Help! Diesel fuel in my rtv500!!!

[gobraphil]

Just came up to the camp and my dad and granddad were on the side of the road in my rtv500. They ran it out of gas and filled it up with offroad diesel fuel that was in a gas can. Any tips and pointers on draining the tank and flushing the system would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

 

[JJT]

Did they try to run it on diesel? If not, simply drain and refill, you'll be fine. If they tried to run it on diesel, you're in for a little more work. You'll need to clean out the fuel lines, install a new fuel filter, new plugs and change the oil.

 

[LBrown59]

Any tips and pointers on draining the tank and flushing the system would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

Yes:
Don't put diesel in a gas can.

 

[timswi]

Did they try to run it on diesel? If not, simply drain and refill, you'll be fine. If they tried to run it on diesel, you're in for a little more work. You'll need to clean out the fuel lines, install a new fuel filter, new plugs and change the oil.

Agree with JJT. I would try to run it for 15 minutes with new gas, just to clear the system before you replace everything...It'll probably smoke like crazy for little bit.

 

[gobraphil]

Did they try to run it on diesel? If not, simply drain and refill, you'll be fine. If they tried to run it on diesel, you're in for a little more work. You'll need to clean out the fuel lines, install a new fuel filter, new plugs and change the oil.

thanks for the help. I siphoned off most of the fuel and then removed the fuel line going to the carb and let the fuel pump pump the rest of it out. Put some gas in it and pumped it out. Filled it up with gas and then it started right up. I didn't see a fuel filter except the vapor canister. Still need to change the spark plugs but I wanted to at least get it running

Thanks again!

 

[2fast2]

If it runs OK, I can't see any reason to replace the spark plugs. The diesel fuel (oil) apparently isn't bad enough to foul the plugs and it'll just burn off, which it obviously has.
Same with the fuel filter. If it isn't full of diesel and the engine starts and runs after draining and replacing the diesel with gasoline, then I don't see the reason.
I filled my car with "gas" at a gas station, but noticed almost immediately that it wasn't running right. I managed to get home before I realized that the gas station had diesel in their gas. I called them and they immediately shut down the gas station, paid for my car to be towed, and had the diesel drained and replaced with gasoline. No harm to my engine, luckily. But I heard the tanker truck driver who dumped diesel in the gas storage tank lost his job over his error. You an imagine the trouble they had to go through to pump out the diesel / gas mix, haul it back to a refinery (I suppose) and somehow separate it again. I have no idea what they did with the gas / diesel mix they removed from my car.

 

[nickel plate]

Saw that happen in a JD riding lawnmower with a Briggs and Stratton V-twin gas engine. Smoke started pouring into my yard from next door, my neighbor did shut it down quickly enough. I could smell the diesel exhaust odor in the air. He simply drained it, cleaned the plugs and filter chambers, refilled it with gasoline and after a minute amount of sputtering, was on his mowing way. That was several years ago and the JD is still cutting his grass.
Diesel is an oily forgiving substance.

 

[20 20]

ole timers use to mix kero in their gas engines on purpose to help clean cabon out of engine. I doubt a little diesel would hurt anything.

 

[jinman]

A little diesel will only serve to be a good upper cylinder lubricant (valve stems). It would take a long time to foul the plugs and would not contaminate your crankcase oil whatsoever. Pure diesel will not be atomized by a carburetor the same as gasoline, but probably up to a 25% mixture would only produce excessive smoke like a 2-cycle engine. I would not even worry about your fuel filter since its job is to remove solids and trash. I can remember gasoline engines produced during WWII that could run pure kerosene. I'm not old enough to have been around during WWII, but several of those tractors and cars were still around when I was a kid and some still exist today.

 

[Travelover]

Back in the day, many ignition engines were designed with two fuel tanks. You would start the engine and shut it off on gasoline and run it on diesel. They ran kinda smoky and stinky, but it is not the disaster some might have you believe.