How much damage does gasoline do in a diesel engine?? - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

DeliveryValve · #16 08-03-2009, 01:29 PM

Yikes! You're probably wondering "Did I really raise this kid!?" "Who are you?"

jkubica · #17 08-03-2009, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannym

A little bit of an update first.
My son comes over to visit a couple of weeks ago and his car, pos ford taurus, overheats on the way over. I replaced the radiator & holding tank and find out that it needs a new tensioner. Total cost about $100 and a day off work.
Car still doesn't run right. This is the first time I saw white exhaust. Damn heads again. This is the 3rd time!

So I go to the junkyard and find a car that was hit in the back & totalled. I grab the heads from that for another $60.
Tell my son to meet me at my house at 10:00am this Saturday so we can work on the car. I had everything ready. Old heads off, block clean, new heads clean & ready to go. I even spot checked a couple of valves by removing the springs. everything good to go. 11:30 comes by and no son in sight. I call him up & he's still sleeping.

Tell him to get his ass over right away.
I get a call about an hour later & he says "Am I supposed to be getting on I-95?" I say yes if your going to Jacksonville (I live in Deltona). Tell him to turn around & come back. It's about 2:00 now.
I get another call about 1/2 hour later and he says "Does the temperature gauge work on this car?" He's driving the Mercedes over. I say of course it does, pull over.
I jump in the van with 2 jugs of water and a gallon of oil. I get there & there's not a drop of water in the radiator and it needs at least a quart of oil. We try to start it but kill the battery trying. So now I have to drive all the way home to get jumper cables. Also pick up 5 gallons of diesel fuel on the way.
Get back to the car on the side of the highway but now I'm looking closer and see the belts for the water pump/alternator are shredded!
While I was under the hood my son was putting the diesel fuel in and he comes up and says "I didn't put diesel in, I put gasoline in it".
At this point I'm furious! It's freeking 4:00 in the afternoon already!

Luckily I grabbed the chains when I went back for the jumper cables. Hook up the chains and tow it home, about 5 miles.

He said he only put $10 in it but there wasn't much fuel in it when he put the gas in.
I didn't get a chance to look too closely but there was oil on the left side of the engine. I'm hoping he didn't trash the turbo.
Damn I'm so freekin pissed off!

We finally start on the pos taurus & it's 6:00pm already. It got dark around 8:30 so I said I'm not doing this anymore tonight. So he says "How am I going to get home?" I tell him he can hitchhike if he wants.
The next morning I make sure he's up at 8:30am. we finish up around 11:00am. Car runs like new but now he wants to work on the Mercedes! I say no freeking way, I'm done for this weekend! My wife's been patient this whole time & I want to take a nap & take her out to dinner.
So we send him home praying he makes it at least half way!

Now I have to deal with the Mercedes.
God only knows how much damage he did!

Rant over but I'm still pissed off!

Danny

Hi
Perhaps not much damage with the gas. My wife filled my Datsun diesel twice with gas - ran like S*** but after draining out the gas and filling with diesel - ran fine and that was over 100,000 miles ago BTW she swore she used the diesel pump when filling - blamed the station.

Overheating and torn belts couldn't be from the gas in the tank. Most likely the belt failed and that caused the overheating - did something lock up to tear up the belts? The oil wasn't low enough to cause trouble.

Worse case the engine overheated and may have damaged the piston rings

Hope all ends well.

Joseph

tyl604 · #18 08-03-2009, 10:26 PM

I had owned a 1983 300SD for about six months when the wife filled it up at the gas station with gas. The motor quit running before she got out of the gas station. My indy gave me two options: 1) pull the engine apart and look for damage or 2) drive it and see what happens. He drained, cleaned, and filled it up with diesel and we never had a problem. You are probably OK.

300D85 · #19 08-03-2009, 10:39 PM

..lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkubica

BTW she swore she used the diesel pump when filling - blamed the station.

Junkman · #20 08-03-2009, 10:59 PM

Drive the car & see if it's fubar or not.

Let son fix his own stuff. If he's old enough to drive, he's old enough to take care of his car....or not & then deal with consequences. HElp him if you want & he asks but don't feel put out because YOU chose to work on someone's car who doesn't appreciate it.

MBeige · #21 08-04-2009, 12:07 AM

When I read the part about the chain to tow the MB home, I thought the chain was for your son...

Diesel911 · #22 08-04-2009, 12:19 AM

More likely the overheating would cause more damage than the Gasoline.

I have seen to instances where Gasoline was put into the Fuel Tank. In one the IP was destroyed due to the ignoring the fact that it was not running right and continued to drive the car home and complain to her Husband. Injectors tips burned and IP ruined.

The other one realized right away something was wrong and stopped the car an pored sever cans (back then ATF came in cans) of ATF in the tank and drove it to our Fuel Injection Shop. Only problem were the tips of the Injectors burned off.

You will not know how much damage was done until you try to run the car again. Unlike the other poster I suggest you get out as much of the gasoline as you can from the Tank and ect.

If it runs badly I would pull a few Injectors and inspect the Injector Pintle Tips for damage. Or, just swap out the Injectors with some good used ones.

Cr from Texas · #23 08-04-2009, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBeige

When I read the part about the chain to tow the MB home, I thought the chain was for your son...

And I thought the jumper cables were to get the son jump started.

edge · #24 08-04-2009, 02:20 AM

It bothers me that this generation (my three sons) knows nothing after cars. I try to accustom them to changing the oil and they won't have it.

H-townbenzoboy · #25 08-04-2009, 03:01 AM

You're mad now, but in a few years, you and your son will sit down at a "beer summit" and have a laugh about the whole thing.

Diesel911 · #26 08-04-2009, 12:39 PM

I forgot to add Sorry for your extremely bad day concerning your car. I know I would have be extremely upset!

I think that all teenagers reach a point where they are not going to listen and have to learn things the hard way. Unfortunately because they are family you also get stuck with their mistakes.

I think with both Parents often working and all the negative influences in the Media, Schools, and in Society that Parents have less influence in raising their kids than in the pass.

The Government has even stepped in and restricts the type of discipline a Parent can use. Things that were considered normal dicipline in my time can get a Parent sent to Jail.

Kurt Smith · #27 08-04-2009, 12:50 PM

We had a 80 NA 617 that ran about 120 miles on the freeway on gas. Didn't even notice until we pulled off the freeway and it would not idle. Can't remember what we did with the rest of the gas in the tank but I know where we were; Safford Alabama so I know for a fact we did service the car and it ran for at least 100k miles after that no problem.

ah-kay · #28 08-04-2009, 01:12 PM

For indirect injection engine, it is unlikely to have caused any damage. Some members use WVO and mix it with RUG ( Regular Unleaded Gas ) and run it for years without problem on both direct/indirect injection engines.

Comments on other aspect of this thread

1) You can choose your friends, but not your relatives, son included.
2) Who is buying the beer at the beer summit?
3) Fixing car is one thing, DON'T let them stay on your Payroll

TchTchr · #29 08-04-2009, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ah-kay

RUG ( Regular Unleaded Gas )

Thank you - I've wondered forever what RUG was.

BTW - I wish filling stations would only use the GREEN nozzle covers on diesel pumps. I'm sure this what threw my wife off.

nickofoxford · #30 08-05-2009, 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diesel911

I think with both Parents often working and all the negative influences in the Media, Schools, and in Society that Parents have less influence in raising their kids than in the pass.

The Government has even stepped in and restricts the type of discipline a Parent can use. Things that were considered normal dicipline in my time can get a Parent sent to Jail.

It's all situational, IMO. Being 18 I have to attest that a lot of kids my age are brainwashed into the things "everyone else" does. It's common for kids to run a car for hundreds of miles without oil and blame his/her parents when the thing grenades.

Im one of the only kids I know that has desire to learn, and do what I learn to my best. That's why I love the old Mercedes', there's always something to learn and something to figure out, and for everything I can't do myself I have the forum.

Another reason I love the Mercedes Diesels, is that gasoline won't always kill them. A friend of mine filled his dads 300SD with gas and drive the whole 10 miles to his house. I was there for a whole day flushing and purging and draining everything I could and got it running on diesel. That was a year ago and it's still going strong.

I'd suggest getting a gallon jug with diesel and a half quart or so of ATF mixed. Pull the rubber lines from the steel lines in the engine compartment and hook up the gallon jug like you would a diesel purge. Crack all the injector lines at the injectors like a half turn and pull a vacuum on the IP's shutoff pod. Crank the engine until you get all the gasoline out of the IP and injector lines (you'll smell the difference). Snug up the injector lines and see if she'll run. If so, run the engine until you run down the gallon jug, then worry about draining the tank. It will give you the motivation you'll need to get covered in diesel/gasoline and cleaning out the tank strainer

At least that way you'll know if the engine has survived. Check the glowplugs, prechambers, and injector tips as others have said.

I think the belt failure led to the overheating, no doubt. But I do not think that the belt breaking is related to the gasoline, it must be coincidence.

Did you cut off the pope in traffic recently or what?!

We're in the same boat with luck man, don't feel bad I think the car will be ok.