in 1980 or 81 i worked for my uncle and was accused of putting gas in our tractor trailer and i was haveing a very negative reaction to my uncles scorn when this was discovered i just couldnt believe i did this!! finally i remembered the station only have nozzle locks on the diesel pump and that i had started the pump and walked into the store while the 150 gallon tanks were filling that is the only reason my uncle pursued and received compensation for damages of over a a hundred thousand in damages as we discovered our whole fleet was damaged by contaminated by a transport error

sorry for the long story but this is why i always visually inspect fuel stream and "sniff" the fuel going into my 33000 dollar truck

 

My understanding is a bit of Diesel in petrol tank is not a big deal, but petrol in a Diesel tank is good by motor.
out of shear desperation I have poured a little petrol on a rag and wraped said rag around the air cleaner of an old tractor, that was hard of cold starting, once the engine started, I had to whip the rag away real quick because boy did it rev and knock.

 

Out a couple quarts of oil in your tank and run it!.........assuming you didn't fill the tank - right?

Gas won't burn in a diesel. All it'll do it take away some of the lubricity in the diesel fuel. Add some oil to it to fix that and you're good to go.

I had that happen to my 1998 Freightliner one night at a convenience store north of Atlanta!!!

 

One of my friends/customers has done this a few times (on a '97 Ram 2500 CTD and again on a '01 F250), I think each time was when someone borrowed his truck.. Nothing quite like getting a phone call at 2am. "Chris... I need you to tow my truck again." "Gas again?" "Yep."

I did the opposite on my '87 D50. I ran out of gas and some guy stopped to help me, he walked back to his place (half a block away) and got me a 5 gallon can of fuel and brought it back. I shook the can and it didn't "feel/sound" like gas (anybody ever notice you can tell the difference between gas and diesel/kerosene by shaking the can?) But he insisted it was gas, and since I can't smell I believed him..

I put 4 gallons in my truck and he charged me $30 for those 4 gallons (and gas was in the $1.90 a gallon range at that time, I think) I didn't argue with him, I needed the fuel to get the truck to the gas station.

I managed to finally get the truck started (by this time the guy was long gone) and the engine hammered like crazy.. "Well, that definitely wasn't gas..." I was impressed that the old 2.6L was running on 99% Diesel Fuel, drove to the nearest gas station (full service) and the guy at the pump says to me. "We don't sell diesel fuel here, kid." "Yeah, I know... just fill it up with 87 octane." He gave me a weird look, but didn't say another word as he pumped gas into the truck.

That thing lived to 270,000+ miles of hard abuse without missing a beat and it would run on ANYTHING I put in the gas tank. 15 year old boat gas? Sure, why not. Aviation Gas/Cam2 Racing Fuel, hehehe... (thanks to some friends into drag racing for that one) Diesel Fuel, you bet. What can I say, I drove that truck from 2006 - 2010 (I was in my teens and flat broke).

now that the 4-banger engine is gone, I'd love to have that awesome fuel mileage back

 

74Duster, you should be a writer! That was a great short story that was very interesting. What makes my wife's day was that she told me after the Chevy Dmax engine wouldn't start, that she thought it was regular gas but thought I knew what I was doing. Never-the-less I learned a little more about the warranty from the garage attendant that may or may not be true. Here is what he said, "If you accidentally pump gasoline into a warranted diesel engine and you call the Chevrolet dealer (tow truck) which is what you are expected to do, they have to pull the heads and inspect the cylinders and replace the gaskets, seals, etc. and cannot just clean the fuel from the tank and lines, filters etc. so you can go along your way.

Then, because it was your fault you are charged the full amount of the repair bill." I talked about the severity of the problem and the mechanic explained that he merely pumps out the diesel fuel, changes the fuel filters, pumps diesel back into the tank and starts the engine to see how it performs. He then said that he has not had one fail to run like normal.

I was surprised that the engine would not start after I shut off the gasolined diesel engine as it did not sound bad when I shut-r-down....yet I had only driven/run it about 4 miles to a car-wash facility where I shut it off in order to wash the truck. Anyway, I thought that to be a valuable lessons learned.

 

It's funny you mention that, SafetyPill, because I actually am a writer (mechanic by day, unpublished author by night)

I try to 'tone it down' a bit online though, because not everyone likes to read a novel as a reply.

 

GAS IS BAD!!!!! now i know. Guess I'm what some call "A GREASER".. I've been running used cooking oil for a few years now. filtered and strained to 1 micron. i WAS deluting it with "GAS" 10% for viscosity. added a diesel conditioner. seemed to run fine, didn't realize TILL NOW just how bad GAS is to diesels.
my last ruck. i had two tanks, made it easy.. i'd run diesel till other tank heated up(had a heater in cooking oil tank) . then switch to hot tank. switch back 5 miles before i ended my journey.
this dodge has only one tank.. plan on setting up two again.
does anyone out there know any "GOOD.BAD, and UGLY" . issues YOU know about cooking oil? I know ALOT of guys are using it. I'm actually selling it. (filtered oil).
I can't keep up with demand. people call from over 200 miles away...

 

It's hilarious (and puzzling) to m,e why you people persist in running that crap-infected WVO when you can simply filter used motor oil, and hydraulic fluid......blend it with about 20% diesel and run it!!!

The used oil I burn spent its whole life circulating inside some sort of an engine, running through a filter.

YOU on the other hand burn that crappy WVO that spent ITS life bathing in food particles and the crust that's created from contact with a 600 degree cooking pan!!

THEN, instead of diluting that mud you made with kerosene, you use gasoline?? How comical is that? Gee, I always thought they called them "DIESEL" engines!!!

When I tell people my truck runs on used oil they look at me like I'm some sort of engineer and ask: What kind of "process" do you put it through?" To which i tell them: "I filter it!"

Oh well.......I sure hope you guys keep running that crap, because if you ever switch to used oil my sources might dry up!!!!

 

So, how much oil does one add to fix accidentally pumping gasoline into your diesel fuel tank?

Gasoline-waste oil blenders generally blend gasoline at 20% with waste oil, so 4x4manonbroke up-thread, who only added 3 gallons of regular unleaded gasoline to a tank of 20 gallons of diesel fuel could have added new or used oil at as much as 15 gallons to get that percentage of gasoline-to-oil to have a functional fuel blend. However, that is a lot of oil to buy new at $10-$20/gallon.

So, how little oil needs to be added to fix his mistake?

Calculations of BTU and viscosity show that a fuel blend of 50% gasoline to 50% 10-40 motor oil, with no diesel in it, has the same BTUs and viscosity of D2 diesel fuel. My gasoline-waste oil blending experiments have supported these calculations. In fact my 1983 6.2L Detroit Diesel runs like a hot rod on gasoline blended waste oils above 20% to 50%. So, I am a bit surprised that 4x4manonbroke up-thread found only 3 gallons of gasoline to 6 gallons of new motor oil, which is 33% gasoline in 17-20 gallons of diesel fuel, was not a perfectly functional fuel blend with no loss of power or performance; however, he most probably could have put half as much motor oil in and would have found his fuel blend perfectly functional.

More typically people drive up to the fuel pump when their tank is on 1/4, then fill it up, and maybe after the nozzle goes "click" they realize that they just filled their diesel fuel tank 3/4 full with gasoline. In that case, you would want to pump out the fuel tank down to about half a tank, then top off with 10-40 motor oil, or vegetable oil, which would be expensive, but cheaper than going to a garage to have them pump it out and dispose of the contaminated fuel to the tune of $300.

However there is a caveat. Since 1996 (I think) in an effort to remove toxic lead, and carcinogenic MTBF from gasoline, which were used as anti-knock additives, and octane enhancers, alcohol has been added at 10% to the fuels in the USA. Alcohol in gasoline at 10% will definitely ruin BUNA and silicone seals and hoses. Old diesel engines made before 1996 commonly used BUNA and silicone seals and hoses. Therefore, any diesel engine made before 1996 should have less gasoline in its blend.

How much gasoline is too much in a fuel blend for an old diesel engine? I do not know, but I do know that gasoline at 20% will run indefinitely on my old diesel engine. I have had some injector pump failures using blends in excess of 20% gasoline. I have not yet found out the terminal amount of gasoline in a diesel fuel blend for my injector pump. A diesel fuel blend of 50% gasoline-to-waste oil has alcohol at 5%, and that, I believe, is too much alcohol. A 25% gasoline-to-waste oil diesel fuel blend has alcohol at 2.5%. That level of alcohol seems fine.

 

My son filled tractor with gas( because some one who will remain nameless put fuel in gas can and visa versa)