Radiator mix in my engine, accidental

[demjars]

Ok this should be entertaining. I ran out of gas, physically ran home, got what i thought was gas, ran back to my car, put less than half a gallon in, it fired up and i drove about a 1/4 mile to the gas station. It died as i was pulling in. I continued to fill from my gas can aproxamitly a 1/2 gallon, wouldn’t fire up. Got the clue it wasn’t gas at this point and realized it was probably a mix of radiator fluid, water and gas. I poured out the fluid in the can, filled up can with gas and proceeded to fill up my tank with gas. I realize now that i should have stopped when i put in the radiator mix, but instead i tried to fire it up with no success. Got a tow home, removed the back seat, took out fuel pump and pumped out the mix of everything i had put in. Once i removed all of that i put back in gas, tried to start it, no luck. Removed all the spark plugs and hoped that all the water would shoot out of the plug sockets. I have attached a video of what happens when i try to fire it up with the plugs out. Feel free to roast me...i deserve it...just give me some good advice right after

[EdBwoy]

Hi there, what a day. How do you get coolant and fuel combined into one container, accident? I suppose no need to advice you about labeling containers at this point, hehe.

You had my hopes high to see a geyser and hot springs show from the engine, but that sucks.
What I'd do at this point is disconnect the quick connect fitting at the passenger strut tower. Get a flexible hose/tube from that metal tube and direct it away from the car then activate the pump to eject any water thay might be hanging in the tube.
Then grab the flex hose leading to the injectors and drip out whatever is in there.
Then reconnect and try again

[LIBRILZ]

prolly gonna have to disconnect a fuel line and let the pump run until its only gas coming out, otherwise i have no advice sadly

[Q451990]

Wow... that sounds like you have your engine has no compression... something is very wrong. Depending on how much water you got into the engine, it's likely hydro locked. It depends on how much you like the car, and want to keep it running, but I think I would seriously consider professional intervention on this. Just the amount of fuel that's in your injector rail is surprising. When I've done rail flushes with injector cleaner, it's amazing that you'll go a good block or two before the cleaner is out and pushed through by the fuel.

If you want to keep taking your chances on DIY, as others recommended, disconnect the fuel lines and purge them. As far as the injectors, I don't know if the M has a return line to the tank, but you might try disconnecting it and seeing if you can purge all of the bad mixture out of the fuel rails that feed the injectors. If you've removed the spark plugs, I'd squirt a bit of oil in the holes in hopes that the lack of compression is just that the bad fuel mixture washed off the oil film off of the rings. The oil might help that.... of course it'll smoke on startup if you get to that point. I would also change the fuel filter. I think it's integrated in the fuel pump assembly.

[demjars]

Wow... that sounds like you have your engine has no compression... something is very wrong. Depending on how much water you got into the engine, it's likely hydro locked. It depends on how much you like the car, and want to keep it running, but I think I would seriously consider professional intervention on this. Just the amount of fuel that's in your injector rail is surprising. When I've done rail flushes with injector cleaner, it's amazing that you'll go a good block or two before the cleaner is out and pushed through by the fuel.

If you want to keep taking your chances on DIY, as others recommended, disconnect the fuel lines and purge them. As far as the injectors, I don't know if the M has a return line to the tank, but you might try disconnecting it and seeing if you can purge all of the bad mixture out of the fuel rails that feed the injectors. If you've removed the spark plugs, I'd squirt a bit of oil in the holes in hopes that the lack of compression is just that the bad fuel mixture washed off the oil film off of the rings. The oil might help that.... of course it'll smoke on startup if you get to that point. I would also change the fuel filter. I think it's integrated in the fuel pump assembly.

Ok my friend, i took one piece of advice you gave and put a little oil down in the spark plug tubes, finally started to shoot waterish looking stuff out. I did not detach any fuel lines as i really have no idea what I’m disconnecting. After a few attempts i was able to crank the car and a hella big cloud of smoke poured out of the exhaust. I let that run it’s course, put more gas in then drove around the block. It’s not running great, not really even good but it’s moving so i have some hope. White smoke is still coming out of the exhaust and up hill driving is especially sluggish. Would running through the gas help this to correct itself or should i add some “heat” in order to remove remaining water? Any and all advice greatly appreciated. Thanks for the initial help as well

[demjars]

Hi there, what a day. How do you get coolant and fuel combined into one container, accident? I suppose no need to advice you about labeling containers at this point, hehe.

You had my hopes high to see a geyser and hot springs show from the engine, but that sucks.
What I'd do at this point is disconnect the quick connect fitting at the passenger strut tower. Get a flexible hose/tube from that metal tube and direct it away from the car then activate the pump to eject any water thay might be hanging in the tube.
Then grab the flex hose leading to the injectors and drip out whatever is in there.
Then reconnect and try again

Thanks for the advice, i was able to get the car started after putting some oil down in the spark plug tubes. It runs like crap currently but it is running. If i knew anything about what is under my hood i would have gladly taken your advice but honestly i do not. It’s currently smoking like hell from the exhaust becuase of the oil, I’m hoping that it will correct itself by burning through what’s in the tank but i fear that’s quite optimistic. If any other lamen advice is available i will gladly take it. At this point i hope i can drive it to a mechanic or use it as a trade in.

[EdBwoy]

Check the oil level, and if it is above max on the dipstick, change your oil. I'd do it regardless of the oil level though.
If no codes are present and the check engine light is not on, keep those fingers crossed.

Where are you located?

[LIBRILZ]

why are you putting the car under load? you are really going to do more damage to it now, if anything you should've changed the oil immediately, took out all plugs and cranked it, and found a way to drain the old fuel, as you could still be putting water back into your engine

from the sounds of it no offense but you don't sound mechanically savy, I suggest you take the car somewhere as others have already mentioned

[demjars]

why are you putting the car under load? you are really going to do more damage to it now, if anything you should've changed the oil immediately, took out all plugs and cranked it, and found a way to drain the old fuel, as you could still be putting water back into your engine

from the sounds of it no offense but you don't sound mechanically savy, I suggest you take the car somewhere as others have already mentioned

No offense taken, you are right i am not mechanically savy. I have managed to replace so much under the hood that i had a bit of confidence built up, plus money is tight so you gotta do what you gotta do. I did not know that oil and gas ever crossed paths in the engine so I’ll check that now and see what i can resolve. The bad fuel was completely emptied first thing on this project.

[demjars]

Check the oil level, and if it is above max on the dipstick, change your oil. I'd do it regardless of the oil level though.
If no codes are present and the check engine light is not on, keep those fingers crossed.

Where are you located?

On the way home to check it now, I have not been driving the car around other than once around the block. I did not realize that water in the gas tank would affect the oil. Thanks for the advice

[demjars]

Check the oil level, and if it is above max on the dipstick, change your oil. I'd do it regardless of the oil level though.
If no codes are present and the check engine light is not on, keep those fingers crossed.

Where are you located?

On the way home to check it now, I have not been driving the car around other than once around the block. I did not realize that water in the gas tank would affect the oil. Thanks for the advice

Augusta ga

[EdBwoy]

Typically your gas tank contents wouldn't or shouldn't get into your oil. However, if you pump something into the engine and the engine doesn't burn it up like it's supposed to, it will drip down the cylinder walls and end up in the oil sump.
This happens when your injectors or spark plugs aren't working and unburnt fuel works its way down and you can smell it in the dipstick tube.
In your case it would be water, which makes for a poor lubricant and will lock your pistons (rings) against your cylinder. Hence the hydrolocking that Q451990 hinted at, and you remedied by sending oil into the cylinder.

I was asking where you lived to see if there was any way I or anyone else could help with the simple troubleshooting in person.
I understand your situation. Get it to a professional soon, spend a nominal amount to avoid taking a loss on the cost of an engine later.