Gas & Diesel Mix

[5030]

Bought myself a TSC riding lawnmower with a Briggs 24 horse V twin. The other day I mistakenly put about 2 gallons of diesel in the tank. There was about a gallon of gas already in the mower and the engine was warm. I went back to mowing and the mower started having a funny smell but was running okay. I shut it off and then restarted it. It smoked and sparked knocked so i drained it out (my fuel was red and the diesel can was empty) (duhhh!!). I refilled it with fresh gas and added a little Lucas fuel system cleaner. I've been told that diesel in a gas engine won't hurt it. Any ideas?

 

[StanInCalif]

If you run it long enough and hard enough, it will hurt it, but I don't think you did. Diesel in gas is not nearly as bad as gas in a diesel.

 

[Bird]

I'd be very surprised if you did any damage beyond maybe a little carbon on the spark plugs and that ought to clear up, too, after you run it awhile on gasolline again.

 

[MossRoad]

In the early 80's my friend converted a diesel car to a gas engine. Several times he loaned it out to people that were kind enough to fill the tank for him. Unfortunately, he never removed the DIESEL only stickers from the fuel gauge or filler hole and so they put diesel in the tank. He removed them after the third time(hee hee hee). It smoked, belched and knocked, but never did any damage. You should be fine.

 

[yooperdave]

My Uncle who farms had a hired man put diesel in his gasoline powered combine. My parents latter hired this same person to cut greens at their golf course. He then put gasoline in the diesel powered greensmower /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

We all assumed that after operating equipment for a number of years, one would know the smells of different fuels, the reason behind a glow plug, signs on the filler opening which dictates which type of fuel to use, etc.

It cost us a whole lot of money to get our diesel engine back in service again.

This person no longer works for either family now. He continues to push the envelope of dumb & dumber.

Yooper Dave

 

[Bird]

Dave, I had a neighbor who hired a helper for cutting and baling hay, and the helper put diesel in the radiator. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[chrisjbell]

This brings up sad and fresh painful memories. My wife put straight gas in my 2 stroke trimmer. I guess it ran OK for her when she used it, but then I was trying to use it and I couldn't get it to run correctly. I understood why when she mentioned that "she might have put the wrong gas in"... /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Now I'm on a quest to replace it... /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[5030]

Get a stihl and dont let your wife fill the tank. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[chrisjbell]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Get a stihl and dont let your wife fill the tank. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
)</font>

Yeah, I think you're right about the Stihl. Looks like a pretty good unit and isn't priced in the "really expensive" arena.

My wife is properly embarassed. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif She feels especially silly because we have a number of small tanks but it is really easy to figure out which is which. The big yellow one is diesel, the red ones are straight gas, and the red one with the bright yellow pour spout is the gas / oil mix. Plus there's a nifty little graphic on the trimmer that shows that it needs gas / oil /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif.

On the other hand, I don't really want to discourage her from helping out entirely so I'm trying to go easy on her /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif. It isn't always easy, though /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif...

 

[thcri]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( On the other hand, I don't really want to discourage her from helping out entirely so I'm trying to go easy on her /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif. It isn't always easy, though /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif... )</font>


Chrisjbell,

You should have told your wife it was your fault for putting the wrong fuel in the wrong tank. You see she would have agreed with you and then said that she probably has to do more of the work around there to make sure it gets done right???? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif


Murph