Don't use the wrong fuel

[Lin]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2013/mar/20/obamas-presidential-limo-breaks-down-israeli-airpo/

[Scott & Heather]

Somebody got fired. Diesel limos...kewl.

[CrabbyMilton]

Makes one wonder how some people make it thru their lives when simple instructions can't be understood. What will happen to a diesel engine if gasoline is introduced to it? A few years ago, I was getting fuel for my car. Along came a lady in a FORD SUPER DUTY pickup and she proceeded to fill the tank. Problem was the truck was a diesel and the station DOES NOT sell diesel.  Iwas going to say something but if she's that dumb or crazy, I just assume stay away.

[06 Bill]

I spent 30 + years with MB. Many times we got diesels towed in full of gasoline they just stop I.E. won't run. Drain
them, fill with diesel, change the filters, prime, start, and they were on there way. No disadvantage, the advantage
was a nicely flushed out system. Oh and we saved the gas for own cars.   06 Bill

[Scott & Heather]

diesels don't like gas. bad news. gas engines can run ish on diesel without dire consequences

Running Gasoline in a Mercedes Diesel Engine: Possible Consequences by Kent Bergsma

[bevans6]

My understanding is that many modern high pressure injector systems running the the 20Kpsi plus range will have damaged injectors if they try to run with gas in the mix.  The bill to change the injectors in my pickup truck would be around $3500, they ain't cheap.

Brian

[TomC]

The presidential limo is so heavy with the armor blast panels under the car and very thick windows, even though it looks like a Caddy limo, it is actually built on a GMC Topkick truck. It weighs around 18,000lbs and has a Duramax V-8 Diesel. Not exactly fast and only has a top speed of about 85, but then again, the president has many around him. Good Luck, TomC

[rusty]

Funny story, When we were kids on the farm  we had the above ground gas and diesel tanks that set side by side. Dad suspected some one was helping them selves to gas. He waited until both were empty and switched fuel. A couple of days later there was a car on the side of the road about half way to town. We do't know if that was the thief but the gas seemed to last longer after that.

Wayne

[luvrbus]

I have a old TD-9 International tractor in Idaho you start it on gas then when warm change it over to diesel

[technomadia]

We just had a fellow bus nut full timer stop by our current location to see us. On the way into town he decided use Gas Buddy to find the cheapest diesel in the area. He went to the station, pull up, inserted the green handled nozzle and topped off the tank.

3 miles down the road, the engine quit. Thankfully, as he was rolling into a parking lot and got safely parked and out of the way.

Turns out, he never actually stopped to read the pump - it was mid-grade he filled up with. The station didn't even have diesel. He called his diesel mechanic, and he said he could try mixing in some ATF, and it may run through the tank ok. But he opted not to risk it.

He had the tank pumped out in the morning, we helped him ferry over about 20G of diesel, changed out the fuel filters, primed it up.. and away he went to fill the tank again... this time reading the pump 4 times before filling.

That was an expensive lesson, and one none of us will soon forget!

 - Cherie

[luvrbus]

Need to be careful about green being for diesel most stations are green for 85% corn gasoline and black for diesel here they are anyway 

[Jeremy]

Need to be careful about green being for diesel most stations are green for 85% corn gasoline and black for diesel here they are anyway 

Black for diesel here too (green for unleaded, blue for expensive unleaded)


The proportion of cars with diesel engines is vastly higher in Europe than in the States, which presumably means it's far more common for the wrong fuel to be put in.
Volkswagen in particular make a big play in their advertising about how you can't tell when you're driving a VW diesel - so lots of VW adverts featuring people who've done things like stick Post-It notes all over their car with the word 'diesel' on, so they remember when they get to the gas station.

Here's a British Volkswagen TV advert with the same theme:

Cute 4 years old girl swearing: bollocks !


Jeremy

[Dave5Cs]

And Red for Racing fuel. Didn't read the pump at a 76 Union in Cali and filled it to 1/4 full in my truck before I realized it was hot fuel  and about 60 cents more. I just stopped and finished with regular unleaded. It ran pretty good. LOL

Dave5Cs

[Ed Hackenbruch]

In 2004 in Lake Havasu we had just filled up a van when they came out and started putting signs on the pumps saying out of order. We left and a couple of  miles later started having problems. Did not find out until the next day that they had put 6000 gallons of diesel into the wrong tank a few hours before we filled up. Would have been nice if they had come out and told me before i started pumping.      They ended up paying for a lot of folks having their cars taken to a shop and drained, etc.

[lostagain]

I put half a tank of gas once near Missoula, MT, in my old bus before I realized the yellow handle was not for diesel  like in Canada. Put in 2 gal of diesel conditioner and topped it off with diesel and away I went. The old 4-71 never knew the difference. It ran just as good. I overhauled it the following winter and didn't see any signs of trouble. These old DD are quite tolerant.

JC