What happens if you fill in diesel instead of gasoline or vice versa?

Filling diesel fuel instead of gasoline in a car tank is quite difficult because nozzle for diesel fuel is larger in diameter than nozzle for gasoline. But this is provided that everything is in accordance with GOST at the gas station. If the nozzles were mixed up at the gas station, or the driver refueled directly from a fuel truck, or asked someone to drain some fuel, then the consequences of such an oversight can be very deplorable for the engine and fuel system.

The situations may be the following:

filled with a full tank of unsuitable fuel;
added diesel to gasoline up to the very neck.

In the first case, the car may not start at all, or drive a short distance on the gasoline that remained in the fuel system. In the second case, diesel will mix with gasoline and the engine and fuel will not burn properly, as you can guess from engine failures and black smoke from the exhaust pipe.

As you know, gasoline and diesel are produced from oil by distillation, gasoline is obtained from lighter fractions, diesel from heavier ones. The difference in the operation of diesel and gasoline engines is obvious:

diesel - the air-fuel mixture ignites under high pressure without the participation of a spark;
gasoline - the mixture ignites from a spark.

Hence the conclusion - in gasoline engines, normal conditions are not created for the ignition of diesel fuel - there is not enough pressure. If you have a carburetor, then diesel fuel will still enter the cylinders, but will not ignite. If there is an injector, then the nozzles will simply clog after a while.

If diesel is mixed with gasoline, then only gasoline will ignite, while diesel will clog everything that is possible, it will seep into the crankcase, where it will mix with engine oil. In addition, the likelihood of valve sticking is very high, and what this can lead to is that the pistons will start knocking on the valves, bend them, break themselves, in the best case, the engine will simply jam.

It is very difficult to imagine how much such a repair will cost.

What happens if you fill in diesel instead of gasoline or vice versa?

But even if there are no such terrible consequences, you still have to give all your best to:

replacement of fuel and oil filters;
complete cleaning of the tank, fuel lines;
replacement of piston rings - a lot of soot and soot is formed from diesel fuel;
flushing or purging the injector nozzles;
complete oil change
installation of new spark plugs.

Diesel fuel has very different characteristics, and it is very easy to distinguish it from gasoline in appearance: gasoline is a clear liquid, while diesel fuel has a yellowish tint. In addition, diesel contains paraffins.

What to do if you encounter such a situation?

The sooner you notice a problem, the better. It will be worse if the car travels several kilometers and stalls right in the middle of the road. There will be one exit call a tow truck and go for diagnostics. If you filled in quite a bit of diesel - no more than 10 percent, then the engine, although with difficulty, will be able to continue working. True, then you still have to completely flush the fuel system, injector nozzles, and replace filters.

What happens if you fill in diesel instead of gasoline or vice versa?