What Could Go Wrong?: Using the Wrong Fuel

You have just purchased a new car and driven it until the low-gas indicator light has turned on. You pull up to the gas station pump and put in your credit card to pay for gas, however, something is wrong. You are met with a number of different fueling options and you are unsure of what your new car needs, or even what each type of gas distinguishes itself from the other. Don’t all the different types of gas make the car go? Why even bother giving a choice in the first place?

An important way to determine which fuel type you should be using for your new vehicle is to understand what makes each option important. By choosing the right gas to pump and adhering to a regular auto repair schedule so as to service the catalytic converter and other parts, your car will remain in tip-top shape for many years to come.

Using the Wrong Gas

Perhaps the most persistent questions for those who are ignorant to the purposes of the different types of fuel are “why should I worry about the kind of gas I need to use in the first place? If I put in the wrong kind, can’t I just use it until my next refill where I will try again?” As one might suspect, the answer to the latter question is “no,” while the answer to the former question is a bit more involved.

If the wrong fuel is used in a car﹘say, low-octane gas is put into a high-octane tank, or diesel is used instead of unleaded﹘the effects will be felt nearly instantaneously after turning on the ignition. Results may include some or all of the following:

Unleaded Gas in a Premium Vehicle

• Spark Knock: Using lower octane in a premium tank could make it difficult to achieve regular combustion of the fuel/air mixture at the optimum moment the pistons are ready. Instead, the spark plug will begin to make a pinging sound as it mistimes the ignition process and the resulting blast knocks the engine around.
• Lower Fuel Economy: By hobbling the engine’s ability to burn the fuel efficiently (resulting in damage to the internal chamber), the car will be greatly hindered in regulating how much fuel it is using at any given time. Onboard computers within the engine can help manage the mistiming but it will be impossible to run at optimal efficiency.
• Overheating: With all the problems arising from the car’s inability to properly process the low-octane fuel and all the erratic explosions within the engine, the guts of the car will quickly overheat. If not taken to a car repair shop immediately, the vehicle could suffer permanent damage.

Diesel in a Non-Diesel Tank

Diesel fuel doesn’t just make driving a car meant for gasoline difficult﹘it makes it impossible. Simply put it is impossible for you to go anywhere on a full tank of diesel fuel unless your vehicle was made for it. This is due to one very important reason: regular car engines use a spark plug to ignite the air/fuel mixture once the proper pressure has been applied from the pistons. Diesel fuel, on the other hand, doesn’t use a spark plug at all. Instead, it explodes on its own, simply when enough pressure has been applied to the fuel. Therefore a car’s engine simply doesn’t have the compression PSI needed to cause the explosion. In all likelihood, if you use diesel fuel in a gas car, the car will simply stop in its tracks the moment any excess gas has been used up. Then you will be left with a tank full of impossible fuel. 

Letting Master Muffler Fix It

If any such snafu occurs at the gas pump, the best thing to do is find somewhere safe to park and call Master Muffler for a tow to our nearest auto repair shop. When fixing this problem, the car repair experts will usually follow a particular set of actions that include: 

• Removing the gas tank
• Disconnecting the gas lines
• Siphoning out the bad gas
• Removing harmful substances left over

The best way to drain the bad fuel from the main gas chamber is to remove the tank entirely, so as not to harm the engine. Professional auto care mechanics can do this, but it is labor-intensive and could take time. Regardless of which fuel was used, if it needs to go, our team at Master Muffler in Murray can make it happen. Simply drop on by so we can take a look at it and we’ll get you back on the road in no time.