What would happen if you put the wrong gas in your car?

Question

I got gas by myself for the first time the other day, and my car seems to be eating up the gas a lot faster than the last time! I'm pretty sure I put the right gas in, but then again I don't know. Is it bad if I accidentally put the wrong gas in?

Answer 1

im not for sure. but i think it will still run but read your manual make sure what kind goes in there. and make sure its the right kind but it also depends on mpg. but i dont think it will hurt it. i have a mustang and i wasnt paying any attention and put in the wrong kind but it didnt hurt it any. im sure it ran better with it. but just watch next time i think your car will be fine.

Answer 2

I agree with Lover not a Fighter. Your car should still run OK, but it may not perform as well. Most cars run on 89 octane regular, but many high-performance cars recommend 91 octane. With modern knock sensors and computer control, using 89 octane won't damage your engine, but you should follow the manufacturer's recommendation.

Answer 3

The only fuel you'd be able to put in is gasoline. Diesel pumps are larger, therefore unable to fit into the tank of a gasoline vehicle.

So the only thing you could've done is use a different octane of gasoline. In the average car motor, there is little to no difference between regular 87-octane gasoline and gasolines of higher octanes. Since it's just a Sentra, I'm assuming it doesn't require premium-octane fuels.

If diesel did manage to find its way into the gas tank, you'd know by now; the vehicle would have caught fire already. Diesel motors do not have spark plugs; the sole compression of the fuel makes it combust. Having spark to combust diesel would catch the vehicle on fire.

It may just need a tune-up; replacing the air filter and plugs/wires, etc. etc.

Answer 4

grade of gas usually don't matter, now if you used diesal, or kerosene you might have a problem but a lot worse than mpg

Answer 5

it can be it just depends on wat ur car takes and what kind you put in it

Answer 6

>>  Is it bad if I accidentally put the wrong gas in?

Most cars have engine knock sensor.  You will feel less power, but it would not be "bad" in the long term.

If your MPG is suffering, you have some other problem besides a bad gas.

Good Luck...

P.S.  Look under your gas cap.  If it does NOT say premium then it uses regular gas.

Answer 7

Define 'wrong gas'?

If your car requires premium and you put in regular, you'll probably end up with a lot of knocking and slightly lower performance.

If your car is not a flex-fuel car and you happened to put in E85, you'll ruin your engine. But you'd also see your car behaving extremely poorly. You can tell an E85 pump because the gas handles are bright yellow.

Check your driving habits - have you been using the air conditioning a lot lately? A lot of fast starts at stoplights, or stop and go traffic (construction)? Maybe driving 70mph or greater? In a lot of traffic recently? All of these will consume more fuel.

If you haven't done so, you may want to change your air filter, and give your car a bit of a tune-up.

There are several inexpensive things you can do to squeak out more gas mileage - inflate your tires properly, spray your PCV valve with a Gumout cleaner and put it back, coast down hills rather than give it gas all the time, and next time you fill up, get a fuel injector cleaner from inside the convienence store and add it to your gas tank before you fill up. Granted, nothing beats a true cleaning of your injectors, thermostat, butterfly valve and other parts of your engine, but those can start to cost money.

Good luck!

Answer 8

If you thought you put regular in it, then I assume it is supposed to run on regular. Going up to say premium will not hurt the car, if you are still driving the car, then I know you didn't put desiel in it. (the car wouldn't run with it) You don't have a flex fuel car so E85 is out of the question (again it'd kill the engine) Now, you will get worse gas milage if you used gas with  10% or less  ethanol over gas without ethanol(the pumps have stickers stating whether ethanol is in the gas or not)

But then, a whole lot of other things determine gas mileage other than the "type" of gas. What are your driving habits? If you have a heavy foot or drive with the AC, then your mileage will suffer