2004 Volkswagen TDI Put unleaded in Diesel engine

Tiny
ROCHAMADEIRA
  • MEMBER
  • 2004 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA TDI
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • MANUAL
  • 82,000 MILES
I recently accidentaly put unleaded in my TDI engine. Realized it before starting the car, had it towed to a shop where they siphoned the tank and put some diesel in. Now the car sputters and loses power occasionally. After topping off with diesel it runs a little better but still has very little power on the freeway and continues to putter at times. Is this just because there are remnants of unleaded fuel and will go away over time or should I be worried and have it checked out?
Thursday, August 6th, 2009 AT 1:37 PM

2 Replies

Tiny
DR LOOT
  • MECHANIC
  • 2,311 POSTS
Decades ago when I purchased my first army truck in 1952 Studebaker, it had whats is called a multi-fuel engine, technically a diesel, but you could also one regular gasoline in it, and vice versa, you can run diesel in a gas car but it will be hard to start and it will smoke a lot. At any rate, nowadays with the advanced filtering system the fuel filter on your vehicle is probably recognizing the little bit of gasoline that got left in your fuel tank, like water, so you will probably have to replace your fuel filter.
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Thursday, August 27th, 2009 AT 9:56 PM
Tiny
LGHF
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
You can not run diesel in a gas engine or vice versa without permanent damage to the engine.
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Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 AT 7:39 PM

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