The daughter of one of my coworkers somehow managed to fill her tC with diesel instead of gasoline! Not sure how that was possible since I thought the diesel pump nozzle was larger than would fit the fill hole in a gasoline engine tank. Anyway, she apparently drove a few minutes before the car died. Then had it towed to a toyota dealer who drained the tank, cleaned the injectors, replaced the fuel filter, etc, for a cost of $500 or so. I'm wondering (and asking on my coworker's behalf) if there was any permanent damage caused by this? My first thought is that it could be as bad as a hydrolock since diesel wouldn't have burned. He said it seems to run OK (for now) after cleaning the fuel system.

 

not sure exactly.....dont think so, i mean diesel doesn't burn like gas, so it is possible......but as long as the injector and w/e is ok, should be fine....

maybe check the fuel pump, but hopefully they did that

 

Should be fine after a bit. I have seen some people put partial tank fulls in on top of gasoline with no ill effects other than some nice black smoke for a while

It wouldnt be like hydrolock. Hydrolock is caused when enough water is pulled into a cylinder. Water doesnt compress , so the engine comes to a sudden halt. The fuel mixed with air, burned or not, will not hydrolock an engine.

 

Send the woman back to driver's ed. If she's that dumb about something as simple as putting the right kind of gas into a car, I don't want her on the same road as me.

Even if she's across the country.

 

You would be surprised how often this happens. I have personally seen it 3 times. Never had a problem with the cars later on though. They usually smell bad and run funny for a little while but eventually they are back to normal.

 

Ok, thanks for the replies. She said the car is running fine. Still have no idea how it was possible? I thought the nozzle size on the pump was different between gasoline and diesel pumps. So you could possibly put gas in a diesel (saw on Amazing Race or some stupid tv show) but not the other way.

 

It won't fit but most of the time they just assume the pump is different and hold it there instead.

 

i remember there was an episode of top gear (or maybe fifth gear) where they put diesel into a car, then emptied it, put gas back in, and it ran fine after a little bit. no fuel injector cleaner or anything.