Can a diesel engine run on gas. .

[mtretick]

If gas will destroy a diesel engine can some please explain how a friends old TD9 International crawler with a over shot bucket starts on gas and then is switched over to diesel to work. I realize there is no load as it sits and warms up

Isn’t that the one with a small gas engine that is basically a starter for the diesel?

 

[LouNY]

Isn’t that the one with a small gas engine that is basically a starter for the diesel?

No the starting sequence was explained earlier in this thread;
gas starting decompressed the engine when warm switched out decompression and turned on diesel injection.

 

[strantor]

If you're still unsure whether you ran your tractor on gas or rotten diesel, you can compare to this:

I figured out that I had dumped gas in it. I added 5 galons of gas to 1 or 2 gallons of diesel and ran it for about 20min before I realized what I had done. No permanent damage has surfaced yet after 9 months but I was sweating bullets for a while. I drained the tank as far as it would gravity drain and then used a vacuum fluid extractor to get the tank bone dry. Replaced fuel filter, filled it up with diesel, and after a minute of trying to start it, it finally ran fine. After the debacle I forced a regen.

 

[Paul in TN]

A old truck driver told me to put 1 gal of gas to a tank full of diesel I did this on my tool truck for 10 yrs and had no problems. 20 below it started and ran great all winter I did not use it in summer just in winter.

My father ran diesels through Wyoming back in 1940s and used gasoline as a winter additive to prevent jelling. About a gallon per 100 gallon of diesel. The gas today has no ethyl lead which lubricates and has extra cleaning chemicals that can destroy the fuel pumps and injection system.

 

[Paul in TN]

So just how does one dump 20 gallons of 'suspect' fuel in a responsible way?

Save it for starting burn piles.

 

[Cougsfan]

Save it for starting burn piles.

20 gallons of bad fuel would be enough for me to start burning piles for the next 30 years or so.

 

[mo1]

I thought diesel nozzles were different in diameter than gas nozzles, so they could not be inserted into the wrong filler tube. I guess they are larger...to protect the minority!

The minority being diesel vehicle owners, who must be considered smarter than the average driver.

Unleaded gasoline nozzles are generally but not always smaller than diesel nozzles. That isn't to keep people from putting diesel fuel into gasoline vehicles, it was to prevent people from putting leaded gasoline into unleaded-only vehicles. There is a standard, SAE J285, that governs the size of fuel nozzles. Unleaded gasoline fuel nozzles cannot be larger than 0.85" (roughly 13/16") outer diameter, and leaded gasoline nozzles could not be smaller than 0.93" (roughly 15/16".) Back when diesel was widely introduced in the 1950s and 1960s, nearly all gasoline was leaded and the same nozzles were used for diesel and gasoline. The smaller unleaded nozzles came about in the 1970s when the EPA mandated emissions regs for cars and smaller trucks which were essentially impossible to meet without a catalytic converter. The lead in leaded gasoline quickly plugged up a catalytic converter, just like sulfur in diesel fuel plugs up a DPF. The smaller unleaded nozzles came about to prevent people from putting leaded gasoline in unleaded-only vehicles.

There does not appear to be a standard for diesel nozzle sizes as there is for gasoline nozzle sizes. Most diesel nozzles are the old 15/16" leaded gasoline size to give a higher flow rate, but some are the 13/16" unleaded size, and high-flow nozzles designed to fill transfer tanks and large trucks are often larger than an inch.

FYI, DEF pumps have a 3/4" OD nozzle which is smaller than gasoline or diesel nozzles.

Diesel nozzles at truck stops tend to be BIG...better flow to fill big tanks faster.

Despite what some think, there is not any industry standard for nozzle color.

Ford (maybe others) basically wants to swap out the fuel system...hence the crazy cost. I'm not at all sure if this overkill or not. Some folks seem to do just fine draining the tank and adding ATF with fresh diesel.

If you want to be conservative, don't even turn the key (or push button). Doing so will fire up fuel pumps. Call a tow truck.

There apparently have been attempts such as the one referenced here (https://www.fuelsinstitute.org/geta...-to-NCWM-Laws-Regulations-Committee-NATSO.pdf) to standardize nozzle colors, but none have come to pass.

About the closest thing to a de facto standard I have seen with fuel nozzle colors are that yellow is E85 (51-83% ethanol) and blue is E20-E50.

 

[Eric M]

Most diesels are 14:1 and up to 22:1. Remember that "high octane" is the opposite of what you want in a diesel; you want compression ignition. I've started diesels in cold weather with a trickle of gasoline, but running it through the pump is a bad thing.

Actually if they provided octane ratings of diesel it would be higher. Diesel is rated by Cetane which is the energy in the fuel. Octane rating is the resistance to self combustion. That is why you need higher octane fuels in the high compression engines. Fuel will only combust once it is vaporized. If you drop a lot match in diesel it will go out before the fuel ignites. Drop it in gasoline it will ignite before the match hits the fuel

 

[ForestGrump]

First of all diesel does not have an octane rating it has a cetane rating, there is no correlation. The cetane rating can be calculated from other information on the spec sheet or By using a cetane engine which is the definitive method. As far as I know diesel fuel, if you could run an octane would be significantly lower than gasoline.
High octane components are the more volatile components such as toluene, xylene and the BTX’s. Propane has a high octane and that is why it is added in winter months up to 10%. Octane is measured in a R and in a M single cylinder knock engines with variable compression. In the M engine there is a load. In the research engine there is no load. The average number of the two engines is the octane.

Retired refinery lab manager


Gasoline in a diesel destroys the seals and then engine. Plain and simple. Do not run it. Drain your tank and all lines including the filters.partially fill the tank with diesel. Run the fuel pump by cranking but do not start. Repeat at least two more times. Now change your oil. Repeat above. Change all filters and replace the oil again.

Refill the fluids and if u do,believe in a god contact him. Start your engine and check for a blown head gasket And all other seals.

 

[Henro]

Drop it in gasoline it will ignite before the match hits the fuel

I am only replying because a memory requires it.

When a kid I remember throwing lit matches into containers of gasoline...The matches went out...why I do not know. But I DO KNOW the containers held gasoline. They were coffee 5 LB. coffee cans I think.

Not recommended by any means. I guess we were lucky...did it more than once though...