Regular Gas in a Diesel Auto
 

What happens when you put regular gasoline into your diesel engine rental car? Ever wonder how someone could make that mistake? Well here is a gentleman who has felt the pain and trouble that it will cause. The cost is quite high - not to mention the embarrassment that follows. Bill is a veteran traveler who never thought it would happen to him - but it did - and perhaps his experience will help prevent you from making this costly mistake. He writes about it here - http://www.bensbauernhof.com/billsbackroads.html

Have done it. We had a diesel, were filling it up the night before turning it in. Read the manual in the glove box, showed it to the gas attendant. Filled with regular. Drove 3 blocks and it stopped.
After a cumbersome and pretty amazing amount of calling the rental company we left it at the tire store where we had stopped. A very nice couple took us to our hotel. The next morning we "had it out" with the rental agency--that there was no way to know, the gas (it was on the gas door in our next rental), etc.
Gas in a diesel is not as "wrecking" as diesel in a gas engine. We never heard another thing about it. No charges, etc.

It is incredible to me that the rental companies don't anticipate this issue by placarding their vehicles in various ways.

A few dollars worth of signage could save them thousands in repair costs.

I have been going to Gasoline Anonymous for the past few months after filling our Diesel Car with Super gas on our last trip to Europe.

I must say it's painful to say to our group, "Hi, my name is Tom, and I have not filled a Diesel car with Super gas for 88 days."

I committed the unforgiveable deed just outside Gubbio this past September. I wake up sweating in the middle of the night after nightmares about a car dying a terrible death as we are going down a hill.

Its last sputtering sound still gives me the shakes. The sad look of its engine still haunts me. Sometimes I wonder how our little car is today, and whether it blames me.

There was no manual, and none of us thought the car was a Diesel. In other words, "Never assume."

Be sure to ask when you get the car what gas to put in the tank, and while you're at it, make sure they tell you how to put the car in reverse (another tale of woe).

Fortunately, the mistake did not cost us a lot of time (a few hours) or a lot of money. Trying to make us feel better, the guy at the Europcar office in Perugia said it happens to many Americans. Fortunately, he left out the word "stupid."

I would respond further, but I have another session in less than an hour.

May all your fill-ups be happy ones!
((H))

It happened to us. My husband didn't notice the tiny sticker on the gas cap. Luckily we were across from a Mercedes repair shop. I walked across the street but they were closed for lunch so we waited and I walked over again explained our situation. They towed the truck over to their place and sucked out the diesel and refilled the tank with gasoline. Gazole is the word for diesel.

Fortunately, I have only put diesel into a gas-burning car. All it does is quit.

You have to pay to have the diesel removed from the gas tank and fuel lines, but you will be on your way in under 5 hours. If you can find someone to do the job.

((I))

An ad on British tv said that 400 people in the UK do this each year. IF you try to drive the car after the fillup snafu, it will cost about £3000 to fix it. If you don't start the motor but instead have it taken car of immediately, it will cost a lot less.
Happened to my husband earlier this year. But it wasn't his fault. He and a couple of his staff had driven from Brussels (in our car) to a meeting in Dusseldorf. A long day, they headed back and outside Antwerp stopped to fill the car. While my husband went to use the facilities, a "helpful" staffer proceeded to fill our diesel Laguna with gas. Fortunately, the guy admitted his mistake to my husband before he tried to start the car up again. It was towed and fixed for a reasonable amount. But my VERY grumpy and tired husband didn't get home 3 am as a result. And the worker who screwed up has since left the company to "spend more time with his family." ;-)

Would anybody of you confess this in a face to face situation? I sure the first thing people here would do is to have you locked away into the closest insane asylmun.

We're still free! :)

I remember on one season of the Amazing Race nearly half the teams did this. One team simply drained their gas tank on the side of the road (ok, small environmental hazard there) and then put in a few gallons of diesel. The car cranked right up! I was shocked it was so easy.

For the OP, and also to settle the question of whether it's worse put diesel in a gas engine or the reverse, here's a well-written article explaining what's going on.

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdieselvsgas.html

I've rented cars in Europe that didn't have a clear indication about which fuel to use several times. The solution is simply to take the cap off and sniff - the two fuels have very different odors.

FlyFish, the sniff test certainly works--diesel fuel has an unmistakeable odor. It reminds me of furnace oil.

I have also noticed that diesel engines have a very distinctive sound, but with the soundproofing on most cars today, you can't hear the difference when inside the vehicle. If you happen to be standing beside a diesel when it is idling, there is a distictive hammering sound.

Anselm

> It reminds me of furnace oil.
It IS furnace oil :-) :-) :-)

They have added red color for tax reasons. But those farmers keep using it.

>..I'm sure the first thing people here would do is to have you locked away ...<

When you are tired, when it is dark or getting dark, and you pull up to a pump that has three or four hoses and it's difficult to tell the difference between black and dark green, and you take out a hose that says "Premium", it's not all that difficult to mistake premium disel for premium gasoline.

((I))

Currently, diesel sold in the US has very high sulphur content. That's all it smells like. But in Europe and certain other countries (and US in the future), the sulphur content is much lower so the smell is not the same.

No, because nobody here would EVER make that mistake if it costs a few 1000€ and you'd have to walk tome in the dark. ;-). People loose the keys to their home, get hit by a bus, but no they don't put diesel in a car that needs petrol. ;-)

rkkwan - Correct about the difference, and coming change, in sulfur content, but the smell of diesel is that of the middle distillates (i.e., alkanes with about 15 to 20 carbons) that it primarily consists of. There's no difference in the smell of diesel that contains 0.3% S (US currently) and 0.05% S (Europe currently). Honest. And neither one smells anything like the light distillates that are in gasoline.

When several contestants did this on Amazing Race, my daughter and I couldn't figure out how it could happen. I guess it's just not that rare. :-)

I once put deisel in my motorcycle.
I went to pay for it, and the attendant said "I've never seen a diesel motorcycle before."
I said "Whaaaaat????"

Believe me, it's better to make this error on a motorcycle. Get out the toolkit, take off the seat, undo one bolt, pop off the fuel line and dump it on the side of the lot. (The attendant told me to do it.)

Filled it up with regular, and don't let the engine stop until it's running properly!

How'd it happen? Well, it was one of those pumps that had a diesel nozzle on one side and a regular gas nozzle on the other side - I just wasn't paying attention.

Those were the days - $3.00 total extra cost.

Could be worse - one fellow in town was on a road trip in the days of diesel VW Rabbits, and he got to one gas staition who apparently filled him up with half deisel, half water (the tank must have been sucking bottom...).

A lot of recriminations and threatened lawsuits were required to settle the issue.

Flyfish - My experience with US diesel is based on my 2.5 yr career as a truck driver. I've probably pumped about 50,000 gallons of diesel into the trucks.

What I found is that sulphur content is not constant across the board. At some truck stops, the diesel has much stronger sulphur smell than others. Color may be different too - some are more yellowish, some greenish, some has almost no color.