# Will it hurt my car to let diesel sit in it overnight? **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [February 27, 2020, 1:28am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/will-it-hurt-my-car-to-let-diesel-sit-in-it-overnight/159696 "2020-02-27T01:28:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EmilyChesler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5f8ce5/32.png) [@EmilyChesler](https://community.cartalk.com/u/EmilyChesler)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 1:28am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/will-it-hurt-my-car-to-let-diesel-sit-in-it-overnight/159696/1 "2020-02-27T01:28:27Z")
The gas station I went to had a broken pump and put diesel in my car. Is there anything I can do right now? It is late at night and the car dealership is not open. If it is there for 13 hours will it make it worse? ---
**Author:** ![vipergg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/50afbb/32.png) [@vipergg](https://community.cartalk.com/u/vipergg)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 1:32am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/will-it-hurt-my-car-to-let-diesel-sit-in-it-overnight/159696/2 "2020-02-27T01:32:15Z")
Do not drive or start it anymore and have it TOWED to the Toyota dealer. They will have to drain the tank and somehow flush the fuel system . It isnt going to be cheap to fix this . ---
**Author:** ![Nevada\_545](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/nevada_545/32/41232_2.png) [@Nevada\_545](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Nevada_545)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 1:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/will-it-hurt-my-car-to-let-diesel-sit-in-it-overnight/159696/3 "2020-02-27T01:38:33Z")
There is no harm in waiting a day, diesel fuel won’t harm the fuel system when the engine is off. ---
**Author:** ![lion9car](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/59ef9b/32.png) [@lion9car](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lion9car)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 4:23pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/will-it-hurt-my-car-to-let-diesel-sit-in-it-overnight/159696/4 "2020-02-27T16:23:47Z")
As already mentioned, it’s fine for the car to sit until it can be towed. Your car will also be fine once the fuel system is flushed. The gas station is paying for this, right? ---
**Author:** ![auto-owner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/50afbb/32.png) [@auto-owner](https://community.cartalk.com/u/auto-owner)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2020, 3:13am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/will-it-hurt-my-car-to-let-diesel-sit-in-it-overnight/159696/5 "2020-02-28T03:13:58Z")
How far have you driven since the diesel fuel was added, and how much was added, and how empty was the tank when it was added? ---
**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2020, 3:31am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/will-it-hurt-my-car-to-let-diesel-sit-in-it-overnight/159696/6 "2020-02-28T03:31:07Z")
I would like to know more about the broken pump . Did the gasoline pump just not work and the person used the diesel pump ? Did the pump actually have a problem where diesel fuel came out of the regular gas nozzle ? I have only seen combination pumps with regular and diesel that have two hose and nozzles , one for each type. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2020, 4:12am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/will-it-hurt-my-car-to-let-diesel-sit-in-it-overnight/159696/7 "2020-02-28T04:12:34Z")
Concur w/above advice, some diesel in the fuel tank with the engine off isn’t hurting anything. Overnight, no worries. Just don’t start the engine again until all the diesel is drained from the tank.