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Lavey29
05-30-2007, 06:18 PM
Hi guys, need a little help and advice. Wife just called me at work and said she filled the diesel truck up with 87 unleaded. :jawdrop: WTF... said she drove it about a block which probably means a few miles and then realized her mistake and pulled over. Obvioulsy, I have to drain this gas out but what kind of motor damage may have been caused? What's the worse case scenario and does anyone need 27 gallons of gas?

Riverkid
05-30-2007, 06:26 PM
Flatbed straight to the dealer.
Wishing you VERY good luck.

blown65
05-30-2007, 06:27 PM
Hi guys, need a little help and advice. Wife just called me at work and said she filled the diesel truck up with 87 unleaded. :jawdrop: WTF... said she drove it about a block which probably means a few miles and then realized her mistake and pulled over. Obvioulsy, I have to drain this gas out but what kind of motor damage may have been caused? What's the worse case scenario and does anyone need 27 gallons of gas?
I'm no diesel expert but we had one of our smarter employees do that at work and drive off to only have it start running like ass. Took the truck in not knowing the issue and pretty much they drained it and refilled and it was off and working again. (Still running fine actually)

shadow
05-30-2007, 06:27 PM
Hi guys, need a little help and advice. Wife just called me at work and said she filled the diesel truck up with 87 unleaded. :jawdrop: WTF... said she drove it about a block which probably means a few miles and then realized her mistake and pulled over. Obvioulsy, I have to drain this gas out but what kind of motor damage may have been caused? What's the worse case scenario and does anyone need 27 gallons of gas?
Don't worry,customers get thier diesels towed into my dealer all the time that fill them with gas.Make sure you drain all the gas out change the fuel filter and fill it with diesel.

RitcheyRch
05-30-2007, 06:28 PM
Always wondered what would happen if someone put regular gas in a diesel and vice versa.
Hopefully it didnt cause any major damage. You would think the manufacturers would make it impossible to make that mistake.

Tons of Fun
05-30-2007, 06:32 PM
:eek:
Just have the towed home or to your local service guy. There should not be any damage to the engine. This happens more than you think!!! Once the fuel is dained ou of the tank, fill the tank all the way wih diesel. Go to Walmart and but "DieselKleen" It is in a gray or white bottle and is cheap. Get the gray one if possible and add 8 ounces to the tank. This will solve the problem!! No worries. It happens to all of us... well, most of us. This is truely the least of your worries. I would be more concerned about the gas you wasted. If you do drain it yourself, it works well in 2 cycle engines on weed wackers and other household 2 cycle engines. DO NOT USE ON DIRTBIKES!!!
I hope this helps!

Lavey29
05-30-2007, 06:35 PM
Don't worry,customers get thier diesels towed into my dealer all the time that fill them with gas.Make sure you drain all the gas out change the fuel filter and fill it with diesel.
Thanks for the response. I hope mine is that simple. It won't stop me from ruthlessly playing the guilt card and extorting a years worth of BJ's from the wife becuase of her f-up. :devil:

Lavey29
05-30-2007, 06:39 PM
:eek:
Just have the towed home or to your local service guy. There should not be any damage to the engine. This happens more than you think!!! Once the fuel is dained ou of the tank, fill the tank all the way wih diesel. Go to Walmart and but "DieselKleen" It is in a gray or white bottle and is cheap. Get the gray one if possible and add 8 ounces to the tank. This will solve the problem!! No worries. It happens to all of us... well, most of us. This is truely the least of your worries. I would be more concerned about the gas you wasted. If you do drain it yourself, it works well in 2 cycle engines on weed wackers and other household 2 cycle engines. DO NOT USE ON DIRTBIKES!!!
I hope this helps!
Thanks for the info pal. I only work 16 hours tonight so when I get home, I will pick that stuff up to add to the tank. I gotta find a place close by that can drain my tanks for me. I appreciate the helpfull advice... :D

Hal
05-30-2007, 07:34 PM
I just did the same thing to my F250 last friday. Put 23 gal of of unleaded in the tank. Drove it about 8 miles to the off ramp I was taking and when I stopped the engine got very quite. Drove another 1/4 mile to a parking lot and parked. I suspected it was a fuel problem being I just filled up. I called Downs oil told them I think there diesel tank may have gas in it. She asked for my card number and came back and told me I put unleaded in not diesel.
What a dumb ass. All I can think that happened was that I was all excited on the way to pick up my new Ranger RZR and just Fukked up.
Had it towed to my buddies shop, sucked about 27 gal out of the tank then put in 6 gal of diesel. Drove back to Downs (about a mile) and filled it up with diesel. All done in about 3 hours and it runs great like it always has. I changed both the fuel filters the next day. That takes about a 1/2 hour.
A friend just told me today his neighbors wife just did the same with thier truck and the dealer charged them $1800.00 to fix it.???

Lavey29
05-30-2007, 07:51 PM
Wow, I am glad yours was easy to fix. I hope mine is also. I have an appointment at my mechanic in the morning. He say's they need to drop the tank and drain it along with the lines and then change the filters. Worse case, my injectors are friend and he also said that the longer the gas is in there, it eats away the O rings for the motor. I hope it works out. Thanks for the info.

mmered8299
05-30-2007, 07:57 PM
Put racing fuel in mine because it was right next to the diesel at the 76 station. Good thing the pump shuts off at $50. Only put in about 10 gals or so. Took it home. I lived around the cornor Disconnected the fuel line under the driver side at the frame rail and oscillated the ignition key about 100 times to pump out all the fuel. Added the right fuel and off I went.

havasu522
05-30-2007, 08:04 PM
I worked for g.m. for 30 years .. saw this all the time .. Injection pump is what you have to worry about . Its probley toast . you have to have the tank cleaned out all the fuel lines and change all filters the they will try to see if the pump will work .. dealer will charge around 600 to 800 do that . if the pump is toast grab your ankles cuz this is going to hurt . Sorry to hear this happened .. good luck :D

BOBALOO
05-30-2007, 08:12 PM
A few of my co workers have done this to their trucks. One of the guys has put 150k since he f-ed up the other has about 40k since his turn. We ALL have pretty green diesel stickers by the filler now:hammer2:

Lavey29
05-30-2007, 08:16 PM
I worked for g.m. for 30 years .. saw this all the time .. Injection pump is what you have to worry about . Its probley toast . you have to have the tank cleaned out all the fuel lines and change all filters the they will try to see if the pump will work .. dealer will charge around 600 to 800 do that . if the pump is toast grab your ankles cuz this is going to hurt . Sorry to hear this happened .. good luck :D
My good news is suddenly turning bad. Damn when you say "grab your ankles cuz this is gonna hurt"...can you put a possible dollar amount on this quote as it relates to that injection pump part? Does the wife need to get a second job paper route?

Trailer Park Casanova
05-30-2007, 08:26 PM
Just drain the gas, re-fill with diesel, change the filters, and forget about it.
If you roll into the dealer running scared they'll do ya.
I was a diesel mechanic in the Marines for 4 years and it happened,, and if ya catch it within a few miles all is well.
Your injectors just got a good cleaning.
Relax,,,

Lavey29
05-30-2007, 09:04 PM
ok TPC...I'm getting that done first thing in the morning...not at the dealer...thanks :D

Baja Big Dog
05-30-2007, 09:07 PM
New engines..no inj pump...drain and refill, good luck, most tanks dont have drains!!!

OCMerrill
05-30-2007, 09:54 PM
What year truck is this?
Reason for injector pump concerns is the lack of lubricity. If you caught it fairly quick you’re OK. Ford trucks are HUEI's and use Oil pressure to fire off the injectors. One of the better engines to do this to.
Like others have said the dealer will bend you and ring all kind of financial alarms. Go anywhere but there. Please don’t use a drill pump or the like to remove the gas as the static could cause you to post here no more:idea: :D .
I have added as much as 5 gallons of reg gas to 35 gallons of diesel many times using diesels in Mammoth. Call it like a winter grade. Power will be reduced. Add a little trans fluid to the tank for the pump and injectors and you’re all clean and good. This was older all mechanical diesel engines.
Mercury Marine developed an outboard engine for the military that will run on Diesel, Gasoline, or Jet A but it was a two stroke. That was a great article.

Hal
05-30-2007, 10:07 PM
You don't need to drain the tank or the lines. Just siphon all you can out of the tank. You will probably leave 3 or 4 gal in the tank. Don't worry about it. It with mix with and burn fine once you get the diesel in the tank.
Put a couple of 5 gal cans of diesel in the tank or more if you have enough cans to do it. Start it up,let it idle a little bit...as soon as it sounds normal your good to go. Go directly to a station and fill the rest of the tank with diesel. After I did the above I drove around for a while to make sure everything was ok and the drove home. I did put some diesel kleen in the tank when I got home because I use it all the time anyway and had it in stock. I really didn't see any need to change the filter because the truck ran great but I did because i think your suppose to at 15000 miles. It can't hurt thats for sure.
When I got the truck towed to my friends shop I called the local ford dealer and talked to a mechanic. He was the one that told me what to do. The ford mechanic also told me I should change the filter. I don't know why because both the filters were clean.
My truck is a 2005 F250 short bed with a 32-33 gal tank so I still had 10 gal of diesel in it when I filled it up. That kind of helped in keeping things lubed. I think the long beds have a 37-38 gal tank.
If she only drove a block I think you will be in good shape. I drove over 8 miles with no damage. Good luck...

Lavey29
05-30-2007, 10:31 PM
I have a 2004 F 250 and I appreciate all the advice which I will certainly follow. Once again, I stand back amazed at the high level of knowledge of the people on here. Thanks again for all the responses and help... Wife will still not be getting off easy for this one :D

Wild Horses
05-31-2007, 05:56 AM
You don't need to drain the tank or the lines. Just siphon all you can out of the tank. You will probably leave 3 or 4 gal in the tank. Don't worry about it. It with mix with and burn fine once you get the diesel in the tank.
Put a couple of 5 gal cans of diesel in the tank or more if you have enough cans to do it. Start it up,let it idle a little bit...as soon as it sounds normal your good to go. Go directly to a station and fill the rest of the tank with diesel. After I did the above I drove around for a while to make sure everything was ok and the drove home. I did put some diesel kleen in the tank when I got home because I use it all the time anyway and had it in stock. I really didn't see any need to change the filter because the truck ran great but I did because i think your suppose to at 15000 miles. It can't hurt thats for sure.
When I got the truck towed to my friends shop I called the local ford dealer and talked to a mechanic. He was the one that told me what to do. The ford mechanic also told me I should change the filter. I don't know why because both the filters were clean.
My truck is a 2005 F250 short bed with a 32-33 gal tank so I still had 10 gal of diesel in it when I filled it up. That kind of helped in keeping things lubed. I think the long beds have a 37-38 gal tank.
If she only drove a block I think you will be in good shape. I drove over 8 miles with no damage. Good luck...
This is the cheapest and an easy way to go. This is the route that I have taken and would recommend!:D

Havasu1
05-31-2007, 07:17 AM
I pulled this bone-head move in high school with my fine diesel rabbit (what a sweet ride, 0-60 in 2 minutes). All I did is drain the tank and put diesel in and it ran a little rough at first and then ran fine. Back then I was way to smart to think about changing the filters:jawdrop:

Big Warlock
05-31-2007, 07:22 AM
You don't need to drain the tank or the lines. Just siphon all you can out of the tank. You will probably leave 3 or 4 gal in the tank. Don't worry about it. It with mix with and burn fine once you get the diesel in the tank.
Put a couple of 5 gal cans of diesel in the tank or more if you have enough cans to do it. Start it up,let it idle a little bit...as soon as it sounds normal your good to go. Go directly to a station and fill the rest of the tank with diesel. After I did the above I drove around for a while to make sure everything was ok and the drove home. I did put some diesel kleen in the tank when I got home because I use it all the time anyway and had it in stock. I really didn't see any need to change the filter because the truck ran great but I did because i think your suppose to at 15000 miles. It can't hurt thats for sure.
When I got the truck towed to my friends shop I called the local ford dealer and talked to a mechanic. He was the one that told me what to do. The ford mechanic also told me I should change the filter. I don't know why because both the filters were clean.
My truck is a 2005 F250 short bed with a 32-33 gal tank so I still had 10 gal of diesel in it when I filled it up. That kind of helped in keeping things lubed. I think the long beds have a 37-38 gal tank.
If she only drove a block I think you will be in good shape. I drove over 8 miles with no damage. Good luck...
Easiest way out. You won't have too much trouble. I will be surprised if you have any damage. Change filters too!!

brianthomas
05-31-2007, 07:43 AM
Nearly 20 years ago I worked at a GMC dealership. We always put a 4-1 mix of diesel and gas in the pickups on the lot in the winter time. It made them start much easier when it was really cold out and they had set for days. Don't remember any ill effects.

dumbandyoung
05-31-2007, 09:20 AM
My lady friend almost did that to my truck at the river this past weekend. :D
But hey at least she gets out and pumps my gas:D :D

Lavey29
05-31-2007, 08:18 PM
Thanks again for all the advice. Mechanic drained it for me and flushed the lines. I also changed the filters because they were due anyways. Filled it up (with diesel) and added that diesel kleen stuff. Seems to be running fine and it only set me back $400 including the 27 gallons of gas I had to get rid of. :idea: I guess my B day dinner bash will be cancelled next week. Appreciate the help....take care...
Marc