What Really Happens When You Put Diesel in a Gas Car?
Probably run worse. Unless it’s a 83 corolla.- Scotty Kilmer.
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What happens ? The gas using vehicle will not run and then people go online to Forums asking what to do and how much it will cost to solve the mistake. Also very few ever tell how they managed to do that.
A web search will find all kinds of articles explain what can happen plus videos . It also results in a tow truck ride for the vehicle to a local repair shop.
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If you put 1/4 gallon diesel in with 15 gallons of regular gas nothing will happen, it will be lost in the dilution. If you put 15 gallons of diesel in, the engine will stop running. Diesel will not be ignited by the spark plugs. The gas tank and fuel lines need to be drained, the injectors cleaned. Lots of work for the shop to clean this up. You may also get slammed with a hazmat disposal fee. No one will use the diesel as it is contaminated with gasoline, can’t use it as gasoline.
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It sputters, stalls and won’t restart.
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We had a Subaru come in once where the young lady driver had filled it up with diesel about a mile away. No clue as to why she could not smell it.
The car was running but belching clouds of white smoke, knocking horribly, and had a top speed of about 20 mph.
Drained the tank, blew out the fuel lines, added fresh gas, and it turned out well with no lingering issues but she was lucky. She had just enough gas in car to dilute the diesel to where it would run; sort of.
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Back in my gas jockey days, our diesel pump was the furthest from the station building. One day during a truly torrential gulley-washer rain storm, a car pulled up to the diesel pumps. Because NJ is a “full-service” state, the guy waited… maybe… 2 minutes while we all shouted and waved from the shelter of the station for him to drive over to the gas pumps.
I guess that the guy was too impatient to wait for an attendant who wouldn’t arrive, because he decided to fill his gas tank–with diesel fuel–and then drive away w/o paying. Not too long afterward, the station manager dispatched the tow truck to bring the guy’s car back–on a hook.
The fee for the “stolen” diesel fuel paled by comparison to the cost of the tow and repairing his engine.
Karma!
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What happens when you add diesel in a gas car?
Uh… my wife knows. 
She made the mistake of telling me how, twice, she filled her 74 Omega (350 4 bbl.) up with diesel. And twice she had the fuel system drained out, too. I remind her of it once in a while. 
Think: blonde (Can I still say that?)
It didn’t hurt it much because that old Olds served us well for many years when I got the car with the bride, as a package deal.
I believe on modern cars, the fuel filler hole that accepts an unleaded gasoline nozzle is too small in diameter to accept a diesel fuel nozzle, eh?
It would take a real screw-up to screw that up. I’m sure they’re out there.
CSA
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It’s supposed to, but if the gas station doesn’t use a diesel nozzle (or lets say the diesel one malfunctioned and they put on a gasoline one until they could get a replacement one in)…
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True, but what about not reading the labels ?
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Now that’s a level of common sense not often seen anymore! Same as the people who always assume that diesel handle and hose would be green, when they’re aren’t always.
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If you dropped the tank and drained it and drained the lines, would it not fire up then without cleaning the injectors? If you could get it to run and add some additive to clean them out. Maybe drop some gas into each spark plug hole? Would be some easy things to do on your own.