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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - doh diesel

thread started with the top button :-)

The title says it all 15 litres of shells finest vpower diesel instead of vpower petrol on top of probably a gallon of petrol.

Managed to limp home (hadn't worked out what was wrong at that point) but have now worked it out

As I've got time to think through my plan of action (and the combined wisdom of the BBS to bounce it off:-)

Syphon out the tank - first question what to do with the diesel - I suspect that the it's to much petrol to just put into my diesel car - any thoughts?

Drain the carburettor bowls with a syringe wipe out as much residue as possible

Small amount of petrol in the tank, slosh is as much as I can

Pump it through the fuel line and collect just before the bowls (front and rear)

Plugs out and clean up

Another smallish slug of petrol - say a litre or two

start it up (hopefully), expect smoke

Go for a drive to slosh this around the tank as much as possible
Run dry
Top up with fresh

that should clear the bulk of the diesel and residues, but will there be any damage:-

Any flexibles that don't like diesel (eg hoses or pump diaphragm),

Grrrr
t Kent

Try the local authority tip for disposal. From several posts I found, some do take it (wonder whether they could loose it in their waste oil disposal tank?).

Otherwise your plan sounds more than adequate I would have thought. It's not as though you have high pressure injectors which seem to be the items at real risk of damage. I can't see the diesel doing any physical damage to the engine itself and surely exposure wasn't long enough to significantly damage to any rubber components.

So easy to do if your regular fill-up is diesel! Just don't do it the other way around with your diesel car!
Graeme Williams

What Graeme said........

If it's an A series I'm not sure if the SU pump (or Facet/whatever) would be affected but I wouldn't think so supposing the exposure is not too long. A 1500's pump is the same as that used by some small diesels as a lift pump so should be fine.

Personally I'd probably keep the waste in a (marked) drum for parts cleaner, rather than dump it.

I saw this done last year sometime on a BMW motorcycle. It was cleaned out pretty much as you suggest and was a little smokey for a few miles but has been fine since, even though it's a fuel injected engine.
Greybeard

A friend did the same with his MGB whilst returning from a club weekend away. As far as I know, he just drove it home up the M3 and M25 with the following club cars keeping their distance due to the cloud of fumes!
Doug Plumb

't Kent', your plan to flush the MG's fuel system sounds fine. Don't get too worked up, diesel is only light oil with a tiny percentage of combustion control chemicals added.

If we were living closer, I would buy your diesel/petrol 'miss-fuel' from you, for my old diesel Astra.

Your miss-fuel is only 4 gallons in total? You could find a taker here: http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/mybbforum/

If not, keep it for yourself, add a tad more petrol, and use it as penetrating oil. Ideal for that job.

I hope that helps.
Andy Hock

When my father did this with his Wolseley 1300, I just pumped it all out of the tank using the car's own pump. I emptied the float chambers, then just filled with petrol and ran it. Job done.
Dave O'Neill 2

I suggest proclaiming to the world that the midget produces 40 times fewer NOx emissions than comparable petrol models and adjusting jets before the MOT to try to prove that, as long as they don't touch the steering, the MG can indeed compete with the Jetta.
Glenn Mallory

It was only a matter of time till the word VW came up
I'm with the guys here
Just empty the tank, fill with petrol and drive
All will be well, no need to go pulling things apart, the petrol will flush the remaining diesel out
willy
William Revit

sorted
thanks
for your advice everyone
tim
timmyk

Sadly im an expert in fuelling the midget up with diesel...
Done it twice now... 1e time in Holland but got home, 2nd time in the UK and was towed back by Tarquin.

Both times with the Kseries engine in.
Started to loose power and some extra smoke from exhaust.

In both situations just emptied the tank, filled up again with benzine and after several attempts it started again and kept running until it ran perfectly as if nothing had happened.


Arie

Cut the d fuel 50/50 with normal petrol and use it in the lawn mower... it may not run great but better then loosing a wad of cash

Plus D fuel makes a good parts cleaner, maybe even weed killer

Ive done that once before also as a 19 kid... I just pumped out using the cars fuel pump just before the carbs and refueled with correct fuel... once it finally started, it ran fine

Prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Well, speaking of VW, the older diesels (like the Rabbit of the late 70s) indicated in the owners manual that gasoline could be used as an anti-gel fuel additive in winter. I THINK it said you could use up to 25% gasoline in the fuel.

So, I suspect someone with older tech diesels could toss what you drained into their tank (assuming they already had a good bit of fuel in their tank) and burn it up with no problem.

Charley
C R Huff

Good spot Charley. I'd forgotten that back in the day we used to put about 10% paraffin (kerosene to you) in the diesel tank in the winter.

Diesel fuel has moved on a bit though and anyway T Kent's engine is not a diesel.

Even so I reckon you're right. That witches brew he has been left with would be fine as a winter mix for an old diesel.

Good catch. Shows that we oldtimers can still offer something hahaha!
Greybeard

I used to know a guy at Landrover and he mentioned about the changes in modern diesel fuels. He said the older diesels didn't take to the modern low sulphur and ultra low sulphur fuels because the lubricity of the fuel was much lower and so the pump had to be made to much tighter tolerance to survive. IIRC an older LR run on purely ultra low sulphur diesel might wear out the pump in a matter of months as a result.
David Billington

This thread was discussed between 03/01/2016 and 05/01/2016

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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