Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) gasoline in Diesel

[FishDoc]

Ten days ago I ended up with gasoline in my Diesel fuel. The truck quit running and took out the injection pump. Needless to say, I was/am unhappy. Either I put in 25 gallons of regular gas or the Diesel I put in was contaminated. I am having trouble finding out which.



The question I have is, how far will the truck run on a mix of 25 gal. of gasoline in about 6 or 8 gal. of Diesel and how would the truck run?



After fueling at a known station, I had driven about 10 miles when the engine died for a few moments. Not long enough for me to look at any gauges. I then drove another 12 miles and the truck died and would not start again. The engine did not run rough and gave no signs of anything wrong except for the brief moments when it died, and then died for good.



I was towed 112 miles to my usual dealer who discovered these problems.



If anyone thinks it was simply contaminated Diesel, then I will need the names of experts who would be willing to sign an affadavit or testify to that fact. Obviously, I would like someone else to pay for this if it was not my fault. If I am the responsible one, then so be it.



Thanks in advance for any help. AND, be honest. You just don't need to say what a JERK I am if I truly put in regular gas.

 

[Rattlin_Ram]

Can't help ya out too much other than to say I almost did the same thing the other day at a BP station near my house. ALL of the pumps have one handle that is green. Which to me indicates DIESEL. But it is not, it is just one of their levels of gasoline. They have a black, brown and green handle for the diff grades. Luckily I noticed it was gasoline before I started pumping.



I have however a LONG time ago run diesel through a gas engine on accident, which will run and not harm anything just not run very well. Gas in a Diesel usually does bad things I believe due to the higher compretion ratios of the diesel engines.

 

[lil red cummins]

based on what i have heard over the years, i believe that once you go beyond 10% gas in diesel, you are probably going to hurt parts.



sorry to hear about your problem.



jim

 

[MikeKelley]

My dad ran his Ford 7. 3 PS on gasoline for nearly 15 miles. He said it would go 20 mph idling,with huge flames coming out the tailpipe, lighting up the night sky. He lucked out and had no problems after he drained and refilled with the right stuff. After that, I have a great deal of confidence in the strength of Ford 7. 3PS.

 

[Waterpete]

I had the same situation several years ago. I got fuel at a station in Idaho Falls and it turned out to be gas, not Diesel and I got the same symptoms as you. I was towed to Salt Lake and had the Injection pump, injectors and lift pump replaced. My insurance covered the total bill under the comprehensive coverage. My company was GEICO. They viewed it the same as a window break accident. Hope this helps!

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

"If anyone thinks it was simply contaminated Diesel, then I will need the names of experts who would be willing to sign an affadavit or testify to that fact. Obviously, I would like someone else to pay for this if it was not my fault. If I am the responsible one, then so be it. "



*I* sure don't understand your question, and don't see how anyone else could either - it SOUNDS like YOU are asking US what you put in your tank - but none of US were there, so how could we possibly know, "testify" or "sign an affadavit"?



I think you need Mrs. Cleo or some other crystal ball gazer - it's a cinch no one here can tell you with certainty what you did, let alone "testify" to that effect...

 

[rattlnrench]

I had a customer fill his truck with gas (30 gallons) & he went about 2 miles before he had a backfire through the exhaust & a major cloud of black smoke in the rear view mirror. Got it towed over here & I checked for fuel flow first. I noticed the gas odor right away. I used the lift pump to drain the tank, installed a new fuel filter, removed the overflow valve from the injection pump & primed the system till I had diesel fuel through the pump. I then bled the injectors untill I had diesel fuel there too. To my amazement the truck fired right up. That was about a year ago & he's had no trouble with it. I saw in the earlier posts & replies that injection pumps & lift pumps were replaced. I hope whoever did the repairs tried what I did first & not condemn the parts because they were contaminated with gasoline.



Also ended up filling everything I had that runs on gasoline after we topped off the his daughters half ton.



I believe that the engine stalling on him when the gas hit the pump saved the engine. I also believe that because the gasoline is "thinner" than diesel the injection pump could not supply enough fuel to keep the engine running.

 

[Deezul1]

I know 2 people that have done that and after the gas was drained and Diesel put back in there have been no obvious signs of damage. 1 was a 1st gen and the other was a P pump truck. Dont know about the newer pumps ability to remain undamaged.

 

[ssanders60]

Re: Contaminated fuel

If you suspect contaminated fuel is being sold at

a station, look in the blue pages of your phone book and call your state information operator who will dial the inspectors who are

in charge of this. They will immediately inspect the station (within 4 hrs). If the

fuel is contaminated the pumps are placed

out of service. The owner can not sell any more

fuel until the problem is corrected and authorized

by the inspector. Fuel stations of any size

carry insurance for this possibility. I've

collected twice on this for two different

company vehicles. It amounted to thousands of

dollars due to swapping out the fuel tank of

one diesel truck, including injectors and pump.

It's the only procedure I know of to handle

a claim involving bad fuel.

 

[rattlnrench]

The customers truck is a 2001 with a VP44.

 

[MidwestMotorman]

Well...

A VP44 is lubed and cooled by diesel fuel. Having straight gas in there would not be very good for it. Gas may be more flammable, but it has less hydrocarbons and should make everything run lean. The Cummins pistons are oiled by port feed, so they shouldn't seize in the bores (like a 6. 2L GM diesel would. )



Diesel fuel loses its classification under the cetane grade scale if contaminated by more than 1% gasoline. I think the first part to fail by running nearly straight gasoline would be the VP44 injection pump. I would bet your injectors are pretty clean now though.



Check out the pump you filled up from by taking a small sample of fuel. Pump out your tank, clean out your filters and canisters, put in some diesel, then bleed your injectors.



I always squeeze a little fuel on the ground or look at it as I pump to verify contaminants and whether or not it is actually diesel fuel. I once put gas in my 99, but quickly realized the error after a gallon and a half. I filled up the rest of the tank (it was very near empty) with diesel and babied it until the next fill. No apparent damage was done, and I learned a valuable lesson.



Another tip... ALWAYS ask for a receipt after filling up. If you end up with fuel problems, you have the location, time, pump number, and amounts of fuel put in. Very useful in court and for inspector purposes.



Another point to consider... Dodge will probably invalidate any possible warranty for this engine due to owner negligence. If this goes on file as contaminated/incorrect fuel and is listed in Dodge's service database, the owner is definitely out of luck.

 

[JesseJ]

I've also heard of people putting in a gallon or two of gas to keep them from gelling up in the winter. Don't know if that's a good idea or not but I have heard of it happening.

 

[WestTN]

gas in fuel...

I once filled my '89 Diesel Dodge with gas instead of diesel due to a badly marked pump. I drove it 200 miles while carrying my 8' slide in camper. The fuel mix in the tank was 50/50. No damage to the pump or engine and no firey exhaust. Put another 210,000 miles on the truck and sold it after buying the new one. It is still in my town and running every day. Same old pump.

 

[MidwestMotorman]

The old timers run 50/50 diesel/kerosene mix in their diesel tractors in the winter time. I would just rather put in some fuel conditioner or buy diesel at a pump that already has a winter blend in it.

 

[BPonci]

I have people towed in about a dozen times per summer months with gas in there diesel. Drain tank,change fuel filter,flush lines,install clean diesel fuel and add 1 gallon of oil to tankfull of fuel. P. S. cross fingers and toes.

 

[tbrudder]

Isn't the real concern with the lack of lubricity in the gasoline destroying the fuel pump? Maybe the old mechanical pumps that were lubricated by engine oil were more resiliant for this very reason. Seems one could run the old P7100 on lots of stuff the VP44 would choke on--Jet B, Kerosene, etc...



--Ty

 

[JSHAW]

It SEEMS like ALMOST everyone had helpful INFORMATION exept ONE OLD PAPERBOY that does'nt get the idea of how it feels to answer in the spirit of why this site was developed. To HELP people who need it. Boy you're a real pain in the.

 

[RGarza]

I put in 6 gallons of gas in my new truck before I figured out what I did. drove it down the road and got worried about it. took it to a mechanic that emptied the tank and changed the filter and purged the system. have a couple of thousand miles on it since it happened and no problems. people posted me and told me to drain the tank and then fill up with diesel and some of the aftermarket cetane increasers and diesel lubes. I put in some of the powers with the next few tanks of fuel and she is running well. my truck never quit on me and I drove it a total of about 30 miles that night. Mine is an 03 with 15k on it now. I was worried sick about it. check with the insurance like someone else said, they will cover it in most instances. Coverage on your vehicles might go up, but it is better then taking that kind of coin out of your pocket. Hope this helps some.

 

[Mel Swanson]

The first day of the year I added 25 gl of gas to my tank. It went 2 miles and stopped. Drained the tank, changed filter and flushed the injector tubes.

So far the only damage was the lift pump. If you don't have a fuel pressure gage on it you would never know the lift pump is week.

 

[NScott]

I don't really know how much gas a diesel can stand, but I can tell you that some road drivers of big rigs put in a small amount of gas in their diesel during extremely cold times in order to keep the fuel from gelling. I have seen some do this with about 3-4 gallons of gas to approx. 250-300 gallons of diesel.