Oops, wrong pump

Z

Zorro

Well-known member
So, I was watching the Superbowl when I got a call from my daughter. Her car was broke down in Cambridge, and had to be gotten out of there that night. She told me that it broke down shortly after her boyfriend put some gas in the car. When I got to where the car was, I removed the gas cap and ran my finger around around the filler neck. A quick sniff of my hand told me that he had put diesel in the tank. He must have had to really work at that because a diesel nozzle wont fit into a gas filler neck. :roll: I had the car towed home which cost me $68.00 with AAA . The next day we got another foot or so of snow, but I was able to start on it that evening out on the driveway. I had to drain the diesel by removing the float and fuel pump assy, then used a hand pump to remove about 7 gallons of mostly diesel. (I put that fuel in my home heating tank.) I got done with that part at around 9:30 PM, and since it was about 19 degrees outside, I decided it was time to quit for the night. The next day I had to replace her battery because the key was left on overnight the night it was towed, and a cell must have froze. I pulled the spark plugs, and cranked the engine for a couple of minutes hoping that would clear the fuel line. It didn't. With new plugs installed, I squirted gas into the throttle body and got it to fire up. I had to repeat this a few times before it would stay running. Got all that done in time for my wife to come tell me that the furnace stopped working.
Paul
 
Never use any gasoline in a furnace. If Diesel and gasoline are mixed, about the only use for that mixture is in a Diesel. And even then, perhaps only in older Diesel engines and added at no more than 10% of the mixture in the tank. .
"Flash Point" is the temperature at which a fuel produces sufficient vapors to ignite with a spark. For gasoline, that temperature is about -50 deg F. For Diesel, it is about 150 deg F.
In a furnace or stove, a little gasoline could result in an explosion when fumes ignite. Pouring a little gasoline into a cold wood stove and then lighting a match is a guaranteed explosion of some magnitude. Pouring Diesel onto smoldering coals can also explode as the coals can bring the fuel above flash point.
Volkswagen and Mercedes many years ago both suggested adding gasoline to the tank of their Diesels to prevent fuel gelling in cold weather.
As the two-cycle mix gets old here, it goes into the tank on my Diesel tractor. Usually there is not more than a quart of the old mix to be used.
 
I appreciate what you're saying about flash points etc, but the gas involved was only about a gallon and a half, and pre-mixed with 5.2 gallons of diesel. This put on top of about 150 gallons of home heating fuel is not going to be a problem.
 
Zorro":2ovp6s4z said:
....... He must have had to really work at that because a diesel nozzle wont fit into a gas filler neck. :roll: ........
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Not hard to do at all if you're dumping it in from a can. :shock: especially one that you "borrowed" :shock: :shock: from a neighbor that put diesel in a gas can because gas their gas keeps vaporizing mysteriously :shock: :shock: :shock: Maybe I'm just suspicious.

I really hope that your furnace problem is not related to your fuel addition and that it is only a coincidence (and that it's nothing serious).
 
I was formally and thoroughly trained in oil burner servicing in 1972, still have my certificate. One gallon of gasoline has the equivalent explosive power of 33 sticks of dynamite.
 
Well that proves the old adage "That no good deed goes unpunished" :lol: :lol: I didn't think that 7 gallons of diesel oil put into 150 gallons of home heating oil / kersoene would cause a problem with your burner, but I am no expert and stand to be corrected. :oops: :oops:
Bernard,
Donegal Cub.
 
Donegal Cub":1fy9po62 said:
I didn't think that 7 gallons of diesel oil put into 150 gallons of home heating oil / kersoene would cause a problem with your burner,
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Bernard, the heating oil is not the issue. it is the gallon of gasoline that was mixed with it that causes the concen.

Now, on that note, I have been told that anything less than 1% will not cause much of a problem if mixed thoroughly. However, I would never mix the fuels knowing it was contaminated.

Bottom line, It is best if your heating man tells you what works.
 
The furnace problem was just the electric eye. I was able to pick one up at the hardware store for $25.00. Burner runs fine now and her car is fine too. Now if I could just get her to dump her boyfriend.... :P
 
Glad to hear the furnace problem was minor.

Still curious as to what explanation the boyfriend gave as to how he got diesel into a gas car?
 
Scrivet":fp4zvjre said:
Glad to hear the furnace problem was minor.

Still curious as to what explanation the boyfriend gave as to how he got diesel into a gas car?
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I will remain forever curious about that. One thing I will say though; the fuel was put in at a Hess Station. At Hess the nozzle for regular gas and for diesel are green in color. I can understand picking up the wrong nozzle, but when he saw that the nozzle would not go into the filler neck properly, it should have raised a red flag.
 
wfmdfm":37xflm5a said:
The sad part of this is you missed the Patriots win the Super Bowl !
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There were a LOT of sad parts to this; paying for a 20-mile tow is one, draining the fuel in sub-freezing temperatures is another one, getting the car to actually run again while working out in the cold was not much fun either, but YEAH!!! Missing that game really truly :censored: !!!!
 
Zorro":k4xaj9ty said:
wfmdfm":k4xaj9ty said:
The sad part of this is you missed the Patriots win the Super Bowl !
Click to expand...
There were a LOT of sad parts to this; paying for a 20-mile tow is one, draining the fuel in sub-freezing temperatures is another one, getting the car to actually run again while working out in the cold was not much fun either, but YEAH!!! Missing that game really truly :censored: !!!!
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I think possible future son in law :shock: :lol: would be the one out in the cold fixing his mistake. At least alongside me while I fixed it and he definitely would be reimbursing me for the tow bill.
 
[/quote] I think possible future son in law :shock: :lol: would be the one out in the cold fixing his mistake. At least alongside me while I fixed it and he definitely would be reimbursing me for the tow bill.[/quote]
No worries there, According to the latest intel, this guy is on the way out! :D
 
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