In some countries, there are more cars running on gasoline or gas instead of diesel. A typical example is the United States. In some regions of the world, there are more diesel cars than gasoline models. In some countries, like the United Kingdom, there is a fine balance between the two. So if you own a diesel car and fill it up with gasoline or if you own a gasser and fill it up with diesel, what kind of consequences would you be staring at?
Jon Bentley, the presenter of Fifth Gear, a television show in the UK, tried to experiment with both and had some stunning results to share. While most car owners or motorists would do this mistakenly or rather callously, Jon was well aware of what he was up to. Don’t go around experimenting but the findings are worth knowing.
Jon Bentley used Ford Escort, a sixth generation gasoline powered model, and Vauxhall Astra diesel. The Escort debuted in 1995 and the Astra debuted in 1991. Both vehicles are old and are thus ideal for the experiment. Newer or more advanced cars have better engines and the fuel systems are more robust. The case of wrong fuel can be of much greater jeopardy for older cars.
As the Escort got filled with diesel and the Astra got filled with gasoline, both cars seemed to run fine for a while. Despite the wrong fuel being loaded in the tanks, the cars used up the right fuel for some time till it was consumed entirely or got blended with the wrong fuel, to an extent to lose its presence and thus significance.
The Escort running on diesel instead of gasoline started to cut out sporadically. There were hiccups and then shudders. The Astra ran longer but when it did start to have problems, it just stopped and did not run an inch more. At this stage, you may wonder that your Escort would need some help and the Astra would have gone kaput. But neither of the two is true.
Jon just refilled the tanks with the right fuels and after some hiccups, which were insignificant, the two cars ran just as they were supposed to.
To sum it up, older vehicles will have problems with the wrong fuel. New cars will have fewer problems and may not come to a grinding halt but repeating the mistake time and again will damage the engines and transmission.