Diesel engine question....

[Chuck Wintle]

I often wondered what will happen to a diesel motor if gasoline is substituted for diesel fuel. Will the motor run or will it blow up?

[Kevin Barnett]

I often wondered what will happen to a diesel motor if gasoline is substituted for diesel fuel. Will the motor run or will it blow up?

Tried it. Stops running.

BP handles are all green. Green usually denotes diesel. shortly afterward realized something amiss. No longer stop at BPs.

One dropped tank later, good to go.

[Joe Angrisani]

You'll ruin it. It'll run, but a diesel gets some of it's lubrication from the fuel oil, so things like the cylinder walls will be scored and damaged in short order (think minutes).

In case you're curious, the "other direction" isn't so bad. If you put diesel in gasoline engine, it won't run. But it won't do permanent damage.

[Jim O'Dell]

Yeah, worked on a few GMs where people did that. Drop the tank and flush it out. Flush the fuel lines and replace the fuel filter. It's worse when there is water in the diesel, but then the station is responsible for paying that fee. Word of advice, steer clear of Murphy oil (Walmarts around here use it). Jim.

[jim hollenback]

The cylinder walls, like is a gas engine, get most of their lubrication from the crankcase oil. What is really at risk is the high pressure fuel pump and injectors. These depend on the lubrication from the fuel oil. Gasoline has zero lubrication properties.

[Shawn Pixley]

My old Peugeot 504D Station Wagon blew a head gasket when the diesel I bought was contaminated with gas and water at a station in Sprague Washington in the 80's. it got me all the way to Seattle. It died a half block from my apartment in Queen Anne. I loved that car. It had about 340k miles on it when the gasket blew.

[Brian Elfert]

I had the opposite issue once. I was putting diesel into my diesel VW Golf and an employee shut off the pump because he thought I was putting diesel into a gasoline car.

[Curt Fuller]

Besides the lubrication issue, diesel engines "fire" from the heat of compression. I don't know for sure whether gasoline has a higher or lower point of ignition but I think it's significantly lower. That's why high performance engines with 11-12 to 1 compression ping or pre-ignite on regular gasoline. Diesel engines are running around 20 to 1 compression.

[Chris Damm]

The bosses son was diving our diesel flatbed and put 40 gallons of gas in it 40 miles from the shop. He made it 2 miles from the station. The engine could not be rebuilt and was a very expensive mistake. He no longer worked there either!

[Mike Henderson]

You'll ruin it. It'll run, but a diesel gets some of it's lubrication from the fuel oil, so things like the cylinder walls will be scored and damaged in short order (think minutes).

In case you're curious, the "other direction" isn't so bad. If you put diesel in gasoline engine, it won't run. But it won't do permanent damage.

When I was in the army, I was a driver before I went to OCS. One night on maneuvers, I came back late and went to the wrong truck (in the boonies, no lights) and put diesel in a gas jeep. Luckily, the tank was half full so it was a mixture of gas and diesel. The jeep ran as long as I had the choke out about half way and it smoked. I was glad to get that tank of fuel used and fill back up with gas. I didn't tell the motor pool what had happened when I turned the jeep in.

Mike

[Rick Moyer]

Completely gasoline or partial gasoline? You can put SOME gasoline in a diesel engine, maybe 10-20% and probably be ok.

[Jerome Stanek]

And it depends on the engine. Back in the 70's when I was in the service they had multi fuel engines in some of the trucks

[Jeremy Hamaker]

I've heard or experienced stories secondhand, both ways. Gas may blow up your diesel or just stop running. At which point you may have to drain the tank. Blow the lines. Replace the filter(s). Clean the injectors.
Diesel in a gas car may mean you can run the diesel out of it, if you're lucky and can mix in gas. Or, it may require up to draining the tank, blowing the lines, replacing the filters, and cleaning the injectors. In my opinion, the consequences are dire enough both ways that I always am -very- careful to make sure the types don't get crossed...

[Brian Elfert]

All this confusion over fuel types is part of the reason why the military is trying to standardize on JP8 or diesel as the fuel source for everything. The other reasons are to only have to haul one type of fuel and diesel is not nearly as explosive. I have even read about them trying out diesel powered motorcycles.

[Jim Matthews]

I remember that landmark... it's been paved over, since.

Were you the one that left the "Repair order despatched to factory" note in the window?
It was a handy drop for the Thurn and Taxis carriers, until Seattle became the gleaming metropolis we know today.


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