wrong fuel

[RGarza]

I just posted this on the 911 page but I need help. I accidentally put 5 gallons of gasoline in my diesel truck. As soon as I noticed it was gasoline, I shut it off and filled up the tank with diesel. My question is will 5 gallons of gas and 25 gallons of diesel hurt my engine. Do I need to drain the tank immediatly or can I run it some and fill it up a couple of times until I get the gas out of the tank. Is this going to cause me serious problems? The truck sounds ok right now, but I do not want to take a chance with it. It is a brand new truck. Thanks in advance, Rico.

 

[MCornwell]

Drain

I would drain the tank. 5 gallons is quiet a bit.

 

[RGarza]

If I drain it, there shouldn't be any problems huh? Thanks Rico

 

[MCornwell]

Depends on how long you drove it, the gas would kill the lubricity



properties in the fuel which would be bad on fuel pump, injectors



ETC...



-Mitch

 

[jelag]

I posted my thoughts under 911



If my truck had 5 gal of gas in the tank I'd tow it away before I started it.....

 

[Mel Swanson]

Originally posted by RGarza

I just posted this on the 911 page but I need help. I accidentally put 5 gallons of gasoline in my diesel truck.



O Man, I did the same thing on the first day of the year. Tool Man Taylor emailed me to drop the tank and drain the fuel and flush the line.

I did that. For me it wasn't too big a deal dropping the tank. It was work and time. As they say "you pay for your education". If there is a next time I am prepared with a clear large diameter hose to siphon as much as possible out of the tank. Then I will add a few gallons of diesel and siphon that out, and refill the tank with diesel. Now what do you do with 35 gallons of polluted diesel fuel? The local city hazmat guy was good about taking it so I didn't have to wait for the official quarterly hazmat day. ('')





The injector pump is lubricated by the diesel fuel. When not lubricated the pump will fail, i. e. , add gas.

Major $$$$ :{

 

[fox]

One of my diesels is a 4bt in an old bread truck, one of my lower IQ employees put 15 gallons of gas in it. Another employee suspected it and checked the receipt before they started it. They called me and we towed it from the pump so we could siphon it out. I had several empty containers that we filled. It holds 35 gallons. Then we refilled it with fresh diesel and it was fine. Then for the next several months I put 2-3 gallons of the contaminated feul in it till it was all gone. Also used some fue lube at each fill.



Low IQ employee was not allowed to fuel any trucks again!!

I don't think I'd do the same with these newer expensive pumps, can't afford the risk factor!!!

 

[DPKetchum]

DRAIN AND REFILL!!!!:{

 

[LJFiler]

I have heard that you could put a quart of Automatic Transmission fluid in the fuel tank with the contaminated fuel. And the AT fluid would act at the lubricant. Do know just what I have heard.

 

[CLAYTON]

Sorry to hear that. . I know that is going to happen to me one day when I am not paying attention... or when I let the misses take the truck :{

 

[XcumminsX]

My question is how can anyone not pay attention to something like that..... An old neighbor did it to his powerstroke and blew about 3000 dollars worth of parts. I feel sorry for ya bud...



Nick

 

[RustyJC]

Lubricity is only one part of the problem. The combustion characteristics of gasoline are not suitable for a compression ignition engine.



Rusty

 

[d90boy]

Originally posted by LJFiler

I have heard that you could put a quart of Automatic Transmission fluid in the fuel tank with the contaminated fuel. And the AT fluid would act at the lubricant. Do know just what I have heard.

I've heard that too, but it's not a good idea. The ATF produces a varnish that fouls the injectors when it burns. Lube oil may be OK but proper fuel lubricity additives are best.

 

[Chief USA]

I my opinion, 5 gallons of gas mixed in with 25 gallons of diesel is not going to help it much but should not be a problem of significant consequence. That is about 20% mix. Rather than drain it out and throw it away; I would mix in as much diesel as possible along with a hefty dose of a good fuel additive. Siphon back out 20 gallons or so of the mixed fuel into some Walmart yellow fuel cans and top off with more diesel. (now you are down to about 11% mix) Then mix in one of the 5 gallon containers of the mixed fuel back in with each subsequent fill up.



Yes, the optimum fix is to drain the entire tank and system if you have run gas mix through it. Just keep in mind, it used to be a fairly common practice to mix a little gas in with diesel to prevent it from gelling. (not that I recommend this or think that it is a wise practice)



Your choice, I can definitely see the arguement that it is not worth chancing your $5,000 option Cummins engine and warranty. On the other hand I would hate to waste nearly $50 worth of fuel. You can put the fuel cans to good use later. I usually keep 6 cans of diesel that I fill when I go to the Flying J as I am so far from it. They have a big price discount so I use the 6 yellow fuel cans to make the trip worth while.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

it's probably not going to hurt that bad, but I would drain it all, fill it up w/ diesel, and never worry about it again.



Forrest

 

[RGarza]

I want to thank everyone for their information. It was all helpfull. I got all the fuel removed and drained the fuel line and put in a new fuel filter. The lift pump pressure was checked and appears to be good. Filled it up with a full tank of diesel and put in some diesel additive and she is running great again. Thanks again, Rico.

 

[Briman]

I would have driven it away... oh yea, I did that once, only it was six gallons of unleaded in a 35 gallon tank. I never had any troubles after the fact. It was a 12 valve though and I have not made that mistake since.

 

[jimnance]

Originally posted by rfrazier

I my opinion, 5 gallons of gas mixed in with 25 gallons of diesel is not going to help it much but should not be a problem of significant consequence. That is about 20% mix. Rather than drain it out and throw it away; I would mix in as much diesel as possible along with a hefty dose of a good fuel additive. Siphon back out 20 gallons or so of the mixed fuel into some Walmart yellow fuel cans and top off with more diesel. (now you are down to about 11% mix) Then mix in one of the 5 gallon containers of the mixed fuel back in with each subsequent fill up.



Yes, the optimum fix is to drain the entire tank and system if you have run gas mix through it. Just keep in mind, it used to be a fairly common practice to mix a little gas in with diesel to prevent it from gelling. (not that I recommend this or think that it is a wise practice)



Your choice, I can definitely see the arguement that it is not worth chancing your $5,000 option Cummins engine and warranty. On the other hand I would hate to waste nearly $50 worth of fuel. You can put the fuel cans to good use later. I usually keep 6 cans of diesel that I fill when I go to the Flying J as I am so far from it. They have a big price discount so I use the 6 yellow fuel cans to make the trip worth while.

I did the same thing to my '95 CTD except I put 20 gallons of gasoline on top of 10 gallons of diesel. I drove it about a mile home an it quit in the driveway.



I was able to siphon out 25 gallons out. I put five gallons of fresh deisel in the tank and filled the filter with diesel. I gently drove a mile back to the station and topped of with diesel.



I drove that truck another 80,000 miles (sold it with 100,000 on it) and never had a problem with the engine.



I took the dieseline that I drained out and gradually mixed it into our Suburban that had a 454. Didn't seem to hurt in small quantities.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

I've had 2-3 gallons of gas mixed in my tank on my last truck. No noticeable affect on drivability. Just doubled the additive dose, no ill effects. Just watch the EGTs because gas burns slower and will cause EGTs to rise. Had 87,300 miles on it when I traded it, no injection pump problems. I think you could get away with 5 gallons by throwing in some lubricity additives, but I would draw the line at 5 gallons. . . anything more, drain about half of it and refill with diesel.



There was a guy with a Chevy 6. 5L on the GM diesel board who posted that he a 50/50 mix of gas in his rig once. It ran, he drove it about 30 miles and it was weak on power, then it started knocking and then died. When they did a teardown it was obvious his EGTs skyrocketed because all his pistons had started going into an elastic state and some of them started going into meltdown.



Vaughn

 

[ttreibel]

With 5 gallons I would of thrown in a gallon of howies and or Marvs Mystery oil and let it go but you did the safest prudent thing and now you have a really clean fuel system.



Best of all I bet you won't do that again. Did that to my 1976 240d back in 88 only once I found a green nozel and turned it on and it was Super Unleaded ..... Dang... . knock on wood that won't happen again... . I siphond most of it out filled it up and never had a problem infact I think it cleaned the injectors a bit.



Used the polluted Gas to start a slash burn in the good old days not sure if you can do that anywere around here anymore... . sidenote it was one helluva fireball and a cool Autum morning