Gas in a diesel tank

[sor126]

My sons girlfriend borrowed my truck last night. She put unleaded fuel in a Ford 6.4 diesel truck drove about 10 miles. Dealer says we can do an easy fix of draining the tank replacing filters ext for about 2,000 with the possibility of problems down the road or replace the high pressure fuel system for about $7,000. Any thoughts? Sick to my stomach!!

[Oakman]

CRAP!! I can't offer you any advice but you have my sympathy.

[dcheatwood]

Speechless. I hope "hope" that a diesel guru is here with some timely words of wisdom. Best wishes.

Sent from David's RAZR M.

[Blackrock]

I have done quite a few of these jobs on older diesels that had gasoline put into the fuel tank. I takes a complete system purge of every line, filter and injection pump. Don't have any experience with the newer ones though. Last one I did was a 06' Dodge Cummins.

[Ford Idaho]

I'd go the cheap way for now, how much diesel was left and how much gas was added and why the hell is she not paying the tab?

[RKR]

We had an employee (now former) do this. It was around 7K for complete fix. After the big fix the truck was fine.

[Sgt. Schultz]

Ouch.
Some ideas:

• where is truck now - hopefully a safe place it can sit for a bit
• Don't start truck - till the system has been purged
• How much diesel was in the tank vs. how much gas was put in
• Know that the filters need to be changed - fuel system purged
  • 1) Drain tanks.
    
    2) Drop tank is necessary.
    
    3) Change fuel filters.
    
    3) Refill with double additive and fresh diesel fuel.
    
    4) Drive truck at easy clip (1/2 tank)
    
    5) Keep topping fuel tank off with diesel and additive to keep the percentage of diesel at max concentration.
    
    6) Change fuel filters after 1 - 2 full tanks.
    
    
    Gas does not lubricate like diesel and will pit or damage an injector real quick!! You may get lucky

The next steps you will need to take all depend on what has happened

[sor126]

Truck was drove about 10 miles,, it is at the dealer now,, 1/4 tank of diesel and the full tank of gas

[Crusadernoob]

It's a crap shoot, drain it, new fuel filter, I would add a double dose of a very well known additive for lubricity, I personally use XPD, either it'll be good or it will give up on you soon. Call your insurance company they may cover complete repair, seen it before, good luck!

[Sgt. Schultz]

Note the following is based on our local guys working on diesels - if your ford guys are competent have them do the work
- have the truck towed home
- find a shop that is known for quality diesel work
When something similar happened to my daily driver the shop I deal with purged the lines etc as above -- we noted some some pitting on an injector - this was ~ 200,000 km ago - safest route of course (and most expensive) is to follow the dealers advise and may also be the only option if warranty coverage is involved.
.
You may want to call
http://pinellasdieselservice.iarbiz.com/0wD9utU0mBk=
or
http://midfloridadiesel.clickforward.com//
To see what options they may have at what costs -
Great suggestion on checking with your insurance provider

[f5moab]

Look at post 3 and 9. Some good info....and something someone I know followed a year ago with a F250 superduty diesel filled with gasoline and all was well and still runs great.

My son put gas in my diesel truck - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

[Brother Les]

Is your Diesel engine that crappy that it can not take a little gasoline? Being on a 7.3 Ford Super Duty forum for years, the advice when gas was put in a tank was ..... How much gas??? One or two gallons ..... so what..... Fill it with Diesel and drive it and forget about it. It may cough every now and then, but it will be fine. If you are worried not enough lube in the gas... dump some oil in it. If it was a 'full tank' of gas..... drain it out and keep it for the chain saw or slowly add it (gas and diesel mix) back in a gallon at a time every other tank full. Are the 'newer' Diesels that crappy that they can not take a little gas. Heck, I have dumped oil, transmission fluid, kerosine,Bio fuel , and gas in my tank..... still going strong with 170,000 on the clock. But then again, the 7.3 is before all of the EPA crap that came out.....

My advice is to go to a 6.4 Ford Forum and talk to them on how they handled it.... You will get a lot of 'gas' stories.

This is good advice from f5moab

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/64...sel-truck.html

[MillerTime]

Op- man that sux!
As a dealer tech I've seen several of these run thru the shop. D-maxes and power strokes.
- Some you can simply drain the tank (after removal) change filters, and remove the back flow line and let run on fuel til diesel runs out for a while.
- on others that have run till it quit, not so good. Injector pump gets trashed and sends metal thru the system, that means new injectors, lines, rails, pump, filters and maybe more. I've seen this run from $15k for duramax's to $26k for 6.7 pwr strokes. This is when it's good if someones ins. is paying (we had a local marketer that filled a tanker with gas instead of diesel and so people thought they were getting diesel, but was actually gas- thier ins. payed).
Hopefully your one of the lucky ones that just needs a flush. And if this was me, NOBODY would be driving my truck now!
Best of luck!!

MillerTime- Future Sabre Handler!!

[AnchorsAweigh]

Around 12 years ago added about 10 gal to top off my F250 tank. Drove about 15 miles before realizing what was wrong. Siphoned most out with a 3/8" plastic tube. Next opened the fuel drain petcock for the filter bowl and cycled the fuel pump via Key On (the F250 fuel pump would run several seconds each time the key switched on). The glow plugs would cycle so I waited several minutes each time. Once empty put diesel in tank and used Key on to flush the lines then closed the petcock. That was about 75K miles ago and used the truck today.

[Frank-VA]

SURVEY: IF YOU EVER PUMPED GASOLINE INTO A 6.4L PLEASE RESPOND. - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

[SKnight]

$2000? Do not let them "fix" it. Duramax certified tech here, it'll be close enough. This is per GM, I fixed many that got gasoline with no problems.

Drain the tank.

Change the fuel filter.

Pour five gallons of diesel in the tank. Purge the fuel filter however Ford does it.

Start and let idle about five minutes, that will purge any gas through.

Drive to diesel station, fill up. Maybe throw some Lucas conditioner in there. That half gallon of leftover diesel diluted gas will disappear with 30+ gallons of diesel.

Be happy.

Odds are it's fine, I had duramaxes come in still pulling trailers but running funny, or no starts. It never hurt a one believe it or not.

Fords likely are much the same. $2000 to fix that, they're on crack.

[MillerTime]

Originally Posted by SKnight

$2000? Do not let them "fix" it. Duramax certified tech here, it'll be close enough. This is per GM, I fixed many that got gasoline with no problems.

Drain the tank.

Change the fuel filter.

Pour five gallons of diesel in the tank. Purge the fuel filter however Ford does it.

Start and let idle about five minutes, that will purge any gas through.

Drive to diesel station, fill up. Maybe throw some Lucas conditioner in there. That half gallon of leftover diesel diluted gas will disappear with 30+ gallons of diesel.

Be happy.

Odds are it's fine, I had duramaxes come in still pulling trailers but running funny, or no starts. It never hurt a one believe it or not.

Fords likely are much the same. $2000 to fix that, they're on crack.

Did I miss something? I haven't heard anything about $2k.
And yes nowdays 10 miles is enough to trash a fuel system in newer diesels. Todays diesels compared to the earlier 2000's diesels have changed GREATLY. Just look at a scan tool at available options. There is an ecm for everything, and stricter tolerances and specs on everything.
Guess I need to say "current" dealer tech

Still wishing op the best!

MillerTime- Future Sabre Handler!!

[MillerTime]

My bad, just seen the 2000, there just wasn't a $ sign with it so I didn't realize it was a price

MillerTime- Future Sabre Handler!!

[BigBaron]

I saw somewhere that soybean-based biofuel has the best lubricity of ANY additive. Sounds like this would be a good thing to add after everything is flushed and drained.
Good luck!

[Witch Doctor]

Now that is a bummer for sure. I don't know about these new engines with all that EPA crap and all these other things that they make the Manufacturers do to these engines. But I remember the old ones. Had a diesel I drove back in the 60's in the army those would run on anything. Now a days they pass all these clean air acts and stuff and it just cost high dollars to fix anything on them. when I have to change the filters at every other oil change they charge me like $150.00 dollars to do it. It's only a pleated filter nothing special that I know of. And Miller since you work on these things what do you recommend for filter changes (fuel) I always ask to see them and they always look new to me. Are they ripping me off at the dealership or is that the correct way. I always add an additive when I fill up do I even need to do that? and dose it help, I guess it is for my injectors to keep them clean.