# Accidentally adding a gallon of Diesel **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** accord, honda\ **Created:** [August 20, 2009, 2:45pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/accidentally-adding-a-gallon-of-diesel/35318 "2009-08-20T14:45:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BeepBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/da6949/32.png) [@BeepBeep](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BeepBeep)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 2:45pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/accidentally-adding-a-gallon-of-diesel/35318/1 "2009-08-20T14:45:11Z")
My wife accidentally added a gallon of diesel to the gas tank. After she realized that she filled up the tank with gasoline. Is that a problem for the car? ---
**Author:** ![Whitey](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/whitey/32/24680_2.png) [@Whitey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Whitey)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/accidentally-adding-a-gallon-of-diesel/35318/2 "2009-08-20T14:48:22Z")
I would get the tank drained. ---
**Author:** ![andrew\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@andrew\_j](https://community.cartalk.com/u/andrew_j)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/accidentally-adding-a-gallon-of-diesel/35318/3 "2009-08-20T15:13:30Z")
If the tank is full of gasoline the diesel is pretty dilute. Diesel will burn in a gasoline engine especially in dilute form, it is simply low octane fuel. To get rid of excess home heating fuel(untaxed diesel) from a oil furnace replacement I have placed into yard equipment in 1-10 ratio with not a single running issue nor dirty spark plug. Motor on and don’t worry. ---
**Author:** ![mcparadise](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mcparadise/32/32_2.png) [@mcparadise](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mcparadise)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/accidentally-adding-a-gallon-of-diesel/35318/4 "2009-08-20T15:18:06Z")
I don’t think one gallon will hurt anything. Are you sure it was just one gallon? I’d refill the tank frequently to keep diluting the diesel. ---
**Author:** ![Whitey](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/whitey/32/24680_2.png) [@Whitey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Whitey)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/accidentally-adding-a-gallon-of-diesel/35318/5 "2009-08-20T15:25:20Z")
Is your yard equipment as sophisticated and complex as a Honda Accord? ---
**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/accidentally-adding-a-gallon-of-diesel/35318/6 "2009-08-20T19:56:08Z")
While I don’t recommend it some people use diesel as a gasoline additive as it will add some lubricating characteristics. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/accidentally-adding-a-gallon-of-diesel/35318/7 "2009-08-20T20:00:22Z")
Is it for sure just one gallon? I’ve been ‘mis-informed’ in these situations… ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 10:31pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/accidentally-adding-a-gallon-of-diesel/35318/8 "2009-08-20T22:31:31Z")
My gut recation is that it’s diluted enough to cause no problems. Worst case she’ll have some erratic operation, but it won’t do damage to components like ethanol would. If it does begin to operate erratically you can always have it drained and refilled with gasoline. ---
**Author:** ![bscar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bscar/32/34_2.png) [@bscar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bscar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 10:31pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/accidentally-adding-a-gallon-of-diesel/35318/9 "2009-08-20T22:31:36Z")
Isn’t the nozzle for a diesel pump a bit bigger than a normal gasoline pump? ---
**Author:** ![Caddyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/caddyman/32/23_2.png) [@Caddyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caddyman)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 11:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/accidentally-adding-a-gallon-of-diesel/35318/10 "2009-08-20T23:20:41Z")
Right. This is almost impossible to do unless it’s a privately owned gravity fed farm tank with an incorrect nozzle. In any case, it won’t hurt a thing… ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/accidentally-adding-a-gallon-of-diesel/35318/11 "2009-08-20T23:29:32Z")
Haven’t you heard? A woman can do anything… Sorry, the Devil made me do it. ---
**Author:** ![andrew\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@andrew\_j](https://community.cartalk.com/u/andrew_j)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 1:08am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/accidentally-adding-a-gallon-of-diesel/35318/12 "2009-08-21T01:08:42Z")
Well, a friend of mine who happens to be a true Rocket Scientist from abroad (has pHD in it) did this on the first or second date with his now wife. She was wondering why he smelled so much and having so much trouble putting gas in her car for her. ---
**Author:** ![Kendahl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Kendahl](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Kendahl)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 1:16am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/accidentally-adding-a-gallon-of-diesel/35318/13 "2009-08-21T01:16:13Z")
A gallon or two of diesel in a 15 to 20 gallon tank otherwise full of gasoline isn’t enough to cause problems. If anything was going to go wrong, it would already have happened. The car would have stopped running because a spark plug won’t ignite diesel. My wife once mistakenly filled our Subaru with two thirds of a tank E-85. Although this isn’t something to do regularly, it didn’t hurt the car.