Black Sunday

[PZicha]

Last saturday (June 16/01)we were getting ready to go to a barbeque at a friends acreage a few miles out of town,hooked up to the 5th wheel,got some liquor,munchies and finally fuel,$30. 00 worth (10. 5 U. S. gallons) so now were set to go,all we needed to do was to wait until 5:00pm about two hours from now to leave. 5:00 finally rolls around and were off,trying to start the truck it must have cranked for at least 15 seconds before it settled into a slower than normal idle,about 150rpm below average,after the traditional 5 min warm up I reved it past 1600 and to my horror it started to miss and blew out white smoke,now slight panic started to set in figuring they must have sold me a bad batch of diesel. Once warmed up symptoms disapeared accept for the slower than normal idle,since nothing was open that sold good fuel conditioner I would pick it up Sunday

Darcy & Linda's place was only 10 miles away so off we went, The truck ran good towing a moderate load (full load for a chevy ). All night long my truck was on my mind so the drinking was kept down to a slow sip and at 2:00am we decided to head home instead of sleeping in the 5th wheel,same symptoms again.

[BLACK SUNDAY Today I decided to use my Explorer to get the conditioner... $10. 00 later I was ready save the day and to my absolute horror I smelled GASOLINE coming from my fuel tank,A wave of panic hit me like no other has in my whole life,after finding the fuel recipt my suspicions were confirmed. Those idiots put gasoline in my tank,my heart fell through my stomach knowing that I just put on 30 miles on a 35% gas/65% diesel mix . Swear to Christ performance wise you never would of known it,NO KNOCKING,NO SMOKING,NO NOTHING,and it pulled like a freight train in heat,... so what now..... After facing the reality of the situation I phoned the service station in a heated froth hoping for a confrontation, but to my surprice the owner was extremely cooperative . After the tank was drained and filled back up with 100% diesel,filter changed and lines purged up to the injector pump the truck was started,within 30 seconds the idle stabilized and the truck was running sweat as ever,he did agree if any damage was sustained they would be good for it.

ACCORDING to Cummins a 5. 9 will run on a 30% mix with little or no change in characteristics ,They assured me that 30 minutes was not enough time to do any damage to the motor or pump. It was sugested that I put in fuel conditioner and a litre of straight 30 weight non detergent oil in with this full tank just to fully clean & lube the fuel system,though I may never know the long term affects (hopefully none) I hope this will dispel any myths about gasoline,It did me . I have heard rumors of guys having as little as one gallon mixed in with a full tank and it ruining the motor 5 minutes later . FACT or FICTION..... was this B. S. or could it really of happened??? you tell me... . Was I lucky or are these motors just that tough

 

[EMDDIESEL]

I would definatley say you lucked out to catch it when you did. With that mixture and that short a distance, i would say you should not have any permanent problems. Personally, i would add Marvel Mystery oil to a full tank and drive around alot so any remaining gasoiline does not have time to sit anywhere.

Good luck,

 

[Vaman]

I remember a similar story involving a woman who had her truck filled by a station that did not allow self service. Apparently, after finding out what they had done, the station agreed to pay for any damages and somehow it got around to an engine rebuild. The guy that did the rebuild said he found no problems... except the combustion chambers were really clean. lol.

 

[BillGotthelf]

In some older diesals that that are found in draglines (cranes that have buckets that are picked up by upper cable and pulled to machine by a dragline for excavating) they are started with gasoline and after warming up are switched to diesal. that mixture of gas and diesal should not have hurt the internals for running as short of time as you did but as the injector pump relies on the lubricity of the fuel and gas has little to none my worry would be there.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Gas caused Meltdown on GM diesel

Several months ago on the GM diesel site someone had a 6. 5TD that accidentally got a load of gas. I don't remember what the percentage was but it wasn't diluted enough to make it run bad. However it wasn't long before it started knocking then locked up. Upon disassembly they found most of the pistons melted and the crowns of 2 of them were stuck to the cylinder head



Gas in diesel causes high EGTs, that is the worst danger internally. I would recommend changing the oil for safe measures after running a lot of gas through a diesel.



Vaughn

 

[illflem]

You're lucky that your Canadian. Of all the stories I've heard of the gas in the diesel tricks happening there the station has paid for all repairs, even if the truck didn't need them. Chevron fuels website says 2% is enough to cause damage.



Bill G, If I remember right the old diesels that started on gas also had a compression release and spark plugs. I can't remember but I'm pretty sure they also had carbs, the gas didn't go though the injection pump, the part that is most likely to be damaged by gasoline.

 

[PZicha]

HIGH EGT'S

Yes Vaughn I did notice it running a little hotter than usual,but like I mentioned Cummins wasn,t to concerned considering the short span it ran... . I am definitely keeping a close eye on it. As for as changing oil that was done 300 miles ago and a sample is being sent in for analysis (sample taken today)

 

[WestTN]

gas instead of diesel

Several years ago I accidently put in gasoline instead of diesel in my old truck while carrying my slide in camper. See signature. I ran it a little over 300 miles with about a 50/50 mix. There was no damage to engine or pump. I also did not use any non-approved additive like auto trans fluid or motor oil in the fuel. Many thousands of miles later the truck still runs like new and will pull 22 psi boost.

I don't think you need to worry. The problem with the pump would likely be scuffing of the walls followed by galling. If this is going to happen it will be almost immediate.

 

[PZicha]

Thanks Dennis,Your the reply I was waiting for I feel a 100% better hearing your story. I just want to say thanks to all of you... ... . your input is greatly appreciated

 

[DSiemens]

It's also good that the P7100 is lubricated by engine oil. The VE and VP are completly lubricated by fuel.

 

[PZicha]

P7100

From what I hear ,That diffinitely was one of the saving factors