Used the Wrong Fuel – What Should I Expect When This Happens

If you have ever found yourself using a lower grade gasoline fuel than what your vehicle requires or have made the mistake of putting gas into a vehicle that runs on diesel, then don’t fret because you are certainly not alone.  The most common gaffe made among those individuals who have used the wrong fuel in their motor vehicle is using a lower grade gasoline than what the vehicle requires.  Although some may laugh at the thought of someone putting gasoline into a diesel powered engine, that flub has been made too, though probably not as common.

For those unfortunate people that have found themselves in the predicament of having used the wrong fuel, there are few things that you will likely notice about your vehicle’s performance.  To start with, when using a lower grade octane fuel than the one that is needed for your vehicle, you may notice that the vehicle seems to be less powerful than it normally would be.  This is due to the fact that the fuel management system in the engine has changed the settings to use a combustion configuration that is much less efficient than usual the usual settings.

Using a lower grade octane fuel than what the vehicle requires will lessen the drivability of the vehicle, as it will have less power than it normally does.  It will also cause you to waste money, as it means that you are not getting the best value for fuel dollars.  But other than those things, there really are no adverse effects, at least if you only do this by accident once or twice.  If you habitually make this mistake, then you could more long term damage done to your vehicle and its engine over time.  Now if you used the wrong fuel, as in you put gasoline into your diesel powered vehicle, then that is a different story.

Putting gas into a diesel engine will not cause any immediate damage if done once or twice, but doing this on a regular basis can cause long term adverse effects to the engine.  If you have used the wrong fuel in this regard, you will notice a bigger performance as the vehicle will have little to no power since the gas will detonate correctly.  Putting diesel fuel into a gasoline powered engine should be nearly impossible to do since the nozzles on diesel pumps at refueling stations are too big to fit into gasoline tanks.  Unless of course the refueling station got their nozzles and tanks mixed up, that is.