Q: What could I do to fix car after diesel put in
My son accidently put 2.5 gallons of diesel into my empty gas tank. The car made it about 2 miles down the road before it started to chug out and wouldn't start again. I had it towed home and a day later pulled out the fuel filter and pump and drained most of the rest of the diesel and filled the tank half way up with regular gas. But the car won't start still. It starts and will idol for a couple of seconds and then chugs out again. What else should I do. This is my only way to get around
My car has 135000 miles.
My car has a manual transmission.
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Hello. Thank you for writing in. The amount of damage that was done by the diesel will depend on how long it sat in the system. By pulling the filter and pump, I hope you mean that you changed them. At least the filter needs to be changed, the pump may still be ok. If the diesel sat for over a day or so, other gaskets and injector issues may be of a concern. Keep in mind, even if some of this damage has not been caused, it may just take a few failed tries before the diesel is cycled out of the engine, and it begins to work normally. You may want to change your spark plugs as well. Since the vehicle has already been drained of diesel and refilled with unleaded, you will want to change the fuel filter, and continue to try and start the car until it cooperates. Keep an eye on the battery level while you are doing this. After the vehicle is running somewhat normally, you may want to use a fuel system cleaner to help the system out.
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