What To Do If You Put the Wrong Fuel in Your Car

Contrary to popular belief, putting the wrong fuel in cars happens to about 150,000 drivers annually. The most important thing to do when you put the wrong fuel in your car—whether it’s petrol in a diesel vehicle or diesel in a petrol car—is to not start the engine since doing so might be a very costly mistake. Should you be reading this because you put the wrong fuel in your car?

I have put the wrong fuel in my car – What do I do now?

Do not panic if you accidentally put petrol in a diesel car or the other way around! Here are some actions you ought to take:

1. Do not start your car. Starting the engine will result in a mixture of the two fuel types, making it more difficult to clean the fuel evacuation system and increasing the risk of engine damage.
2. Take your car to a safe place. Put your car in neutral mode and push it to a secure location to wait for assistance after notifying the petrol station that you added the incorrect fuel. Sometimes the petrol station attendants might add wrong fuel in your so always inform the attendants the kind of fuel your car used before refilling.
3. Call someone for help. Calling a garage, fuel evacuation service, or breakdown service to inform them of the situation is the last step. They should be able to drain the fuel tank and clean the car’s system for you.

What to do if you put diesel in a petrol car

Given that most diesel pumps cannot fit into a petrol filler neck, this is the less common of the two scenarios. However, do not start the engine if you happen to add diesel to a petrol vehicle because, as we previously indicated, doing so will cause the fuel to circulate and contaminate the fuel system.

Because diesel is a heavier fuel and more difficult to ignite in a petrol engine, the risk of using it in a petrol vehicle is less serious as compared to putting petrol in a diesel car. The engine might not even start if the diesel can’t circulate.

What to do if you put petrol in a diesel car

This is the most common type of mistake motorists make and that’s because the petrol nozzle can easily fit into the filler neck of a diesel car’s fuel tank and it also is a more serious problem.

As we have stated time and time again, you must not start the engine because doing so will cause the fuel to circulate around it, causing damage to the entire system. This is because the petrol acts as a solvent, causing damage to various components of the fuel system, and if left untreated, it could result in a very expensive repair.