TDR Member Experiences Needed - Gasoline in your Truck?

[TDRadmin]

Several times each year we get the distraught phone call from a TDR Member that has just put ___ (fill in the blank) gallons of gasoline into his truck's fuel tank. What is an owner to do? How much is too much?



Add a towing bill to the closest service shop and the inconvenience factor, and this mistake is costly in both time and money.



Intuitively, you know the answer is to drain, clean, and refill the tank properly. And if the truck is still covered by factory warranty, there is no question that you should proceed in this manner.



But what if you are in an '04 or older truck and have assumed the status of "official warranty station" for your truck?



TDR Members, can you share your experiences with this problem?



Before you do, let me give you the low-down on these two different combustion events. The following comes from the February, 2009 issue of Car and Driver magazine:



* * *



Discussing the differences between gasoline and diesel fuel can be fairly complex. Basically, gasoline is made to resist knock, which is what happens when air and fuel autoignite (spontaneously combust) before the spark plug lights them off. Diesel fuel, on the other hand, is made specifically to ignite in this manner from compression as a diesel engine doesn't use a spark plug to initiate the burning of fuel.



In a gasoline engine, the air and fuel are evenly mixed in the chamber, and combusion starts at the spark plug and emanates outward. In a diesel engine, the combustion starts at the edges of the cylinder where the ratio of vaporized fuel-and-air mixture is ripe for autoignition and progresses depending on how quickly the rest of the fuel diffuses. As the diesel fuel will start burning very quickly, it's injected into the cylinder later than it would be in a gasoline engine.



Two things would happen if you tried to run gasoline in a diesel engine. First, gasoline's resistance to compression ignition would delay combustion, messing with the timing in the cylinder. Also, gasoline burns faster and at a higher temperature, which would increase noise and pressure in the cylinder, assuming the engine and the injectors could handle the extra pressure and heat.



* * *



So, how much gasoline-in-diesel fuel is too much?



Robin

TDR Admin

 

[TDRadmin]

Posted for TDR Editor

From Robert Patton, TDR Editor:



My only experience is the reverse. By mistake, I put diesel fuel into the lawn mower's gasoline engine.



The lawnmower cranked right up. But, the diesel exhaust smell and light haze told me that I had made a mistake. It was an old lawn mower (looking for a reason to purchase a new one?) so I continued my fuelist science experiment.



As you would expect, the diesel fuel was easy to ignite and the engine knocked based on the load of cutting the taller grass. I ran a tankful through the engine (too lazy to go to the gas station) and the mower gave satisfactory service for several years thereafter.



I've not made the mistake with my truck. I'm hopeful the TDR members can provide insightful counsel. What is your story? Please include the year model of your truck as different fuel injection systems will cause the answers to vary.



Thank you.



Robert Patton

Editor, TDR

 

[RGatlin]

gas in diesel truck

i put 15 gal of gas in my 6. 5 gmc diesel with about 10 gal of diesel left in it, it ran about another 3 miles getting worse and worse till it quit. dawned on me that the attendant had put gas in by mistake#@$%!( my bad, shoulda been watching him) i had a friend tow me home and siphoned out what i could and put 10 gal of diesel in the tank, then changed the fuel filter, filling the filter cannister with fresh diesel. then it was just a matter of starting and dying a few times until the gas was purged enough that it started, a minute or so of rough running and it was back to normal. saw no ill effects at all in another 40000 or so miles until i rolled the truck in the hills and stepped up to a DODGE CUMMINS:-laf. from what i've heard gas won't do any damage, it's just a pain to correct the problem.

 

[HBarlow]

A friend with a new '08 Ram with only a few thousand miles on the odometer called me a few months ago in a panic. He was an RV transporter and had just delivered a trailer somewhere in Southern Alberta, Canada. He had stopped to buy fuel and apparently the city or the station required an employee (a kid) to pump customer fuel. The kid topped off his tank with a large quantity of gasoline and my friend paid and drove away. He drove a short distance and noticed immediately that his truck ran badly and, I think, sounded bad as well. He looked at his receipt and realized he had purchased a full tank of gasoline.

I advised him to notify the fuel station that sold him the gasoline and have the station or their chosen mechanic (or himself) siphon the gas from his tank and refill with diesel then open the water drain valve on the bottom of his fuel filter, drain the content of the fuel filter, then recycle the key as many times as it took to cause the fuel transfer pump to pump out the remaining gasoline in the bottom of the fuel tank and fuel line. Fortunately, the owner/manager of the Canadian fuel station accepted responsibility and had someone do what I suggested above and gave him a full tank of replacement diesel fuel.

My friend started his truck and drove it back to Illinois where he lives. Almost a year later his truck shows no evidence of being damaged by the brief experience with gasoline fuel. I hope he doesn't experience early injection pump or injector failures.

 

[RHestand]

Robin,

Thanks for starting this thread, you are so thoughtful.

In 03 I put gas (about 10 gal. =50/50 mixture) in my new F-250, 6. 0 diesel.

Not knowing what ratio gas/diesel was safe, I didn't even start the truck.

To be on the safe side, I had it towed home. I then R&R the tank, just to make sure get every bit of gas out.

This all started early Sun. morning, and pretty much ruined my whole day.

This is why the TDR is so great.

Ray

 

[Regcabguy]

Idiot.

I pulled into a station at the same time as a trucker. He was a 12-valve owner with 300,000+ miles and wanted to extol on the virtues of the Cummins engine. I agreed and he took off. In a moment of mindlessness,I pushed the "87" octane button and away I pumped. In horror,at about seven gallons,I noticed my mistake. In anticipation of having it towed to the dealer,I next had to remove my Edge EZ and boost elbow. Along comes the tow truck and $125. 00 later we dump it off at the dealer with a note. (It was Sunday). On Monday,I got a call from the dealer saying the truck was ready and that there would be no charge! The service writer said they found a collapsed tank due to the selling dealer's failure to remove the transit seal on the vent tube. Anyway for $125,I got a new tank,labor and a whopping 5 gallons of diesel( I don't know how I made it to the nearest diesel station which was up a very steep grade. ) I now smell the nozzle everywhere I go before dispensing. That was about seven years ago.

 

[seemore]

I accidentally put about 25-30 gallons of gas in my '98 24v. Couldn't believe I did it, drove to a small repair shop. They drained about 1 pint from water drain on fuel filter, took one smell & said gas in that diesel!!



Drove home about 1 mile, took wife's car bought 6 (5) gallon diesel cans and 3 10' sections on 3/8', 1/2' and 5/8' plastic hose. 1/2' & 5/8 were too big to go into tank very far. I was able to twist & turn & shove & turn 3/8 hose all the way into bottom of tank.



I siphoned over 30 gals of contaminated fuel out. Went on got 10 gals diesel and put in tank with a HEAVY DOSE of Power Service. Changed fuel filter and it started right up & filled tank the rest of the way with diesel.



Now I smell the nozzle every time before filling. I'd rather have diesel on my nose than gas in my tank. Drove truck about 75k before trading in, with no side effects. :-laf

 

[steved]

Although I have not pumped gasoline into my truck, I've come close.



A lot of stations are getting away from the "green is diesel" mentality, and I have picked up green nozzles before, only to find there was no "diesel" button. BP is really bad around here... their "Ultimate" grade is marked by green nozzles and green hoses.



I also have heard the stories of guys getting gasoline from the delivery being placed in the incorrect tank... I too look at the fuel coming from the nozzle. If its green or yellow, and foamy, I don't worry... if its none of the above, I smell it.



You have got to be really careful anymore...



Fortunately, I'm sort of lucky in the fact I have, and only fill through, my auxiliary tank, and therefore; if I realized I did pump in a bunch of gasoline, I can simply shut the supply to the main tank off and easily drain the auxiliary tank. Although primarily for water, it does have a secondary purpose.

 

[JMetzger]

Pulled into a Flying J in Wells, NV & filled my 92 up with 28 gal of gas. To make a long story short they happen to have a mechanic working on an other truck. He drained my tank & put in 2 gal of motor oil & I filled the tank with diesel. He gave me another gal of oil that I put in at the next fill up. He only charged my $60. 00. Never had any problems with the truck. Had almost 300,000 miles when I traded it for my 02. Still wish I had it instead of the 02.

 

[sag2]

I had almost a gallon of gas that had been in the boat for several years. It started out as a full 1. 5 gallon can but from evaporation now looked like less than a gallon. It smelled like varnish so I figured might as well dump it in the 06.

If I remember correctly the truck was almost full so lets call it 25 gallons. That should have been about 4% of very poor gas in the tank. Shortly after starting you could notice significant spark knock or ping. Although the gas was not mixed completely as it went in I was very surprised at the result. I can't imagine how the trucks sound after they get 5 or more gallons of gas pumped in and driven away.

 

[Dieselnut59]

I have blended as much as 5 gallons of gasoline with my waste cooking oil blend (in my '96) to help with viscosity and starting in winter. No problems... I would have to worry with the fragile 98. 5-2002 pumps, but the P7100 is damn near bullet proof. I swear you could run just about anything through it and I have tried many of them! (Veg oil, used engine oil, hydraulic oil, kerosene, gasoline) Had NO problems!

 

[steved]

I have blended as much as 5 gallons of gasoline with my waste cooking oil blend (in my '96) to help with viscosity and starting in winter. No problems... I would have to worry with the fragile 98. 5-2002 pumps, but the P7100 is damn near bullet proof. I swear you could run just about anything through it and I have tried many of them! (Veg oil, used engine oil, hydraulic oil, kerosene, gasoline) Had NO problems!

Way back when, truck drivers would blend a little gasoline into their fuel to help prevent gelling in winter.



I think the amount introduced into your fuel would be the deciding factor. Five gallons into a 35 gallon tank... I'd probably dump a gallon of lube oil in and drive. A full tank of gasoline, I'd definitely drain it and start over. But that's just me.



It would probably make you cringe if you actually knew how much gasoline you've ran through your truck without even knowing it.

 

[KnightR]

One sure way is if your paying to much then it's not gasoline.

 

[fox]

My take on it is this.

If you are not towing heavy, up to 10% gas is ok. 100% it won't go far.

Towing only 5%.

Save all the fuel you take out of a contaminated tank and put 3-5 gallons back in with each fill up.

 

[amsoilman]

A friend and I were traveling together in southern Utah, when we stopped at a staion to re-fuel. He mistakenly put 5 gallons of Gasolene in his 94'. When we discovered the error, we changed pumps and completed the fill-up, for a total of 28 gallons of Diesel. The truck fired up and ran fairly well for several miles, then began to run perfectly fine. My take on the amount of Gasolene with Diesel would be no more than 5-7%. Luckily, I have never made that mistake, but I have come close at times. I like many others "smell" the nozzel before putting it in the tank. As "steved" has said above, there are many pumps that have green handles that are connected to Gasolene dispensers! Dont trust the "green handles"!



Wayne

amsoilman

 

[Gene Arnold]

I was pulling a 31’ Airstream with a 6. 2L Chevy diesel when I stopped for fuel in Little America, Wyoming. I spaced off for a few moments before it dawned on me that I was pumping unleaded gasoline into the passenger side tank. If I recall correctly it may have been as much as eight gallons (in an eighteen gallon tank). I debated a bit before I decided to chance it and complete the fill with diesel. I think I added a quart of motor oil to the tank (it has been a long time ago and memory is a bit fuzzy). I drove the next two-hundred or so miles switching back and forth—passenger side tank/driver side tank—about every five miles. I don’t know if that was necessary or not, but it made me feel better. Anyhow, the truck went quite a few years afterward. I did replace the pump a few years before I quit pulling with the truck—broken pump shaft. I don’t think it was related to the fuel goof-up but who knows?



I’m mechanically handy but a long ways from being called a mechanic, but I think one’s reaction to the boo-boo depends on the type pump. My ’96 pump is lubed by engine oil so I think drivers of these might get by a bit better than those who drive pumps that are fuel lubed.



Gene

 

[icman95]

Couple of thoughts:



While I've never done this, I came really close. We were pulling our toyhauler from CT to SD for bike week and stopped about 1/2 way across SD (mile 213?) for fuel. Pulled up to the pumps-3 in a row- and lined the fuel door up with two quite close to one another. One was the color of a normal gas pump and the other was something I haven't seen before-yellow. Couldn't imagine the regular color was anything but gas, so I reached for and took the yellow handle off the pump and started to put it into the truck. Something told me to take a second look and as I did I noticed the pump said "85". I'm thinking either that's a REALLY crappy octane rating for gas or REALLY good cetane rating for diesel. Then I figured it out-that's E85 ethanol for flex fuel gassers. We don't have any of those pumps where I live, so I've never seen one before. If there are any in CT I wouldn't know where to find them. Glad I took a second look!





I was at the Freightliner dealer service dept one day and noticed that on the board they use to write the order of the jobs to be done there was a Sprinter towed in for gas pumped into the diesel tank. I asked the tech how this happens on a commercial vehicle where the driver should know better. The answer was that it happens more often than you would realize and usually on these smaller diesel powered vans/trucks because the drivers aren't pulling up to truck stops to fuel. They drive these vehicles for work and go home in their own cars usually gas powered, so they don't think too much about fueling their boss's vehicle. They do what comes naturally, and that is to use gasoline, not diesel.



About 2-3 weeks ago the evening news went crazy with warnings to the public because a local gas station just got a delivery of diesel, but the tanker driver screwed up and put gasoline in the station's diesel tank. Customers bought a bit over 400 gallons of the stuff before anyone realized. Not sure how they figured it out or who or if they paid for the customer's tanks to be drained, etc.

 

[nickleinonen]

my first truck was a 97 chevy tahoe. it had the 6. 5 diesel. i never put gasoline in that and since it was my first vehicle, putting diesel into it became nature. . sold that in early 03 and got a 03 1500 dodge. . first time i went to fill that, over to the diesel island i went and swipped the credit card on the pump, went to stick the nozzle in and wait a minute, it doesn't fit the hole. then it dawned on me oops... needs 87 not #2. back driving a diesel now so no more issues, but i did once last year put a few liters of diesel in a ford cubevan with a 351 in it... oops... .