Oil & Fuel Gasoline in diesel tank

[greenriver]

Hello.

I have a DK40SE and dumped 3 to 4 gallons of gas into the less than 1/4 full tank last night. And in case anyone is wondering, yes, my 12 YO son is having a ball with this.

Any words of wisdom or advice on how to get back to where its safe to crank the tractor? The tank is really hard to get to and the manual is a joke. I would rather not take the tractor apart but I don't see a tank drain any where.

 

[murphy1244]

Get a hand pump and pump out as much as you can then fill it up with fresh diesel.

 

[newbury]

Anything you CAN drain do so. Filter, water drain on filter if present and as murphy wrote empty the tank.

Shouldn't hurt to much. Just have to get out of the mind set of "gas 'er up".

 

[k0ua]

Here is something at wal-mart that could help

Custom Accessories Pennzoil Multi-Use Hand Pump: Automotive : Walmart.com

Take filter apart, and drain all that will come out there too. I would change filter (about 8 or 9 dollars)
Fill filter bowl 1/2 way with diesel, re-assemble. Fill tank full of diesel to dilute any gasoline left in tank.
put fuel bowl lever in the bleed position and crank engine, when it runs, flip lever back to normal and go to work.

 

[ritcheyvs]

Same happened to me with a car, a Diesel Mercedes with a very similar injection system. I bought several jerry cans and then drained the fuel at the bottom of the fuel tank using a shallow pan which I emptied in the jerry cans. Took forever, it seemed. Mercedes says it's OK to use up to 25% gasoline to prevent winter gelling. so a little gas won't hurt.

Can you disconnect the fuel feed line at the lift pump and gravity-drain into a container? If not, you'll have to pump from above. Just get out all you can and refill with real DF2. If you ran it long enough to contaminate the fuel filter, drain or replace the filter too. Otherwise you'll have to crank a really long time to get to the good stuff which may damage the IP because gas is not a good lubricant (as is Diesel).

 

[Retired guy]

How about taking the line before the fuel filter off and draining it into a pan. I once left the cap off my Kubota in a thunderstorm and got a lot of water in the tank. Since it was gravity feed--problem solved.
I think the filter is before the mechanical pump before the inj. pump. If I am wrong I am sure I will be corrected...multiple times.

 

[JoeL4330]

Not familiar w. your machine, but you surely have a fuel filter ...and, it most likely is at the lowest point in the fuel system if it is a gravity feed system ...so, take off the hose leading into the fuel filter and drain there; if the system has a fuel pump that lifts fuel out of a lower-down tank it's either electric submerged in the tank, or pulls a vacuum. In the electric fuel pump case, break the fuel line (say at the filter) and run the electric fuel pump. In the case of a fuel pump that's "pulling" fuel, break the line before the fuel pump, take your shop vac and put the hose on the outflow side of the shop-vac (so it blows instead of sucks), wrap a rag around the hose end and put it to the fuel filler ...that is, lightly pressurize the tank and voila, fuel will exit the fuel line where you broke it [think "high volume, low pressure ...not your 150psi compressor]...an extension hose is handy to guide the outflow into your container rather than have it run all over, of course. [if you're thinking this trick might be handy if you've run out fuel and have trouble re-priming, you're right]

And, as stated, some reasonable amount of gasoline can be run in a diesel engine ...only drawbacks are: less power, and it has "anti-knock" properties that don't play so nice with compression ignition (hopefully you used regular, not hi-test) ...anyway, as discussed above, a dilute mixture will work ...(but, don't use your glow plugs to start it, please, and/or your pre-heater in the air intake.

If you don't like any of those ideas, get a local delinquent to siphon out the fuel for you.

 

[ritcheyvs]

Here is a diagram of the fuel system on a DKxxSE:



Item 7 in the picture is the lift or feed pump. It is a simple diaphragm pump that gravity-feeds from the fuel tank and provides a modest pressure to push fuel through the filter. It may be slow, but I'd try disconnecting the hose from the tank at this pump and see if it will gravity-drain.

 

[diesel lover]

THIS is the best way of transferring fuel I have found. I have worked at two different truck shops and we use these constantly, removing hundreds of gallons over time with one. It has a check ball fitted at the end of the hose. Shake the check valve up and down and it primes it. Its self priming and stays primed. I bought one from a truck shop but you can get them at menards for 10 $ or less. Never had any luck with any hand pump. THese actually work very well and last
Amazon.com: Premium-Grade Jiggler - Shaker Siphon Hose: Automotive

the one from menards looks to be good quality but I myself do not own one
6' Shaker Siphon Pump at Menards

 

[greenriver]

Here is a diagram of the fuel system on a DKxxSE:

View attachment 364887

Item 7 in the picture is the lift or feed pump. It is a simple diaphragm pump that gravity-feeds from the fuel tank and provides a modest pressure to push fuel through the filter. It may be slow, but I'd try disconnecting the hose from the tank at this pump and see if it will gravity-drain.

Thanks to all for your replies, I got something out of each one.

Thanks for the diagram ritcheysvs. It is a great help and reminds me I need to get a manual.

I will try gravity draining this am and let you guys know how it went.