Petrol in a Diesel car - Help :(

And the fine coating of soot that slowly builds up on the tip of the lambda sensor.

 

Hopefully not! These additives go through the injection system in an unaltered state. Hopefully by the time that they hit the exhaust system they have been fully burnt and are now in a gaseous state. If not, there is an underlying issue with the engine/fuel delivery system.
The Lambda sensor should work perfectly well with an average soot coating. It is possible to clean old sensors with a heavy build up using a fine water mist.
I have seen additives that are supposed to clean the Lambda and cat, but having used them I've not seen any great improvement.

 

I filled £20 worth of petrol in my diesel car too before I realised - my excuse was that it was the first week I had the car and prior to that always had Petrol cars. I didn't drive the car off the petrol forecourt and instead phoned an independent garage. They came over (after 2 hours!) and simply popped a hose into the tank and psyphoned out all the petrol. I then filled up with diesel. Because I hadn't driven the car 5 miles and over, the petrol hadn't gone through "the system" to cause damage. If I had driven 5 miles and over I would have had to have various filters replaced. The bill for this 10 minute job by the garage = £300

I was with the RAC at the time and they quoted me £375 for the same job plus I would have to wait 3 - 4 hours for the privilege.

 

£300 Is cheaper than a complete new engine though

Jack McH

 

I've heard that the companies that specialize in pumping out mis-fueled tanks don't let you keep the petrol/diesel mixture to help light bonfires at bofires at your allotment, something to do with it being controlled waste that has to be properly disposed of. Flipping nanny state!

But seriously, don't try that yourselves because last time I used petrol to light a bonfire at the plot I singed my plums.

 

Certainly don't use the best part of four litres like I did one afternoon after a few sherberts!
Contrary to popular belief, it does not result in a huge explosion. What happens is all the air is sucked in towards the rapidly igniting fuel which is then followed by a huge fireball!
I was lucky, suffering no more than singed hair and deafness/significantly increased tinitus lasting several hours.

 

I turned a galvanised bin into an incinerator after my husband died he kept everything, and roasted my apples.