Filling the wrong type of fuel for your car could damage your car’s engine! What type of fuel should you use for your car?

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When you go to the service station, you can see that there are various types of fuel available. So, what kind of fuel should your car be using?

In today’s world, there are many types of car fuel to choose from. However, we cannot just choose to fill our cars up however we like. Each car has a different fuel requirement. Thus, you should know about your car’s basic specifications, such as what type of engine it has and what types of fuel it can accommodate. This is because if you fill your car up with the wrong type of fuel, it could damage your car’s engine, and the repair costs could be expensive. 

Let us learn and get to know the different types of fuel. There are mainly 3 types:   

Gasoline

Gasoline is a fuel that is refined from crude oil and then goes through an refinement process to improve its quality and performance. There are basically two types of gasoline, 91 and 95 octane, of which both types can be used with almost all types of vehicles.  

Gasohol

Gasohol is another type of gasoline, which is extracted from various plants, and it is also known as ethanol. When this chemical is mixed with gasoline, it becomes gasohol. 

• Gasohol 91 or E10 can be used instead of regular 91 gasoline. It is recommended to use with cars that are labelled as compatible with gasohol 91 only, such as Ford Territory, Honda Civic Hybrid, Jeep Cherokee, Mazda Tribute, etc.

• Gasohol 95 or E10 can be used to replace regular 95 gasoline. It is recommended to use with cars that are labelled to suit gasohol 91 only. Cars such as Ford Territory, Honda Civic Hybrid, Jeep Cherokee, Mazda Tribute, etc, fit in this category.

• Gasohol E20 or E20 is not much different from gasohol 91 and 95. Cars that can use Gasohol E20 include Ford Escape, Honda Accord, Mazda 3, Nissan Teana, Toyota Camry, etc.

• Gasohol E85 is cheaper and quite fuel-efficient, but the performance may not be as good as regular gasoline.. Cars that can use gasohol E85 include Toyota Altis, Toyota Vios, Honda City, Honda Civic, Mazda 3, etc. 

Diesel fuel 

Diesel fuel has a refining process similar to gasoline. It is also recommended to use such petrol only with diesel engines. There are currently 4 main types of diesel fuel: 

• Premium Diesel Fuel: This is the most expensive type of diesel fuel, but it also has the highest quality amongst all. It can support high-performance diesel vehicles from both Europe and Asia. 
• Biodiesel B7: This type of diesel fuel is suitable for vehicles from manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, BMW, Honda, Mazda, Audi and Tata. 
• Biodiesel B10: This type of diesel fuel is compatible with car models like Toyota Innova, Isuzu Mu-X, Nissan Terra, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, and Ford Ranger. 
• Biodiesel B20: This kind of diesel fuel is best suited for various PPVs (pickup passenger vehicles) and trucks, such as Nissan Navara, Isuzu D-Max and Mu-X, Toyota Hilux Revo and Fortuner.

What should you do if you fill up your car with the wrong type of fuel?

Do not start the car under any circumstances when you realise that you have filled it up with the wrong type of fuel. If you have already started the engine, turn it off immediately. If you start the car and proceed to drive it, it will definitely damage the engine. Instead, you should drain the wrong type of fuel from the tank and fill in the correct type of fuel. Then, try starting the car and leave it idling for a bit. Do not attempt to drive the car under any circumstances. Simply put, there may be some residue of the wrong type of fuel left within the tank, so you would need to wait for it to burn off completely before driving again. 

Read More: Excessive Fuel Consumption in Vehicles: What Could Be the Causes?

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