( syphon a small amount out ) diesel feels very slippery when rubbed between the fingers, and the smell is unmistakable . Are you sure the choke has not stuck on ?

Surely the receipt will say what was purchased, diesel is the most expensive as well. Too much speculation here. How much fuel was added as well.
I'm wondering if perhaps it was just a contaminated batch of basic unleaded and the car has been set up for premium unleaded although it shouldn't be that bad?? Most unlikely to be diesel, it would run like a tractor. Wondering if the ignition is at fault and not delivering a powerful enough spark?
You could syphon the fuel into cans or even use the fuel pumps to pump into cans and try a new batch of fuel on a good run. Using the drain plug will really gush out and cause potential dangerous spillage. Car needs to be elevated to capture into containers.

Hi remove fuel pipe at engine put into a 5 ltr fuel container get someone to switch on ignition for a short time to pump a small amount into container pour a small amount onto floor leave it for an hour if its pure petrol it will evaporate completely if it has diesel in tank it will not evaporate it will stay oily on floor
Regards

Or you could do it onto a piece of cardboard and avoid the stain on the floor....

Thanks all turns out its not diesel so I need to think again