Diesel contaminated fuel

[Porkncheese]

I have a VE Omega V6. I ran out of fuel and called my partner to come and help me....
Well she came with a 20 liter can of diesel fuel which I was unaware of and I poured it into my car.

Soon after my car started to die and wouldn't restart anymore. This is when I learnt of the diesel.
I saw that taking out the tank is so much of an effort now in these compared to earlier models where the pump and filter are out of the tank.
Not knowing how to drain the fuel system properly I fed a tube into the filler hole of the tank and syphoned it.
The shape of the tank would only allow me to syphon half of it.

So I decided to mix the remaining 10 liters of diesel and filled up the rest of the tank with 55 liters of 98 octane fuel thinking it would be ok.
That was a bad call cos it's not ok. Now it won't start. I cranked it so much the battery started to become weak. A fairly new high capacity battery.
Now its on charge and I'm contemplating what to do.
I can hear the pump working so its not that. I figure it has to be completely drained of all this contaminated fuel.

What is the best way to do this? There has to be a simpler way than removing the tank which involves removing the tailshaft and exhaust pipe among other things.
I'm so fed up I'm even contemplating accessing the top of the tank to syphon it by cutting holes in the floor pan under the back seat.
Free downloadable workshop manuals seem to be impossible to find for some reason.
So if anyone can tell me an easier way to do this please do so...

 

[Rogue Trooper]

If you've run diesel through it you've got much bigger problems than just just trying to drain the tank.

 

[Pollushon]

You've got your work cut out for you if you want to fix it yourself, don't panic though, dealt with this a number of times over the decades, injected and non injected. We disconnected the rail inlet and used the pump to drain the tank and the line, flushing with a half tank of 98 twice. New fuel filter and then blew out the rail and return with a compressor. Full tank of fresh stuff and after a number of cranks they start but may blow a bit of smoke for a while.

Pays to change the filter a few times after to gauge your success and the oil too as all the cranking would get some diesel blow by.

 

[Jecs]

i thought you could run 5~ lt of diesel through a petrol. i know 20 lt is a litte more excessive, but 10lt mixed with 55lt of fuel i would have thought she'd run after that

 

[greenacc]

I'd say the problem is the straight diesel youve got in your fuel rail and injectors not the diluted stuff in your tank.
Once you get the 'good' fuel up to the injectors it should start.
As said above flushing the fuel line and injectors is your challenge.
Consider syphoning the tank again in the mean time.

 

[Pollushon]

I'd say the problem is the straight diesel youve got in your fuel rail and injectors not the diluted stuff in your tank.
Once you get the 'good' fuel up to the injectors it should start.
As said above flushing the fuel line and injectors is your challenge.
Consider syphoning the tank again in the mean time.

Exactly this, once you've got a line full it's 100% undiluted black mother of torque, then you crank it over and over til the battery runs down. It's all through your cylinder combustion chamber, soaking your electrodes, dripping round your rings into the sump and halfway down the exhaust manifold probably smearing up the O2's (you might wanna pop them out and have a look, forgot that bit). It's one motherfluffer of a mess.

On the bright side it's a great way to give the internals a scrub

 

[greenacc]

Yeah I was told by TAFE teacher that you can add up to 1 litre of diesel in a tank of fuel for a great way to clean the injectors! ( never tried it myself ) but 10 or 20 litres is possibly going a bit too far!
I wouldn't be too worried about the rings myself. Pull the spark plugs out squirt a bit of mineral oil in each hole and dry plugs or fit new ones. Just getting that diesel out of the fuel line is the issue. At least it's less flammable to work with than petrol

 

[Jecs]

Yeah I was told by TAFE teacher that you can add up to 1 litre of diesel in a tank of fuel for a great way to clean the injectors! ( never tried it myself ) but 10 or 20 litres is possibly going a bit too far!
I wouldn't be too worried about the rings myself. Pull the spark plugs out squirt a bit of mineral oil in each hole and dry plugs or fit new ones. Just getting that diesel out of the fuel line is the issue. At least it's less flammable to work with than petrol

ive always wanted to run a bit of diesel thru one of my cars. i might pour 1 litre in my ute once ive got a full tank. is it ok to mix with 95 or should i step it up to 98

 

[greenacc]

Lol I doubt it would make a difference 98 or 95 but definitely don't do it with e10.
I would not be keen to try it on something like SIDI either but I doubt anything bad would happen. Try it on the old Gemini first

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Disconnect the fuel line from the rail and turn the key on until good fuel comes through. Blow the diesel out of the fuel rail with compressed air. Change the fuel filter and reconnect the line back to the rail and turn the key to on a few times to prime it before you actually start it. It will blow grey smoke and stink, it may clog the cats with soot, but getting them nice and hot by keeping the revs up in a lower gear while driving should clean them.