All Yep….big dummy me did it. Got a 07 dodge 2500 HD with cummins diesel , had 1/4 tank of fuel and filled it up with gas. I drove about 20 miles. Had the truck towed to a dealership in Madison Wisc. ,they drained the tank , changed two filters , adjusted fuel pressure, and recommended a fuel additive to be used.
I’m interested if anybody has done this before or heard of it being done and what were the short term or long term effects on the engine. I have drove about 700mi since with no noticeable problems.
The dealership charged $391.00 for thework andthat included tow charge. From keep your mind on what you are doing department, in Wisc, diesel pumps have a yellow plastic shroud on thepump handle(probably a lot of other states too ) but in Illinois at least at my local station they are GREEN. ……….Thanks and Iwill humbly accept ANY comments.
Replies
Have you been told yet??????
DUMB AZZ!!!!!!!! LOL!
I don't own a diesel but I've tried to help out a lady who had done the same with her VW Rabbit. That was even better as I tried to replace the fuel filter thinking it was clogged. Smelt the gas and it never registered in my brain that some thing was wrong. The car never got going and she had it towed. ETC>>>>> Never heard of any problems after the $400 fix.
Sounds like your dealership is remarkably fair and honest.
And FWIW you are not the first person to do this. Buddy of mine with over 30 years heavy equipment and diesel experience, Cat certified mechanic, did this last fall. Just too busy, tired, and distracted.
Did it just occur to you after 20 miles that you had done this, or did the engine start behaving strangely? What caused you to shut 'er down and get a tow?
Have you driven it since the truck was repaired? How did it run?
The only four things I can think of right off that might be damaged are the injector pump from low lubricity (highly, highly unlikely after only 20 miles), might have eaten a few microns off a seal or two (also very unlikely given the '07 formulations for ULSD), you might have gotten a little ablation off of a few piston tops (nothing to be done about that now, and again, 20 miles is not that far), and you might have driven the exhaust gas temperature up a little higher than anyone would like to see, especially your turbocharger. The last one is the only real risk I see. And again, 20 miles is probably not the end of the world. Take a look at the turbo and the exhaust just beyond it for signs of unusual heat.
My guess is if it runs OK, it probably is OK.
Edited 3/3/2007 10:44 am by Catskinner
So your truck was designed for ULSD, and you tried the really ULTRA LOW SULPHUR?
This happens more than you think....filters changed...good to go. Not so sure about any long term effects on the tank fuel pump....but those are prone to puke anyhow.
Runs like crap on gas don't it?
I use 3oz. of an injector cleaner every tank. ...so far so good. Been doing this on all my diesels. My Dodge would sometimes develop a rough idle after short low power drives....cleaner has completely cured that. Keith C
I agree on the fuel treatment. I buy Howe's anti-gel/conditioner by the case and use it liberally. Every now and then the Howe's Power Cleaner really seems to help.It definitely cuts down on the smoking in the engines without ECM.Some may say it's a waste of money, I don't care. The engines run better, and if the manufacturer's claim for fuel economy is even 25% true the stuff probably pays for itself.
Thats one fine looking truck. I love the air scoop.
Tim
what ... no flames on the truck yet?
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I'm just itching to lay down some white to yellow to orange wispy flames down the side. May have to settle for a very subtle ghost job.
All ........Thanks All........I read the posts a couple of times I definately feel better.....I think :) ....Nails
In 98, I did this to my 97 Dodge RAM 1-ton. I was used to green nozzle handles for diesel all over the country. In California, I was nearly out of fuel and saw a diesel sign. I pulled into the station and went for the green nozzle, filled it up, and took off. I stopped a mile away at a shopping center to buy a lottery ticket. When I tried to start up the truck, it did not start instantly. I hit it again and it ran, although it didn't seem to have much power. I drove to the other end of the large parking lot and knew something was wrong.
I broke out in a sweat and cut off the engine so I could have time to think. I was 1200 miles from home, and my dependable cummins engine seemed to have a major problem. This was my third cummins diesel and I had never had a single problem with any of my Dodges. I thought through the possibilities.
I knew the only thing I had done recently that might have affected the truck was to fill the tank. I decided to drive back to the station to see if I had been seeing things. Sure enough, the sign said Diesel. Then I noticed that there were two gas stations right next to each other. I had gone into the Mobile station, which did not have Diesel. I checked out the green nozzle. It was gas.
It was Sunday afternoon. I didn't want to drive to my motel. I started up the engine again. This time it took three tries to get it to run. I drove slowly down the street, engine getting rougher and rougher. I stopped at a BP station. It was getting dark.
A young kid was the only person running the station. I told him my problem. He called the owner. They had just filled up the station's tanks that day. The owner finally let me push ( I was afraid to start it again) my truck over the fill valve and I siphoned the entire tank out. He said my 35 gallons would not affect the 20,000 gal in his tank.
I filled up with Diesel and gave the kid a $20.00 tip. It took three tries to start again, but the engine was purring within about one minute.
Now, nine years later, the truck has well over 100,000 miles and it is running like new. It still starts instantly.
I am very careful and no longer trust the nozzle handle color.
That's good.Really, I think this will all strike you funny one of these days and no real harm done.At least you should feel better than a former employer of mine, before I went to work there someone noticed that the brake fluid was low on a backhoe and being a good conscientious employee, he topped it off with brake fluid.Great, except the brake system on those machines don't use brake fluid.And brake fluid eats the seals.In the slave cylinder.Which is INSIDE the transaxle.That machine has probably died of old age and abuse by now, and as far as I know the brakes never were repaired.
Don't feel too bad. I was filling up at a gas station last summer and all of a sudden I hear this guy on the other side of the pumps swearing like crazy and carrying on, kicking stuff around yelling " GD it,SOB,blah, blah ,blah...I did it AGAIN.
I asked him what the problem was and he told me this was the third time in two weeks he had filled his diesel truck with gas. A slow learner perhaps???
My sister in law filled her dad's 98 dodge with gas and drove it about 30 miles to their house. They did the same thing that your dealership did, but never used an additive.
That was about 4 years ago and the truck is still runnin fine.
In HS i worked in a gas station with a truck island. Occasionally truckers would get 5-10 gallons of gas in before they realized they were at the wrong island.
Their accepted rule seemed to be to put about a quart of motor oil oil per gallon or two of gas, fill on up wth diesel, and drive away.
Don't know if it was a good idea or not
Forrest
Have seen this trick work more than once. Used to work on a charter / commercial fish boat and was chronically around the marina fuel dock. Marina had ~60' hoses on the pumps with no reels for them - so it was not impossible for the hoses to get hung back on the wrong pump. Nozzles were color coded (green was the diesel).
The whole marina was rather loosely managed and some of the more impatient customers (transients and weekenders) were known to opt for self-service.
Mistakes did happen and the accepted cure for gas in a diesel powered boat was 1 quart cheap 30w motor oil / gallon of gas pumped in error. This could turn into a significant quantity of motor oil if they had pumped in say 150, 200, 300, 400 gallons of gas!!! Sometimes had to pump out part of the gas / diesel mixture to make space for the oil.
The best goof (although also the most dangerous) that I ever saw was the guy who came in from fishing with his buddies, on a 24' ProLine, I think perhaps there had been some beer on the boat at some time during the day, one of his buddies offered to pump the gas so the owner could go to the head at the marina.
The owner got back from the head just in time for his automatic bilge pump to kick on and begin spreading a "gasoline slick" across the basin. His buddy had inserted the gas nozzle into a rod holder next to the gas fill and was merrily pumping the bilge full of gasoline. Owner managed to hit the master battery switch (above decks) killing the electrical power to the pump. The fire department and the Coast Guard responded promptly.
I moved our boat quietly around to a transient slip until all the fire trucks and the Proline left.
Jim
Never underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.
You could move to Jersey where you don't have to worry about that. We can't pump our own gas, so the attendant will be the one doing the name calling.
Its the same in Oregon. I'm Curious. Why can't you pump your own in some states? And I promise: No Jersey jokes.
I don't know why it's like that here. We are still cheaper than the other side of the river though, so I don't mind one bit. I get to stap toast warm while my tank is being filled.
it happens quite a bit... just keep your head out of your duffel bag..:)
.have you given any thought to running biodeisel
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, wer ist jetzt der Idiot ?
A co-worker of mine was saying that she'll wait for the price of gasoline to get so high that she can buy a used Hummer cheaply to tow her boat. I asked her if she remembered the 70's oil embargo, when it wasn't price then but availability, with all the lines at gas stations and people couldn't take trips for fear of having no gas enroute. She didn't remember, being probably in her early teens at the time. Well. that was also when people would steal gas from cars, and locking gas caps were popular. I was at Fort Bragg at the time, and we had a case of a gas thief coming on post and grabbing jerry cans of gasoline to put in his car. Seems he grabbed some diesel by mistake and took off. He didn't make it out the gate that time.
what a hoot..isn't MOGAS like the lowest octane around anyway.
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., wer ist jetzt der Idiot ?
Don't feel bad, when I was still living at home I'd top off my Toyota Camry with my dad's gas cans from the garage so I'd still have money for beer. Well in the dark a green can is hard to tell from a red can, so minimize the risk and use both. Car never seemed to run funny or brake down ever but man did my dad's tractor ever eat through the fuel though. LOL
What's better is when they left for vacation and I came home from school to "watch" err rather party in the new house I thought I was doing pop a favor with some yard work and being a new country house the yard was pretty bare. So I raked up the soil found the grass seed, spread, tamped, covered, water, etc... I had to do this a couple more times since I couldn't keep the finches from eating it up. Eager to show what a good son I was upon their return I explained my good deed.
Dad-"Where did you find the seed from?"
Me-"From the tub of seed in the garage, duh."
Dad-"The bird seed in the tub in the garage?"
Me-"No the grass seed, there wasn't any bird seed in it."
Dad-"Well there sure isn't any grass seed out there."
Me-"Well no, not now that's what I'm trying to tell you. I used it all up. You're gonna have to get some more for the back half."
Dad as an avid gardener and pretty particular about things at times I figured he was just getting annoyed because he had some other plan of how to do it or season or wanted to do it himself as he walked off annoyed.
Mom came over to put a reassuring hand on my shoulder, and whispered "Your father keeps the finches thistle seed in that tub, it looks just like grass seed."
Me starting to clue in and sort of pissed off at my self and wasted effort, back to my mom.
Me--"That explains not being able to keep the birds out of the yard. But why the hell would anybody have a tub for bird seed, it comes in a perfectly good labeled bag all ready that's just stupid."
Mom--"To keep the mice out of it and from coming into garage."
Me--A grumbled moan of angst and stupidity. I hollered back to Dad.--"Well you won't have to worry about the mice in the garage now, they'll stick to the yard."
Whoops!
Nails,
I remember the owners manual from a turbo diesel jetta I had recommended adding up to 25% gasoline in cold weather. I think I only did it once and about twleve people at the pumps told me I was crazy.
Yeah, so?
Ron
Nails,
Sounds about right. The fuel injectors, injector pump ect are all lubricated by the fuel going through them. Gasoline is not a good lubricant at all, that is why they wanted the additive in the tank in case there was any gas residue left. Gas can ruin Diesel injection pumps and injectors real fast. If you only ran it 20 miles, and had 1/4 tank to start with, you probably did not do any long term damage.
The price sounds ok too. Dont know how much the tow was, but around here most dealers are at around $100 per hour and I am sure it took them a couple to fix it. Sounds like they treated you well.
Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md
yes i did that i went to fill 3 gas rigs up and then spaced out, Drove home 1 mile took off the fuel line hooked up a little water pump that goes on the garden hose pumped out the gas into cans, The neighbor got some free gas, Just lost one garden hose i had to cut, I even wrote by the fuel cap DIESEL only but still did it
You may remember back in the early 80's when GM tried diesel engines in their full size cars. Didn't catch on. A friend of mine in suburban Chicago had one, a big Buick, and he decided to have a gasoline engine put in it after he had perpetual winter starting problems. Still had the diesel emblem on it, however. You can see this coming. So his wife stopped at a gas station and started pumping gasoline into the car. The station manager came running out frantically, yelling at her to stop. I wish I'd seen it.
I forgot to say my friend told me about the pump idea im not that smart;) The hard part was calling him and telling what i had done
I rented a bobcat for the weekend and filled it up with diesel on the way back to the rental place. They checked the fuel level said it was out of fuel I go can't be just filled it.....Oh sh.t filled the hydraulic side! Had to buy 15 Gallons of hydraulic fluid just to flush it out and another 15 to replace.
ANDYSZ2WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
I filled the hydraulic tank on a boom lift with gas once...whoops..Wars of nations are fought to change maps. But wars of poverty are fought to map change.
i had my guys do that to one of mine.... fueled the hydo tank..... no one told em to fuel it... i hate when folks think they are help'n and make more work for me... :)
still owe u lunch dude
p
Don't feel too bad, we were deicing at work and one of the guys filled the fuel tank with glycol instead of diesel. Trucks don't run at all on glycol.(de-ice fluid)
Lol, one of my partners has his truck stolen while he was pumping gas into the empty gas cans. The truck was idling (it was winter and cold) and the thieves jumped in and drove off LOL spilling the gas cans all over the driveway! Anyways, they ran out of fuel and put some gas in it. It didn't get far and they abandoned it.
He's never had any problems with it.
blue
"...
keep looking for customers who want to hire YOU.. all the rest are looking for commodities.. are you a commodity ?... if you get sucked into "free estimates" and "soliciting bids"... then you are a commodity... if your operation is set up to compete as a commodity, then have at it..... but be prepared to keep your margins low and your overhead high...."
From the best of TauntonU.
Was at a Fast Gas Station last fall and a fellow pulls up and fills his diesel truck up. He proceeds to tell me that its the second time today. The first was when he pulled up to a Shell station and fueled up with gas. He went into the Convience store to get some goodies and when the clerk asked if there was anything else he said " just the diesel" she told him they did not sell diesel. Seems that he was used to a YELLOW handle on the diesel dispensing pump. In this case it was just #1 gas. He had his truck towed to garage and they drained it out and changed filters. He said it was $420. to have that work done plus the cost of the gas. So I would caution against using the colour of the nozzel handle to determine the kind of fuel.
I have 3 fuel tanks at my shop. Diesel, Coloured diesel and gas. All white tanks, all red nozzles, all 800 gal. Each one says towards the top whatever fuel is in the tank. One of my salt truck drivers filled up a completly empty tank on my 81 western star plow truck in the middle of a very bad snow storm. The tanks had been covered in snow and he could not see which one it was so he guessed. Plowed snow for 2 hours before the truck died. Don't ask me how. Had it towed to my buddies shop where he worked on it for 14 hours and amazingly got it running. That was 4 years ago. Still runs like a top. Now I have a seperate locking switch for my gas pump and gave it a different colour nozzle and big sticker saying gas. If it happens again your to blind to drive my damn trucks.
I spent most of 1992 in Taiwan on a construction project, and I had a little Vespa scooter, with a two stroke engine. for getting around on. So many people over there ride scooters that most gas stations have a pump that delivers gas already premixed with oil. If I remember correctly, the handle on those pumps was blue.
Anyway, one day I accidentally filled up from the straight gas pump, and I discovered just how long a two stroke scooter would run without oil before the piston siezed....fortunately, it pulled up lame right in front of another gas station, so I coasted in, had a Chinese Coca-Cola while I waited for the engine to cool down, bought a quart of oil and poured it in, and the darn thing started right up like nothing ever happened.
Diesel can thicken so much in the winter that the engine won't start. One tip I heard was to put a gallon of petrol in with the diesel when filling the tank. This makes the diesel more volatile and makes for less problems in the sub zero temps.
Don't feel too bad. We've been driving a diesel for about 8 years now, and this past summer I did the exact same thing. Once we pumped out all the gasoline, changed the filters, and started her up, ran like a top.
The mechanic that did this for us said that he gets to do that about twice a month, and hasn't seen any evidence that any harm is done since the engine just quits running as soon as the pump gets to the gasoline.
The thing that threw me was I am used to the big nozzles being for diesel and/or having a green cover on the nozzle. You just can't take that for granted! LOL!