! ! HELP my wife topped off the diesel tank with gasoline!! What can I do?!?!?!?

[PhysAssist]

She was getting ready to mow and had a bit over half a tank [approx. 4+ gallons] and just trying to be helpful, she added somewhere around 1-2 gallons of gasoline to the tank, bringing it up to just below 3/4 of a tankful.

She then mowed for around 20- 30 minutes before she noticed that it was losing power and shut it down.

She said she also smelled either smoke, or something "like a hot engine that needed to be turned off" but didn't see any smoke, and when I got there I didn't smell anything out of the ordinary.

She didn't realize that she had used the wrong fuel until after I tried to restart it and it wouldn't start.

What is the best thing to do now??

I tried searching the forums, but without using quotes it just brought up every post that mentioned either gas or diesel, and when I used quotes, the search found nothing.

Thanks in advance!

Thomas

 

[RobertN]

My first thought would be to drain the entire fuel system, replace the fuel filter. Then fill with fresh diesel, and bleed the injector system in hopes that no more diesel/gas mixture is in the system.

I would also check the engine oil, to see if any gas got in it by blow-by of the rings. If so, then fresh oil and filter.

Then, try to restart it.

You mentioned you tried to restart it; did it at least turn over like normal? Had it cooled off by then?

Years back I bought a couple of the yellow diesel jugs just for the tractor. My wife, son, and Dad use the tractor too; nobody gets near the fuel cap except with the yellow diesel jugs...

 

[Sutol]

Dont throw the fuel away after you drain it out. Leave it to stand and it will separate naturally and you can reclaim the gas and the diesel.

Damage done depends on the age of the vehicle

 

[Mousefield]

My first thought would be to drain the entire fuel system, replace the fuel filter. Then fill with fresh diesel, and bleed the injector system in hopes that no more diesel/gas mixture is in the system.

I would also check the engine oil, to see if any gas got in it by blow-by of the rings. If so, then fresh oil and filter. Then, try to restart it.

You mentioned you tried to restart it; did it at least turn over like normal? Had it cooled off by then?

Years back I bought a couple of the yellow diesel jugs just for the tractor. My wife, son, and Dad use the tractor too; nobody gets near the fuel cap except with the yellow diesel jugs...

Sounds like what I would suggest. Lets hope for the best.

 

[schmism]

My first thought would be to drain the entire fuel system, replace the fuel filter. Then fill with fresh diesel, and bleed the injector system.

That will do it.

 

[Zebrafive]

In addition to the above get an additive that lubes the system and dose at heaviest rate reccommended.
Hopefully your injection pump and injectors survived. They need the lubrication diesel provides.

 

[troutsqueezer]

At least the gasoline was diluted and the mixture was still 2/3 or so diesel. Guessing the pump and injectors are ok since they weren't starved for lubrication.

 

[JoeL4330]

Gasoline in a diesel: less specific energy in the fuel, compared with diesel, so less power available ...and, anti-knock additives prevent it from "dieseling" ...but, I would wager no harm done because (in an earlier era) the answer to winter diesel fuel gelling was to add some gasoline ...exactly what my 1968 MB diesel owners manual recommended if "engine kerosene" wasn't available as an additive (#1). There was a max dilution ratio stated ...can't remember what, but would have been the point at which no-knock, no dieseling (i.e., no compression ignition, so no run-ee)

 

[Raspy]

I did the same thing to my New Holland and at about the same ratio of gas to fuel. It would start and run, but then lose so much power I could barely keep it running. When I figured it out I drained the tank into a gas can and re-filled with diesel. Then bled the fuel system until it was getting pure diesel to the injection pump. No filter change needed, and no oil change needed. At that point I cracked the injector lines and let out some more contaminated fuel by cranking it at full throttle. Then tightened the injector lines, started it up and went back to work. No damage and it runs fine.

Adding an additive, after the fact, won't do much. Changing the oil does nothing for the problem as you won't find any gas in the crankcase. Forget the oil change idea, it's the fuel side that needs attention.

You can use the contaminated fuel to start your burn pile, or re-cycle it with your used engine oil, or add small amounts to your tank in the winter months to prevent gelling and recover some of your expense.

 

[jenkinsph]

I did the same thing to my New Holland and at about the same ratio of gas to fuel. It would start and run, but then lose so much power I could barely keep it running. When I figured it out I drained the tank into a gas can and re-filled with diesel. Then bled the fuel system until it was getting pure diesel to the injection pump. No filter change needed, and no oil change needed. At that point I cracked the injector lines and let out some more contaminated fuel by cranking it at full throttle. Then tightened the injector lines, started it up and went back to work. No damage and it runs fine.

Adding an additive, after the fact, won't do much. Changing the oil does nothing for the problem as you won't find any gas in the crankcase. Forget the oil change idea, it's the fuel side that needs attention.

You can use the contaminated fuel to start your burn pile, or re-cycle it with your used engine oil, or add small amounts to your tank in the winter months to prevent gelling and recover some of your expense.

I would pull the dipstick on the engine oil and see if I could light it with a match easily, if it does light up I would change the oil. I agree with recycling the diesel gas mix back thru the tractor in small amounts, maybe a half gallon per tank full. Better than pay ing disposal fees on top of the lost fuel. I would add some Lucas oil to each tank to improve lubrication too.