I have just put 1 litre of lead replacement petrol in my 2001 ML Diesel. The car had about 4-5 gallons of diesel when I mistakenly put the petrol in. Realizing my mistake I filled the talk with diesel and drove home( about 3 miles). The car seems perfectly fine but i have been told I should have the fuel tank drained etc. Is it possible to run the car with this small percentage of petrol and fill up again with diesel without causing major damage?

Thanks
LD

If you only put 1 liter in ~20 gallons or so you can run it with no problems or need to drain it. Don't worry about it. If you do a search here, you'll find other posts to back up my opinion.

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1982 Mercedes-Benz 300CD
1982 Mercedes-Benz 240D - stick

I would let in idle for a while (hours) and see how it runs, if it seems ok then I would just keep driving and filling it up with Diesel at every 1/4 tank until you have used a full tank..

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2000 Ford 7.3 Powerstroke 4x4
2006 Mazda Tribute
1983 Black 300 D (donated to charity)
1993 Teal 300 D (160K) Sold
"I love the smell of burnt diesel fuel in the morning, it smells like ....VICTORY"

Semper Fidelis
USMC 1973-1976

I didn't think about that. Good idea and faster elimination of the gasoline - smart!

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1982 Mercedes-Benz 300CD
1982 Mercedes-Benz 240D - stick

you are easing my mind a lot. I am going out to let it idle for a while now, thanks Lorna

I know many people who add a couple of gallons of gasoline to their diesel fuel now and then because they claim it "cleans out" the carbon buildup of soot in the prechamber and combustion chamber.

I don't know if that is true or not but I do know that it seems to do them no harm.

We have had many cars over the years that got their diesel tank filled with gasoline by mistake. Including mine

After being drained and replaced with diesel, they seemed to suffer no damage.

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You can get farther with a smile and a gun than you can with just a smile.

1984 300D
1985 300CD
1980 300SD
1993 SL500

There is a cat named Kugel who is over on the biofuels infopop board; he has successfully been adding RUG (regular unleaded gas) to diesel and veg oil blends for some time.
One liter is nothing to worry about.

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Think Alternative Energy!
300CD '80 (now gone but not forgotten...)

thanks you guys the car is idling and seems to be ok
No warning lights or anything. I thought about driving it tomorrow a bit more slowly than usual to be safe.
Appreciate your help

When you started it and drove it home, you were already using the gasoline

my 240's use about 2 gallons every 8 hrs of idling. it may take a while to clear the tank but yes the minute you turned the key the gas went thru the system.

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currently
[1981 300 td tdidi 165500 dark brown/palamino-Brownie-mine-3k miles of ownership
1983 240d 162+++ Anthricite grey w/ henna red interior and hella lights-wifes car-Red

the above two cars are for sale
and can be seen on the cars for sale thread here. pix also available.


240d-144+ Manilla Yellow w/ palmino interior-greasecar kit-Blondie-the college kids car

23" gt 21 speed still on original tires-still got the nubs
21" khs tandem