(800) 853-2651
SHOP NOW

Anyone else do this? (gas in diesel tractor)

B

Billy NY

Well-known Member
Darned fool, filled one of my yellow (diesel) eagle type 1 safety cans unintentionally with gasoline, which was used to top off my 4630 ford-new holland tractor last fall. About 4 gallons worth. Smoking and a skipping, but good now, dealer had a guy in my area this morning. Service manager asked if the above had been done, I said no way... think again !

Still can't figure how or why, but sure as heck, the one yellow can has gasoline in it.

I don't believe any harm done, this engine is the later emissionized 192 cu in 3 cylinder ford/new holland. Was not run much since it started smoking and skipping, figured there was an injector/fuel problem, mechanic was going to diagnose and report back.. nope just gasoline where diesel fuel belongs !

Repair bill ought to remind me to be sure I'm filling with diesel ! Sheesh - either working too many hours or losing it LOL !
 
While in college, oldest daughter borrowed our family station wagon. Put gasoline in the diesel. Running real ragged. When I got it back, I kept topping it off with diesel until it was running OK again. Cousin with dementia kept putting gas in his Bolens diesel garden tractor. Kept his wife and kids and the mechanic scratching for quite a while
 
Filled my brand new Polaris 4 wheel with diesel and loaded it on the trailer. When we got to the riding place it would barely run. Looked in gas tank and it was red! Drained it out and added gas and ran fine.
 
That's why fuel containers are color coded! I am somewhat colorblind but I can tell the difference, and I would never put gas in a yellow container, the consequence could be very expensive. Way back when I worked at a JD dealer it cost $750 to rebuild a pump.
 

Depends on the ratio to gas/diesel. Up to 1/3 gas in a diesel should not be a problem unless it is hot weather and it's being worked hard.
 
Long embarassing story.In the early 70's I worked at a big factory IHC truck dealership.Got in a new Paystar 5000 dump truck,had a V549 gas engine.Truck ran terrible,mechanics tried everything in order,tuneup,then carb,then installed new heads,still ran terrible.Foreman said get a new crate engine and install,that will fix it,this is all warranty work,truck hasn't even been delivered to the owner yet,(City).They installed new engine same problem,still ran terrible.Finally,one mechanic who had not worked on the job,walked over and took the fuel cap off and sniffed.Yup,delivering driveaway outfit had put diesel in it,figured all big Paystar 5000's must be diesel.Pumped all the fuel out,added gas,truck ran great.Expensive embarrassment.
 
rollback driver put gas in diesel drove it about 2mi knocking like it lost all rod bearings. drained and flushed ran good for next 100,000
 
I did it. I put 5 gal gasoline in my JD. The tractor already had five or so gal in the tank. It sounded about the same, except it ran hot, and seamed to have more power. I knew something was wrong I don't remember how I figured it was gas in the diesel tank. I loaded it up and took it back to the shop. I drained the tank, and changed the filter. It ran fine. The problem happened later. It started to start hard. I had the pump rebuilt. It has been fine ever since. That was around 4 years ago, lots of hours since. I really felt bad I did that. That JD 401 industrial is my best mowing tractor. I just did a total rebuild 3 or so years prior. Stan
 
My wife once inadvertently put gasoline in an Olds diesel. It ran for about a mile and stopped. She realized what had happened.

I towed it to my shop, emptied the tank, and bled the lines. It started right up and ran fine. A month or so later, the head gaskets started leaking. Was there a connection? I don't know.

Now, before I get all sorts of negative comments about the Olds 5.7 diesel, I have to say we had three at various times and once Olds wised up, beefed up the bottom end and put a roller cam in them, they weren't a bad little diesel. Back in the late '80's, I drove one to California and went 4400 miles on $114 worth of diesel fuel. Everyone warned me about how horrible it would perform in the mountains. Fact was, once I got the hang of it I passed a lot of gas burners fair and square in the mountains.
 
A neighbor who leaves his 4 wheeler at my place grabbed ne of my diesel cans one day. He didn't realize the yellow was diesel. can was pretty much empty but when he filled it with gas and put in his 4 hweeler it started running real bad. We tried different things until he told me about using the diesel can. drained the fuel out and put in good gas and in a minute it ran fine. was surprised how little diesel it took. In old days we ran or JD tractor on distolate. We switched tanks but didn't tell my sister. She put soe"gas" in a friends car and wondered why it didn't run too well for a while.
 
My dad had one of those in a 1978 GMC. Worked fine for over 100k miles. With dual tanks on the truck, he could go over 1000 miles before filling. Ben
 
A few years ago I drove up to the local card-troll to gas up. My neighbor was gassing up his Ford with a 7.3 diesel. I sauntered up to him and mentioned the fact he was putting gas in his diesel and he reached for the nozzle and pulled it out and topped it off with diesel and drove away. The pickup is still running around the neighborhood. I don't know how much gas he put in it but he was already pumping when I drove up.
 
Right, and dummy me over here, bought 2 yellow eagle type 1 cans just for this tractor and have used same going on the 2 years I've owned it. I just can't figure how I brought a yellow can to the station and filled it with gasoline.
 

I did that once with my Ford diesel. I topped off the front tank with gas. It started running bad within a mile or so, I realized what had happened and switched to the back tank. It was kinda funny that it had been running a little rough and after the flush with gas it leveled out and ran better than it had in some time.
 
Should have drained the fuel tank and replaced it with diesel. Gas was developed as a cleaning solvent where diesel is an oil. It could damage the engine as well as the fuel injection.
 
I parked it just after it started doing this in December and only started it to move it twice since. Fuel tank and sediment bowl drained and cleaned, and the fuel filter changed. Started in the cold immediately when I got home from work today. I was concerned for the same reason, gasoline is a good solvent, and could wash the cylinders of oil. I'll change the engine oil this weekend.
 
Before they would let us drive for FedEx Home, we had to take an in-house driver safety course. Instructor had been a FedEx Ground driver before he went into their safety program. Said he had been fueling his diesel at the same pump, same station for so long he did not notice they had switched that pump to gasoline...! Said he did not go far before it cost him $1500!
 
Right after they bought their first two Grasshopper diesel mowers from us the local VA Hospital sent one back knocking and blowing white smoke. We sucked out all the gas we could from the tank, filled it with fresh diesel and ran it for about 20 minutes.


That was probably 4 years ago and I guess it has caused no lasting problems. . .
 
I spent 14 years in the fuel business, saw quite a few engines destroyed by putting gas in the diesel tank. You should never ever put gas in a diesel. Look at the vw pickups where they recommended mixing gas in the diesel for winter starting. Every one I saw had head problems after using that mix. Farmer friend of mine found his hired man mixing gallons of gas in the old Pete. He had been wondering why he was replacing injectors every spring. Fired the hired man and stopped having injector problems
 
"saw quite a few engines destroyed by putting gas in the diesel tank."

Outside of injection pumps suffering from lack of lube, rotary ones in particular, can you tell me what part of the engines was "destroyed" by adding some gasoline to the fuel tank?

That's simply as big of an "old mechanic's wive's tail as any out there, IMHO.
 
Back when dad bought his WD45 diesel. he called the fuel guy to fill it. Dad did not tell him it was a diesel. Dad thought since it said diesel right on the side of the hood that would be a hint. Pete the fuel guy filled it with gasoline. dad caught it and drain the diesel/gas mixture out. it never hurt a thing.

I have been around several farmall M's that were fill with diesel by mistake. they really blow smoke and knock. never hurt any of them.
 
If it's only a few gallons for a short time, you should be OK. Fill it up with diesel as soon as you can, though.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

O
Accidental diesel in a farmall 450 gas engine?
2
Replies
23
Views
4K
rhtx55
R
Tractor Parts Tractor Manuals

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters
Website Accessibility Policy

Back
Top