Contaminated fuel

[M37UK]

I have the opportunity to get contaminated fuel, which means gasoline that has 5-10% diesel mixed in.

Would the truck run on this type of mixture and if so, would it harm it in any way.
I have heard that mixed fuel would make the engine harder to start but once warmed up it is fine.

Any thoughts?

Cheers

[Lifer]

If your engine is in good shape, it will run on it just fine....with a couple of notable exceptions. (1) It will have a noticeable loss in power. (2) You may notice some blue smoke from the exhaust. (3) The engine may be a little harder to start when cold.

If you put a couple of gallons in the tank at a time and then top it of with straight gas, you probably won't notice the above possibilities.

Of course, you could use it in the lawn mower.

[MSeriesRebuild]

I have the opportunity to get contaminated fuel, which means gasoline that has 5-10% diesel mixed in.

Would the truck run on this type of mixture and if so, would it harm it in any way.
I have heard that mixed fuel would make the engine harder to start but once warmed up it is fine.

Any thoughts?

Cheers

Time for common sense to kick in!!

#1 is the above mixture 100% verifiable?

#2 are you prepared to suffer for any ill effects that nobody will think about to mention which could come up as a result of putting the unknown into your tank. Any cost savings on this snake oil may turn out to be cost increases.

#3 as you might imagine my advice would be totally not in favor of doing it; your 251 Dodge is not a multifuel engine.

#4 has common sense kicked in yet?

#5 my condolences if it has not.

#6 it's your truck and your choice.

[M37UK]

I have the opportunity to get contaminated fuel, which means gasoline that has 5-10% diesel mixed in.

Would the truck run on this type of mixture and if so, would it harm it in any way.
I have heard that mixed fuel would make the engine harder to start but once warmed up it is fine.

Any thoughts?

Cheers

Time for common sense to kick in!!

#1 is the above mixture 100% verifiable?

#2 are you prepared to suffer for any ill effects that nobody will think about to mention which could come up as a result of putting the unknown into your tank. Any cost savings on this snake oil may turn out to be cost increases.

#3 as you might imagine my advice would be totally not in favor of doing it; your 251 Dodge is not a multifuel engine.

#4 has common sense kicked in yet?

#5 my condolences if it has not.

#6 it's your truck and your choice.

#1 the content is verifiable but not the ratio.
#2 Cost savings are potentially huge as this fuel would be offered to me FREE and even using it to drive a few 1000 miles would save me enough to buy another engine if it all went wrong !!
#3 The 251 engines arent really designed for 95 octane unleaded gasoline either but I have no choice in that one. I wondered if perhaps having diesel in the mix would reduce the octane rating and help as a lubricant at the same time.
#4 common sense usually prevails.
#5 see above
#6 Agreed, but I like to make informed choices, hence the questions to all you helpful guys on this forum.

My main concern is what damage could potentially be caused to my engine.

[MSeriesRebuild]

That question is in the realm of the unknown by all us folks who don't know what you may be pouring in the tank, or what its effects could be. It all reverts back to #6, your truck your choice. If your choice is to go for it; then maybe you will be able to answer the question and inform the rest of us.

I could offer more opinions and possibilities, but the simple truth is you will have no idea concerning possible down side effects until the experiment is complete. All else I know to say is it is your call whether you want to risk doing the experiment or not.

The reason for my statement in #3 is simple. I'm not about to advise you to pour this unknown mix (to me) in your tank. If serious issues were to be the result, I'd feel terrible over offering bad advice that cost you $$$. Thus my answer here.

My thoughts on diesel in a gas burner would mainly be this. #7, diesel is atomized into a fog form when injected into the combustion chamber in a diesel engine. It will not be in that fine form when it reaches the cylinder in a gas engine. It will likely not burn completely, thus raw fuel residue may indeed find its way into your crankcase deluting the oil. I imagine you can also realize this would not be good. This is certainly 1 serious down side issue in the realm of possibility.

[ZGjethro]

I know I get away with running old two stroke and weed wacker gas in my old truck and in my modern vehicles. I run 80:1 Amsoil, so a gallon of this in 15-20 gallons of 85 octane gas seems like a pretty good dilution. You could change your oil more frequently if you think unburned fuel is migrating downwards into your engine. I'd be tempted to use it (more diluted than 10%) if it was free.

[ZGjethro]

Just wondering where this fuel is coming from? Is it from people pumping the wrong fuel into their vehicles and then having it pumped out? How old is the fuel.

[M37UK]

Just wondering where this fuel is coming from? Is it from people pumping the wrong fuel into their vehicles and then having it pumped out? How old is the fuel.

Thats exactly where it would be coming from, people pumping wrong fuel into their tanks. It would be no more than a week or 2 old.

[M37UK]

I know I get away with running old two stroke and weed wacker gas in my old truck and in my modern vehicles. I run 80:1 Amsoil, so a gallon of this in 15-20 gallons of 85 octane gas seems like a pretty good dilution. You could change your oil more frequently if you think unburned fuel is migrating downwards into your engine. I'd be tempted to use it (more diluted than 10%) if it was free.

yeah, I think you've nailed it on the head, the mix would HAVE to be less than 10%. My theory is this, most people fill up their tanks when they are nearly empty, so potentially the % of "old" fuel would be minimum.


I might try the experiment.

[repealThe17th]

you might think about testing a sample in your lawn mower 1st. clean the spark plug, change the gas filter and change the oil. then run it with your contaminated gas for a while. if performance is satisfactory, then make sure you examine the oil and spark plug carefully before declaring your experiment a success.

[M37UK]

you might think about testing a sample in your lawn mower 1st. clean the spark plug, change the gas filter and change the oil. then run it with your contaminated gas for a while. if performance is satisfactory, then make sure you examine the oil and spark plug carefully before declaring your experiment a success.

Thats a good idea, thanks.

[Brett]

I would imagine the idea of "free" gas would would be even more appealing in your neck of the woods, given the higher prices you guys normally pay.

Its a little tricky for us to assume what would happen in your truck, since there may be big differences in the gas and Diesel you get, and what we get. for instance the on road diesel we get is now limited to 15 PPM on sulfer. Its designed to burn cleaner, which, it would seem to me, would lead to less problems in your situation.

Anyway, I say go for it, but with caution. I would get a small fuel tank like from an outboard motor, and run a few gallons that way. I would look at your spark plugs before and after looking for signs of trouble. A more permanant second fuel tank would allow you to plumb in a selector valve to start on clean gas and switch to commingled fuel once warmed up. In that case you would also want to switch back to clean gas before shut down to fill the carb with good stuff. I think the diesel would also raise the octane rating slightly, and you may be able to advance the timing a bit to get a more complete burn. Honestly I hope you do it so you tell us all how it goes.

Brett

[MSeriesRebuild]

How long has this fuel been in storage, and how long will you have to store until all can be used up? This is another HUGE factor that I would consider; I know what stale fuel does.

Neither am I going to say I hope you follow through with this so you can tell the rest if it turned out bad. In fact, I think it a bit selfish to encourage you to do it chancing ill effects; in order that you could relay results to others discouraging them from doing similar. If I were having 2nd thoughts about it being the right thing to do, I surely would not hang you out to dry.

[M37UK]

I guess I need to read up a lot more on the subject.
I will still give it a try on the mower though.

Will let you know how I get on, but it may be a while yet before I get hold of a sample of the contam.


Thanks for all your views so far guys.

[98taco3]

I have quite a bit of experience with wrong fuels being put into tanks. I used to work as a mechanic in the rental industry and there were many many times when customers filled diesels with gas or gassers with diesel. The effects are not good although gasoline in a diesel is much worse. Of course it depends on the amounts mixed. Sometimes we would just run them out on the gassers. Diesels always got drained. You very well may get away with it but like others have said, its your own choice whether to go for it or not. And as a side note, just a little illustration of what stale gas can do to an engine. This is my 230 and every intake port in the block was gummed up with this junk from stale gas.