Someone that owns a lot of trucks and logging equipment with diesel engines, said he put about a gallon of gas in 150 gals of diesel and he had no trouble with the water. Has anyone heard of or agree with this?
That doesn't keep water out. At that dilution it probably wouldn't cause any damage to your engine but gasoline can ruin diesel engines. We do diesel engine repair and feel that you would be better off ignoring this tip.
Are you sure he didnt say DRY gas? 2 totally different products. Dry gas is Isophryl Alcohol. Gasoline in a diesel engine will not combust.
This DUMMY, me, failed to keep a full tank of fuel, and I think I have gotten bad fuel, not from a truck stop. I have drained some out of the bottom. At present I have about 50 gals and plan on filling up tomorrow on the way out. One gallon of gas in 150 gals. of diesel, will burn and should not affect the performance any. I was just wondering what effect the gas has on the water? Gas burns cooler than diesel, but has a different octane. I have put Seafoam in and it has helped it some. Hopefully I can get about 20 miles to a truck stop for some fresh fuel.
Lonesoldier Never buy diesel at a small station only large truck stops. Gas can damage your diesel engine.
Gasoline will not remove the water. Check your fuel filter and see if there is any black stuff there. You may have bacteria there and might need a biocide that is available at the truck stop.
Installed new fuel and air filter about a month ago, no evidence of anything in the filter. I have a 400 cummins. It is a water/fuel separator filter and the lite has not illuminated saying there was water in the fuel and that confuses me.
QUOTE(John Blue @ Nov 22 2009, 08:21 PM) [snapback]20098[/snapback] Lonesoldier Never buy diesel at a small station only large truck stops. Gas can damage your diesel engine. What's the theory behind this? Are you saying gas station diesel is just no good, or that the user is liable to put gas in his tank accidently, or what? Just curious. I buy diesel in both, and never noticed any issue either way. I like gas stations when I can use my cc at the pump and get out of there, and not have to go inside and wait behind everybody buying cigarettes, lottery tickets, gallon jugs of Mountain Dew to go with their Moon Pies, and all the rest.
jan-n-john, The problem is old fuel and bacteria in the fuel tanks underground. Large truck stops turn over fuel in some cases each day. Small stations could go months or longer (may be a year or more) and not move a lot of fuel. The Black death can plug up everything from tank to engine in the fuel system. If you get into this stuff you may only drive a short ways before the engine stops. If can stop up filters in min's. The cost to clean up the mess is high, and all the fuel in tank will need to be removed to do the job. We only use large truck stops for fuel. Never had a problem yet.
i watch to see where the truckers get their fuel. there are no truck stops around where i live. there are a lot of stations that sell diesel. i go where the locals go with ther dump trucks and tractors. mostly a hess station near by. if they are using the fuel it's got to be good enough for me and my f 350. i do put the additive in every tank full.
QUOTE(dog bone @ Dec 1 2009, 10:08 PM) [snapback]20180[/snapback] i watch to see where the truckers get their fuel. there are no truck stops around where i live. there are a lot of stations that sell diesel. i go where the locals go with ther dump trucks and tractors. mostly a hess station near by. if they are using the fuel it's got to be good enough for me and my f 350. i do put the additive in every tank full. I strongly suspect the reason the local truck guys are filling up at Hess is because it's generally the cheapest place around. Hess seems always to be the cheapest or nearly so--I use Hess at times myself when on the road. But what that says about whether it's any better than than any other brand is less clear to me. QUOTE The problem is old fuel and bacteria in the fuel tanks underground. Large truck stops turn over fuel in some cases each day. Small stations could go months or longer (may be a year or more) and not move a lot of fuel. The Black death can plug up everything from tank to engine in the fuel system. If you get into this stuff you may only drive a short ways before the engine stops. Thanks. I now at least understand the theory behind your suggestion that only large places be used. It's true that bacteria can grow in diesel, and it can be a problem if, say, you leave your vehicle around for months and then start it up. I must say, however, that I've never heard of a dramatic event such as you describe, from a retail tank. Seems to me if it did happen it would happen to many buyers and there would be lawsuits galore and lots of (bad) publicity, so wouldn't the gas companies take measures to prevent it? One of the reasons they have those highly-paid petroleum engineers on staff. Or maybe I just haven't had my antenna out.
QUOTE(Lonesoldier @ Nov 22 2009, 02:28 PM) [snapback]20090[/snapback] Someone that owns a lot of trucks and logging equipment with diesel engines, said he put about a gallon of gas in 150 gals of diesel and he had no trouble with the water. Has anyone heard of or agree with this? I have two relatives who are certified diesel mechanics and manage their own seperate company fleets. I asked their advise before making this post. They would not add gas to diesel. The advise was to keep the tanks full to help prevent condensation, buy an additive at your local auto parts store that is designed to desperse water, and then occassionally check for water using the fuel filter drain cock. You can either drain the fuel now in the tanks or fill up and run it all out as soon as possible then put clean diesel back in. As for the algae that can get into the tank, it can be prevented by adding a biocyde, but more importantly shop for diesel where the supply is turned over frequently..like a frequently used truck stop. As for checking a fuel filter for algae, one must cut the outer metal shell off to actually see the filter material inside of it. If it appears slimy and black, you have a problem. jan-n-john> For someone who wasn't born with much patience, and has lost most of that along the way, I do agree with you on waiting in line. But it is preferrable to getting bad fuel and having to spend the $$ to get the tank removed and cleaned. I can assure you that it will cost you at least two 100 gallon fills ups for the lack of patience. I have the t-shirt!!
OK, I now have run about 150 gallons of new fuel and on my last trip out filled up at a well used truck stop on my way out and then filled up on my return. Engine is still skipping when governor kicks in and is erratic. I did not add the gas and I have not added more additive. I am going out again in a couple of weeks, do I add an additive now? Tank is full,150 gallons. How much? I have experienced algae in JP 4 while in the service, a big yellow blob, but this is the first time in diesel. Learning lessons the hard way is not fun.
jan-n-john, All types of odd ball things go wrong in the world we live in. Here are a couple for you to think about. A truck/car rental company in Tampa lost all the diesel engines due to a little mistake. New person from Mexico dumped 5000 gals of gas in underground diesel tank and dumped the diesel in gas tank. No problem at this point. Soon all the trucks were refueled with the new fuel mix. In a short time all trucks and cars were stopped on side of road with dead engines. All diesel engines had to be replaced and car engine were saved but fuel system clean out was in order. Cost tons of money to clean the mess up and rental business was shut down a long time. One of my friends stopped to refuel a Ford pickup at the Flying-J in Tampa with diesel. He was able to drive short time before the engine blew up. Problem was gas in diesel fuel. Truck company in Tampa with large number of trucks did not use DCA in coolant system. The first truck come back in with coolant leaks at 300,000 miles. Shop found the hold engine was eat up due to missing DCL (you need this in all large block diesel engines). Shop had to replace all engines. Tons of money lost here as well. Look up DCA on webs sites for more information. Bottom line, problems can bite you.
Lonesoldier, Look for a fuel leak or you may have air in the system. If you have a leak air can be pulled in with fuel and this may be the erratic running. Air in one fuel injector will run you nuts. If you have a fuel rail system or older type injector system air can get trapped and it is hard to work it out of system. One more place is the fuel lines with a small pin hole. Also fuel filters have come out of box with a pin hole leak in filter can.
The only reason I know why people put gasoline in diesel fuel was to prevent the paraffin in the fuel to gel at low temperatures, and this was before winter diesel became the norm. At the time it was usually 1 to 40, like 1 ltr gas on 40 ltrs diesel.
