Flushing diesel out of fuel system

[V8MoneyPit]

As the title suggests, I will be needing to get rid of the diesel from the fuel tank and pipework. Will flushing it through with petrol be good enough?

I'm going from diesel to petrol in my Land Rover 90.

[Saffy]

diesel in petrol is not something to worry about in small amounts for petrol engines  (AA even say it's fine for up to 5 litres of diesel to a tank of petrol in a mis- fuel situation... don't say what size tank though ...average saloon lol). Guess you will be changing from the standard filter too, so might have to change the new one a couple times at first if crap gets flushed from lines.

wondering what engine your fitting and why.

[V8MoneyPit]

diesel in petrol is not something to worry about in small amounts for petrol engines  (AA even say it's fine for up to 5 litres of diesel to a tank of petrol in a mis- fuel situation... don't say what size tank though ...average saloon lol). Guess you will be changing from the standard filter too, so might have to change the new one a couple times at first if crap gets flushed from lines.

When I bought the 110 many years ago, the guy I bought it from put 5 litres of diesel in it instead of petrol. It was virtually bone dry prior to that. It ran briefly, with huge clouds of smoke.... and then stopped! Then he realised his mistake and was totally mortified! Fortunately, the tank had a drain plug, which didn't wring off, and it cleared out with fresh petrol after 10 miles or so. It was a bit embarrassing on the M25 though!

wondering what engine your fitting

Going from 2.5TD to 3.5 V8. The V8 will be using mildly ported SD1 heads, a late 3.9 cam, tubular exhaust manifolds, duplex roller chain, etc. Generally a mildly modified unit to maintain good torque, but squeeze out a few more bhp.

......and why.

 'Cos I can and 'cos I want to!

My rather flawed logic is based on only getting 20mpg from the old 2.5TD. I might as well get 20mpg from a petrol engine and have the noise and speed as well. And before anyone bleats on about 8mpg from a Rover V8...... if it's properly set up, 22mpg is easily achieved on a run and 18mpg around town. Been there, done that. And it produced over 200bhp too  It's going to be a tad quicker than the TD!
I was looking at Jap diesels (Isuzu 2.8TD or 3.1TD, Daihatsu 2.8TD, etc), but they've all done huge miles and are expensive to rebuild.
Oh and petrol is cheaper.

OK, so my justification is flawed. But since when do men believe logic is a good way to make a decision? 

[Saffy]

and your moving to a desert where there are no puddles ? 

[StuartL]

Drain it, put a few litres of petrol in it, run the fuel pump for a couple of seconds into a container to clear the fuel line and then you'll be fine.  In low concentrations you won't even notice.

[V8MoneyPit]

Thanks guys.

and your moving to a desert where there are no puddles ? 

Electronic ignition, decent quality components. Never had a problem with bonnet deep water. On the rare occasions it's started misfiring, it still pulls you though to dry land. Then a quick dry out of the cap and away you go again. It's yet another thing that many people think is an issue. But it's only an issue when the unit is badly maintained.

In any case, these days, I tend to avoid deep water anyway. It's nothing but trouble. Unless it's clean river water, it kills starter motors, alternators, water pumps, etc with the silt floating around.

[Saffy]

Thanks guys.

and your moving to a desert where there are no puddles ? 

Electronic ignition, decent quality components. Never had a problem with bonnet deep water. On the rare occasions it's started misfiring, it still pulls you though to dry land. Then a quick dry out of the cap and away you go again.

A Steve Gunning dizzy is good piece of kit for the v8, if you're  not familiar it's a modified sealed distributor that's fitted with the all important breather hose porting... not the rubber glove/rubber carrot nonsense. He's even got snorkels on his v8 and goes places I wouldn't dare.

[dxmedia]

All this fuss over fuel!!

I run the mog on dirty fuel from the garage (when people put diesel in petrols and vica versa), but smokey but runs fine on the stuff. 


lot of fuss about nothing 


BUT, yeah, empty the tank as best you can, run the fuel pump for a few seconds without the injectors or carb connected till what comes through smells like petrol and you'll  be good to go.

[Saffy]

2.25 landy petrol lump pretty much the same in its tolerance to run on any ol crap