Diesel in fuel line

Tiny
PETEPETE3161
  • MEMBER
  • 2018 HYUNDAI ELANTRA
  • 1.4L
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 1,000 MILES
My wife accidentally put diesel in our new 2018 Hyndai Elantra. She drove it for about a mile, parked and when she tried to start it, of course it would not start. I was able to drop and drain the tank and put unleaded in the tank. But the car still does not start. I suspect there is still diesel in the fuel line. I disconnected the fuel line from the injector manifold and some fuel sprayed out. I blew air into the injector manifold. But I suspect there is still diesel in the fuel line. How to I flush that diesel out? My car has 1,000 miles. My car has an automatic transmission.
Thursday, November 1st, 2018 AT 7:36 AM

4 Replies

Tiny
JONNYB1963
  • MECHANIC
  • 252 POSTS
If you have already drained the tanks and flushed the lines and fuel rail then you have already done most of what is needed. I would change the fuel filter as well. You should be able to crank the car over to start it. It may take a little extra time to start until it catches and most likely it will run rough spit and cough a lot as well a make some smoke out the tailpipe until its starts getting to the more pure gasoline and the injectors get cleaned out. One the engine starts running well I would pull the spark plugs and give them a good cleaning. Since she did not drive it for very long I would not suspect there was any damage to the catalytic converters. Luckily this was not a diesel with gas in it. That is much much worse!
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Thursday, November 1st, 2018 AT 8:04 AM
Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
  • MECHANIC
  • 52,797 POSTS
Good morning.

I would remove the injectors and make sure there is no diesel remaining in the injectors. Clean them with brake kleen.

Then make sure the lines are all clear of diesel as well. Change the fuel filter and then re-assemble.

This should get you running unless there is another issue.

Roy
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Thursday, November 1st, 2018 AT 8:52 AM
Tiny
JONNYB1963
  • MECHANIC
  • 252 POSTS
Thank you for response. I removed and cleaned injectors. But my question is how to get remaining diesel out of fuel line?
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Thursday, November 1st, 2018 AT 7:07 PM
Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
  • MECHANIC
  • 52,797 POSTS
It needs to be flushed out with a flushing agent. There are many products such as brake kleen, 2+2 and so on. You need to push that through the line with shop air to get rid of all the diesel residue.

Roy
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Friday, November 2nd, 2018 AT 1:20 AM

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