Archived gas in diesel tank

[DBelshee]

Hi gang,



I'm new at this so bare with me. My 1998 24 valve truck was filled with gas. It went about 4 miles and obviously stalled. I am finishing hay season here in Oregon, and am busier than a one armed paper-hanger. Anyway, I normally do my own repairs, but don't have the time right now to search the archives for answers. Does this ruin the pump or damage anything? Does the computer sense gas in the system and automatically shut the truck down? Can I syphon the tank with a hose (Oklahoma credit card) like the old days, or is there an anti-syphon device in there. We noticed there is no drain plug in the tank. What is my best course of action? Any ideas?

 

[dslmacdown]

Some how you will need to drian the tank, then refill with diesel and bleed bad fuel out of the complete fuel system. Lift pump, filter, lines, injector pump, high press lines. Then hope you didn't break something.



Chris

 

[moparguy]

If it were me, I'd try to syphon the gas out of the tank, change the fuel filter, fill with diesel and try to crank it. If the gas was the result of the fuel station having gas in the diesel tank, I'd let them deal with the problem. That's assuming that's a option.

 

[keimmmo]

It will be almost impossible to get out every drop of gasoline. I recommend draining out all you can. Add diesel and some oil to help lubricate things. Gasoline is a solvent, which is the opposite of a lubricant. Change the fuel filter. With the lid still off, run the pump until you are getting diesel into the cannister... not gasoline. You can drain out the gasoline every time after you run the pump until you think it is good. Put the lid back on the filter.



I personally run filtered used motor oil in every tank of fuel. It is contraversial, but I think it helps. I add a gallon of oil to every tank. Do not hesitate to add 4-6 quarts to a full tank of diesel with a little gasoline still mixed in!



If you ran it until it died, that means the pump, injectors, and lines are full of gasoline. You will have to loosen some of the injector lines to bleed out the gasoline. It might take some cranking to get it to start! Expect it to run rough for a few minutes until it gets all the gasoline out of the system.



I have read of a number of members who have had the same problem and had no damage... although I'm sure it didn't do anything any good. With any luck your truck will be fine.



Steve

 

[Bob4x4]

It depends on what year your truck is as to what is the best procedure to empty tank.



Bob

 

[John - K5AWO]

Drain the gasolene out

Well, you mentioned you have a '98 24V so that means that you can purge the fuel lines fairly simple.



If you can get a hose in, go for it. But most have an anti-theft strainer at the bottom of the hose where it fits the tank.



Buy a radiator drain valve at the autostore and then take a small punch, something like a nail set punch. I put a hole in the right front bottom corner of the tank. I then used a 3/8" punch to waller the hole out some more. Push the metal in so that you end up with a hole that actually has some side walls to it. Guage how big the hole needs to be by the size of the threads on the drain valve.



With the hole, the gas will drain out pretty quick so catch it in pans, buckets, whatever...



After all the gas is gone, screw in the drain valve. JB weld it so it don't leak. They got some that drys real fast now.



This drain valve trick works super great if you happen to catch a load of water. Just point the nose over to the side of the road and slightly down the berm. Open that valve and wait until you see diesel coming out.



I used that drain valve several times in the 17 years I owned my first truck.



Remove the inlet line to the fuel pump, pressure the tank with air until diesel runs out. Makes life easier on the fuel pump as gas is very dry, no lubrication to it.



Reconnect the line to the fuel pump, and after the tank has been drained and filled with diesel, open the outlet of the fuel filter.



Bump the starter and release. The fuel pump will run for 25 seconds. Keep doing this until diesel comes out. The gasolene will have been washed out of the filter, no need to change it.



Tighten up the banjo fitting and bump the starter at least 3 more times. This will purge the VP44 pump of gasolene.



Then go thru the attempts to start it, don't crank for more than 30 seconds without letting the starter cool for 2-3 minutes. When it starts, it will be awful ragged, just let it idle until it smooths out.

--------------------------------------------------



Luck to you. Hope the VP44 is okay...

 

[Bob4x4]

Never punch a hole in a multilayer plastic tank! There is a much safer way do do this. Pm me for the right way

 

[Tom W]

Remove the fuel filter and cycle the lift pump ( turn key on - pump will run for 10 seconds or so ) rig a funnel or somewthing to catch the gas if you want, or just let it run on the ground. It will take a lot of cycles to get all the fuel out. Flush with one or two gallons of diesel, refill tank with diesel. Fill fuel filter and replace - disconnect fuel line from injector pump and cycle lift pump again until you get diesel at injector pump. You might have to crack some injector lines to get gas out of them Good luck.

 

[John - K5AWO]

punching hole in plastic. Yes, not a good idea. My tank was all metal. different situation.

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60956



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=98491



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=94649



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=51100