Archived Gasoline in Tank

[ArnoldM]

My son-in-law thought the can was diesel, but it was gasoline. He got about a quart or so, into the tank before I stopped him. Will this much gasoline hurt the engine, tank is 3/4 full?

 

[Flinty]

A quart as in 32 oz. ; or a quart as in a quarter of a tank? (possible typo)

I wouldn't worry about 32 oz. Top the tank off and add some Howe's or Stanadyn. (64 oz. ) Anything over 3 gallons in a 30 gallon tank is beyond my comfort level for a '90-2002. Less for a common rail.



Jon

 

[MChildress]

If it is just a quart I believe you will be ok. Like said above top her off with diesel. If you have several gallons I have seen garages use the lift pump to pump the tank into a drum then refill with diesel with no problems and know there was still some gasoline in the tank.

 

[sag2]

Even a gallon you should be OK. Top it off and if you hear it rattle too much drain 1/2 of it off and top it off again, then use up the other 1/2 on the next tank. Make a couple of hard stops or turns to mix it up some. You should be fine. Use your ears as the gauge to how it's doing.

 

[TBartlett1]

Last summmer I was driving my 2005 across the country & stopped to fuel-up.

I pulled up to a green pump & started pumping, 3 gallons later I noticed it was gasoline.

I then purchased 2 qts of outboard oil poured it in then filled up with diesel.

I noticed no change in engine noise, power or starting.

You will be OK!



Tim

 

[TDRadmin]

Rounding up owner experiences for a future article.

What is the "maximum mistake" that owner(s) have made?



Thanks in advance, Robert Patton

 

[SFPADGETT]

I saw a friend fill a diesel tank with 25+ gallons of gas (still had maybe 5 gallons of diesel) (Ford f-350 flatbed with Powerstroke) about 4 years ago. The truck cranked and drove away (against my advice)--ALOT of noise. Saw the driver on side of road about 1 mile away, too much noise and he decided to pull over. We pulled his truck to shop, drained fuel tank, refilled with diesel (about 30 gallons) and one gallon of two-cycle mix, truck cranked and ran fine--still running 120,000 miles later. (he has changed injectors since then, along with a WHOLE bunch of other parts; F_O_R_D fix or repair daily) We used the gas / diesel mix in our welders for the next several months (one gallon of the "mix" with 9 gallons of pure gas)

 

[Midnite]

Robert, if you're not limiting the scope to just mistakes involving fuel, then I'd have to say my biggest mistake on my truck was when I didn't tighten down the bolts to the turbo oil drain hose after installing my new hybrid HX-35/40 turbo, and dumping 2. 5 gallons of oil on my test drive. I have yet to put gas in my tank, and with luck that won't ever happen.



Mike

 

[ctopp]

Well I didn't think it could happen to me either but it did. I was in Canada and pulled up to the green pump and pumped 57 liters of ethanol into my tank which had a quarter of a tank of diesel left in it. Best I can figure its a 1/3 diesel and 2/3 gas mixture. Luckily I have an auxilliary 40 gal tank with switching valves, which doesn't mix with the OEM tank. Its a 99 with the 5. 9 liter engine.

My plan is to drain a couple of gallons off and add it to a full 40 gallon tank. Do you think that will cause any problems or is there a better way?

Charles

 

[JMetzger]

I remember on my 92 I pulled into a Flying J in Wells, NV & filled the tank all the way to the top with gas, 28 Gal. Had to pull away from pump so moved about 50 feet. A repair man came & siphoned the tank & left enough in the tank so I could refill it. Before I restarted it he put in a gallon of non detergent oil. Refilled with diesel & he gave me another gallon of oil & said when I bought more diesel to put the other gallon in. He only charged me $60. 00 & I never had any problems with the engine over 150,000 miles on truck when I traded it. I sure felt dumb.

 

[CharlieFoxtrot]

I ran out of fuel in the boonies - had pulled into a station that sold Diesel just as I ran out, but the station was out of business!!



I looked in my toolbox and found 2qt of motor oil, 2qt of ATF and a quart of fuel additive. Poured all that into the tank, to the amazement of a bystander. Primed the pump and chugged away. It quit 1/4 mile down the road, but primed the pump again and chugged on.



Got to the next station, which didn't sell diesel! Learned I had ~5 mi to the nearest fuel, and the road in between was under construction and had no shoulder. So I checked out the convenience store and bought 1 gal vegetable oil and 1 qt charcoal starter fluid (smelled like kerosene). Poured all that in the tank, but was worried it was too thick.



Thought long and hard before adding 1/3 gal of gas ($1 worth). Truck ran perfectly to the next station, where I filled up with diesel. I listened closely for any unhappy noises; maybe it clattered a hair more, or maybe I imagined it.



Been a couple of tanks since then, and seems that all is well.



kevin

 

[DrJC]

I, too, have put gasoline into my diesel.



I live in Michigan. BP here uses a green nozzle for gasoline, and a black nozzle for diesel. This seems opposite of other fuel suppliers and creates problem if fueler is at all inattentive.



Perhaps, now that BP has Gulf problem tamed, they can address issue of why their fueling equipment colors run counter to others.



Dr. JC

'96 Dodge w/379,000 mi

 

[Mikey-KE7LBB]

Bp

Kinda funny cause I work for "Backwards Petroleum" here in Wyoming and can see where the green on the gas pump would confuse just about everyone that didn't pay close attention! I haven't done it yet, but I always just reach for the green one (or yellow at Pilot) and start pumping.

I have owned only diesel powered vehicles since 98' and would be more likely to put diesel in a gasser :-laf I almost did it to my 4 wheeler once and felt like a jack ***** and luckily caught it before squeezing the handle.

Small amount of gasoline isn't gonna hurt anything at all. Just do as others have suggested and top off with some #2

 

[GCroyle]

Rounding up owner experiences for a future article.

What is the "maximum mistake" that owner(s) have made?



Thanks in advance, Robert Patton

Robert,



This made my morning, a new quote:



Maximum Mistake



I'm keeping that one handy and giving you credit for it every time I get to use it!



Gary

 

[AABEN]

Put one gal of cheep cooking oil in and drive it.

 

[guldam]

This is a beautiful story. I am so glad I have a 12v Cummins.



55 gallons of Biodiesel sits next to 55 gallons of clean, 1 micron filtered WVO. Truck likes it all.



GulDam

I ran out of fuel in the boonies - had pulled into a station that sold Diesel just as I ran out, but the station was out of business!!



I looked in my toolbox and found 2qt of motor oil, 2qt of ATF and a quart of fuel additive. Poured all that into the tank, to the amazement of a bystander. Primed the pump and chugged away. It quit 1/4 mile down the road, but primed the pump again and chugged on.



Got to the next station, which didn't sell diesel! Learned I had ~5 mi to the nearest fuel, and the road in between was under construction and had no shoulder. So I checked out the convenience store and bought 1 gal vegetable oil and 1 qt charcoal starter fluid (smelled like kerosene). Poured all that in the tank, but was worried it was too thick.



Thought long and hard before adding 1/3 gal of gas ($1 worth). Truck ran perfectly to the next station, where I filled up with diesel. I listened closely for any unhappy noises; maybe it clattered a hair more, or maybe I imagined it.



Been a couple of tanks since then, and seems that all is well.



kevin

 

[CAPTPHIL]

Robert

How about 129 gal. @1. 75 per gal. I pulled into J after 650 mi 13hr day. Grabbed the GREEN handle and put 35gal into 34gal stock tank,then 94gal into 100gal inbed tank. Pulled away from pump about 200ft. . She stopped like I had turned the key off in the middle of the parking lot. I tried starting her,nothing. Got out smelled gas, O****. Called wrecker and got towed to Dodge Dealer in Florence,S. C. , from there to Cummins dealer after Dodge couldn`t drain tanks. 650. 00 and 2 days later back to J filled up again, This time STOPPED TO SMELL THE ROSES, Green was still on gas. I went inside, told my sad story,Seems the new maint. person didn`t know when he put the new ones on 3days before. They were very sorry,But no reimbursment. My new Motto from then on, STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES

CAPTPHIL TDR 1998