Diesel in a gasoline engine?

[lagvoid21]

Don't ask me how it was possible or what he was thinking because it's been done. My friend accidently put diesel in his 95 BMW 325i and didn't make it far down the road before it cut off.

We emptied the diesel out of the tank and removed as much out of the lines as we could. We filled it with injector cleaner and 4 gallons of 93 octane gas but it still won't start. It's cranking but not starting. We left it in the key-on position for a couple minutes hoping that the fuel pump would pressurize the system and put gas in but have had no luck. We pulled the plugs and some of them have oil in the spark plug hole AND the plug itself! I've seen oil on my spark plug threads but not on the electrode itself. The fuel pump seems to be working. After we drained the fuel rail/lines once and tried to start it up, we checked the fuel line at the rail and it was pressurized/full of fuel again.

From what I gathered, diesel in gas doesn't harm anything. Diesel just won't work in a gas engine but Gas in a Diesel is a big no no. Any suggestions on getting this thing to start up? Would oil on the spark plug not allow them to fire?

[93 240sxfastback]

Yeah if your plugs are fouled up with oil they won't fire. Change the plugs and since there's oil in there check the spark plug well gasket under the valve cover. Sorry about what happened and good luck.

[lagvoid21]

Ok we'll try replacing the plugs next. Thanks

Anything other suggestions?

[!Zar!]

Actualy, in a hastefull situation that required the moving of a diesel vehicle, you can put gas in there untill you can fill it back up with diesel.

But in your situation, a gas engine that ran on diesel, check your spark plugs, and your injectors.

[trsilvias13]

Change your fuel filter, trust me.

My friend's sister did this on her accord once. We had to drain the gas tank, clean injectors, and change spark plug, and then it didnt work. Turns out to be the fuel filter.

[lagvoid21]

ohh I forgot to mention that we did replace the fuel filter after siphoning the tank and draining the lines as much as possible.

Gonna try to change out the plugs first and if that doesn't help I guess we'll try to check the injectors. It is a bit more reassuring that your friend's sister's car ran afterwards.

side note: I thought a z32 filter was big...the bimmer filter looked like it had a 1.5-2" dia and 10 inches long!

thanks again all, I'll update after we change out the plugs.

[punxva]

yea the difference is that diesel engiens dont use spark plugs, so try replacing those, and hope for the best, it shouldnt mess that much up, but also check the O2 sensor too, just in case.

[REDSH!FT]

Here's an interesting note...

Diesel fuel is very oily, which is why diesel pumps are always grimy and disgusting looking and working on a Diesel SUCKS...

Check up on anything that might malfunction due to being oily (spark plugs, fuel filter, fuel pump...etc)

Also, siphoning the tank might not have gotten it all out...you might want to drain it properly...

[McRussellPants]

Well, diesel creates alot of soot so he prolly just fouled the plugs with the deisel that got run through it and the gas in it makes it look like oil.

[bboyt3nsk]

Take out the the spark plugs put some caps in and put in some high compression pistons and dont worry about cleaning it out! haha

[!Zar!]

So he can have a high comp soot filled engine?

Yeah, great idea.

[jjwilks240]

he means run it off deisel.

[drftwerks]

wow i wish i could get that high to do that, haha, jk, let us know how you finnaly get it started.

[bboyt3nsk]

Aw man I was kiddin!

Thered be alot more stuff to do besides that!

Good luck with cleanin that thing out!

[AznXstazy]

ummm, try reseting the ecu? thats all i can think of. and replacing the spark plugs. n also check the injectors as well. n what filter did u change it to? a z32? i thought it was a for a bmw? they fit?

[aj7897]

BMW's have a high compression ratio; that's why they usually require high octane fuel to prevent predetonation. If you put diesel in a BMW, it was probably knocking like a motherfucker. The damage could definitely be worse than what the people above me just told you.

[green91]

usually the best way is to take the fuel line off the rail and put it into a bucket and keep turning the key over to finish getting the diesel out of the line.

[evoandy]

how did he even put diesel in the car? Aren't the nozzles at diesel pumps bigger than the nozzles at gasoline pumps?

[lagvoid21]

After replacing the plugs the car still wouldn't start up. There are 2 "access" type holes under the rear seats that open up directly to the fuel tank. We emptied both sections pretty well before filling up a few gallons of gas. Planning to give another go at draining the lines/fuel rail (disconnected and key-on). I'll try checking if the ecu can be reset without some special tool. Really hope we can get this thing running again!

Sorry for the confusion. I recently bought a z32 fuel filter for my sr20det and I was just comparing.

I'm not sure about that specific pump but somehow it fit into the tank.

thanks

[Ghettokracker71]

After replacing the plugs the car still wouldn't start up. There are 2 "access" type holes under the rear seats that open up directly to the fuel tank. We emptied both sections pretty well before filling up a few gallons of gas. Planning to give another go at draining the lines/fuel rail (disconnected and key-on). I'll try checking if the ecu can be reset without some special tool. Really hope we can get this thing running again!

Sorry for the confusion. I recently bought a z32 fuel filter for my sr20det and I was just comparing.

I'm not sure about that specific pump but somehow it fit into the tank.

thanks


Damn good luck with everything. I really don't know,sounds like your friend really :Owned: himself bad. Was he high as shit or drunk or something?? Ever picked up a diesel pump...yuck...

Good luck,I'd be interested in knowing what it took to get it running back right whenever you get it fixed

[lagvoid21]

Thanks, I hope we can figure something out as well. I think he was seriously just half asleep or something...

I'll update this with good or bad news.

[lagvoid21]

Update! It runs!

We've been really lazy but finally got around to trying some things on the car. Someone gave us a tip to try using some starter fluid and it worked (lots of smoke on the initial start up). Here's what we did if anyone is ever in a similar situation.

Removed MAF and set it aside (while connected)
Leave the car in 'Key-on' for 20 secs
Start the car with partial throttle
While the car cranks someone sprays the starter fluid through the intake

Took about 4-6 seconds before it actually started but it was a relief. The engine sounded deeper, wouldn't hold idle for the first 5 minutes (I guess while the remaining diesel was burning off), and it smoked during that first 5 minutes. I think we were told that if this method works, the injectors were the cause. We were really glad that it was simple solution to all this and hopefully nothing was damaged.

Thanks everyone