29 replies to this topic

[Strontium Dog]

It'll be fine.

You can run up to half and half in a petrol engine without damage, it's just a bit smoky.

However, never, ever, ever run a Diesel engine with petrol in, that'll go bang and make a big mess!

That's strange 'cause my old Isuzu came with a handbook that explained just how much petrol to put in the diesel in the winter to stop the fuel from waxing. At sub zero temps it was quite a bit too around 10% as I recall!

[Jammy]

It varies with different engines I believe, but with most engines, the fuel system uses the diesel as a lubricant as well as fuel, and petrol has no lubrication properties. So if you put petrol in a car that needs diesel as a lubrication you usually induce wear into the fuel components, usually things like the fuel pump. Some cars are more resistant to petrol than others though.

[makka]

I would run it, no question at all, it probably wont smoke that much either if it is diluted as you say

[998dave]

It varies with different engines I believe, but with most engines, the fuel system uses the diesel as a lubricant as well as fuel, and petrol has no lubrication properties. So if you put petrol in a car that needs diesel as a lubrication you usually induce wear into the fuel components, usually things like the fuel pump. Some cars are more resistant to petrol than others though.

Thanks for explaining that Jammy.

Also Petrol engines normally run much lower compression then Diesel, if you run Petrol in a Diesel engine you stand a chance of Auto Ignition, leading to engine knock and other unwanted side effects.

I guess up to 10% may be okay in older IDI engines, (Stronteum Dog), they behaved differently again, but it's still not recommended in modern Diesel engines.

Dave

[Strontium Dog]

It varies with different engines I believe, but with most engines, the fuel system uses the diesel as a lubricant as well as fuel, and petrol has no lubrication properties. So if you put petrol in a car that needs diesel as a lubrication you usually induce wear into the fuel components, usually things like the fuel pump. Some cars are more resistant to petrol than others though.

Thanks for explaining that Jammy.

Also Petrol engines normally run much lower compression then Diesel, if you run Petrol in a Diesel engine you stand a chance of Auto Ignition, leading to engine knock and other unwanted side effects.

I guess up to 10% may be okay in older IDI engines, (Stronteum Dog), they behaved differently again, but it's still not recommended in modern Diesel engines.

Dave

Actually I know a bit about diesel engines as it goes. I've been working on them for 25 years or so now and I qualified as an engineer around 20 years ago Lol! I also make bio diesel by reacting used veg. oil with potassium hydroxide and methanol which I run in turbocharged common rail engines as well as my Mitsubishi turbo.

It was just that you made a sweeping statement that is not correct, no offence meant!

Cheers, Si.

[Dog]

I so wish I could run veg oil!

[Strontium Dog]

I so wish I could run veg oil!

I'm happy to help out anyone that would like to do this! I'm thinking of fitting a diesel engine into a mini. Probably a peugeot 1500cc but I need to look into it a bit more. My mates 206 is a bit slow but it should pull a mini a bit better and is common rail injection and does about a million mpg! Reacted bio diesel costs me about 40p Litre all in too

[Dog]

I doubt mine would cope with it to be honest!

I have a Vaux Astra Turbo Diesel...

I've been told the injecters are too small

[MiniMrMan]

I ran my VW Caddy that had a 1.9tdi engine on 50% veg oil and went like stink-literally until snapped a con rod and the cam. 25psi boost on a cold day with 50% veg oil doesnt mix wel lol.

I have also put petrol in my 306hdi, worked fine. only put £10petrol and filled it up with the right stuff lol.

[Dog]

I add a cup of petrol to mine every 1000 miles, its the same as adding redex to the system...!

[Strontium Dog]

I don't run veg oil as that damages your engine in the long term. I run bio diesel which is different, veg oil is just the base ingredient before it undergoes transesterfication and gets turned into something that won't damage my engines. Hence I can run it in modern diesel engines with common rail injection.

Whoever told you your injectors would be too small is either talking about something else or doesn't know what they are talking about. Lol!

My engines go better on bio. More torque and smoother extended power to the red line! I like that. If I could get ethanol for my car then I would be able to go from near 300bhp to more like 350 bhp with no further mods and greater safety. (Not a mini Lol!) I have run methanol in some petrol cars as a mix with 95 ron to push the octane to above 100 ron to suppress detonation . Works well and is cheap but not legal for road use so I am lead to believe! Lol! It also has half the calorific value than petrol so weakens your mixture but this is easy to tune for!

As for snapping rods then that is not likely to be due to veg oil. With the veg oil the problem is it is full of glycerides and these turn into carbon and or plastics inside your bores. This leads to severe piston erosion and premature death of yor engine. There are other problems mostly due to viscosity and fragile fuel pumps. (read Lucas Prince of Darkness).

Cheers, Si.

[Dog]

Can you PM me a few more details dude...

This is sounding interesting...

[998dave]

It varies with different engines I believe, but with most engines, the fuel system uses the diesel as a lubricant as well as fuel, and petrol has no lubrication properties. So if you put petrol in a car that needs diesel as a lubrication you usually induce wear into the fuel components, usually things like the fuel pump. Some cars are more resistant to petrol than others though.

Thanks for explaining that Jammy.

Also Petrol engines normally run much lower compression then Diesel, if you run Petrol in a Diesel engine you stand a chance of Auto Ignition, leading to engine knock and other unwanted side effects.

I guess up to 10% may be okay in older IDI engines, (Stronteum Dog), they behaved differently again, but it's still not recommended in modern Diesel engines.

Dave

Actually I know a bit about diesel engines as it goes. I've been working on them for 25 years or so now and I qualified as an engineer around 20 years ago Lol! I also make bio diesel by reacting used veg. oil with potassium hydroxide and methanol which I run in turbocharged common rail engines as well as my Mitsubishi turbo.

It was just that you made a sweeping statement that is not correct, no offence meant!

Cheers, Si.

Fair play, what do you work on specifically?

I've been at Lubrizol, Delphi Heavy Duty, and now at Ford.
Some may argue that being in the business longer doesn't mean you know everything, but I'm prepared to stand aside.
I was under the impression you should never run Petrol in a Diesel engine as it breaks stuff, lubricating properties, etc. Hence why running modern compression ignition DI engines on Petrol is usually followed by a bit of a rebuild.

Did anyone see, Wayne Rooney, the ugly chav footballer, managed to break down yesterday after filling up with the wrong fuel.

Dave

[Strontium Dog]

I don't work on anything specific anymore but when I did it was on Lister engines. More specifically on generators which lead me into becoming an electrician where the money is better. I still build a few engines and mod stuff all the time. I have lathes and mig, tig etc. in the workshop where I play with alternative energy sources and fuels.

I have worked in mechanical engineering and done prototyping and R&D work in a precision machine shop as well over the years. As a lad I worked in garages even before I left school and spent time on everything like you did back then! Lol! Still learning all the time though and always will. Age has nothing to do with it! You have no doubt seen stuff I haven't and so on. Should have seen the learning curve when I bought my first Jap turbo a few years ago! It's never too late to teach even an old dog new tricks! Lol!

Cheers, Si.

[twiglett]

so what do you think i should do?
its sitting in a cupboard at work at the mo in two big plastic containers, (it going to be a mission to get it home)
i was thinking about letting it settle then using a syringe to pull out as much deisel as possible before i use it.