stupidly put wrong thing in fuel tank!
 

Well I've heard of putting gas in diesel tanks, but I think I may have made the stupidist blunder of all.

I couldn't find RedLine so I bought some Howes Lubricator from a truck stop that was recommended by a truck driver. The bottle for the additive looks just like (only smaller) Kit Carnauba Wash and Wax. You guessed it.. I put about a 1/4 cup (at the most) of the car wash stuff in the tank. I then added the diesel treatment (a lot of it) and filled up the tank.. hoping to dilute the situation. In any event, does anyone have any ideas on what damage could be done? I know I can drain the tank etc., but will 1/4 cup of the wrong stuff mess everything up badly? I thought about driving the car and when it uses 1/4 tank, then fill it up again to keep diluting it etc. How about some opinions, please??? ..about the problem, not my stupidity :confused:

well at least youll have a clean tank now? gives a whole new meaning to the word "diesel foaming....". Sorry, just being a wise arse.....:rolleyes:

I think that is a good idea about refilling the tank at the 3/4 FULL mark several times and keeping a set of filters for your car and whatever is needed to change them with you at all times....I doubt that you will ever see any difference... Greg

Agree with leathermang - you'll never know it.

ratios
 

Thanks for the responses, gentlemen. I have calculated that I have 170.3 (1/4 cups) capacity in the fuel tank, which means that the ratio of fuel/additive to "car wash" is 169.3:1 which seems like a small amount to me. Gladly awaiting any other comments though :rolleyes:

You might want to put a little diesel in a glass jar and pour in a little of the car wash and see what happens. My guess is it will go right to the bottom (most likely is water based). If that's the case, it may stay in the bottom of your tank forever, unless of course the intake is low enough to drain it out. If it has collected in the bottom, and does not mix with diesel, the strategy you have laid out above won't work.

Good luck.

If it is water based,,, and you are worried about it staying at the bottom of your tank, if that is what it would do ( if the fuel pick up is not at the very bottom ) then you could probably add some alcohol to your tank... I think this is the way water is taken out of a gasoline tank without draining it... when it mixes it should then mix and burn right along with the diesel...or just drink some alcohol yourself and not worry about it.... two margaritas ought to be enough....Greg

well,, all ofy ou have food advice.. I put 4 scoths and water in me and am not worrried abot it like the Raven.. nevermore Beshides, I thru a the sponge I wash the car with down the tank and thatt shud apsorb the cr wsh stuff :o

Actually I'd be a lot more worried about some water-based soapy concentrate going through my fuel filters, injection pump, injectors, and engine than the guy who put a few gallons of gasoline in his tank rather than diesel. In that case they towed the car, then drained and flushed the tank and everything.

The alcohol trick may work; something like drygas or the cheapest fuel additives, or gas line de-icers, are mostly alcohol. I'd probably go with a fairly large amount of it, maybe starting with two bottles, and adding one every time drove the car, figuring a fairly full tank wouldn't mix as well with stuff on the bottom as an almost-empty tank.

I wouldn't be crazy about running a soapy emulsion of car wash concentrate through my engine, but I'd be even more worried about the concentrate killing my engine at speed.

chemical make up
 

I appreciate all the responses.. would love to hear more opinions. The bottle of car wash didn't have a listing of ingredients. Yesterday I called the Merz Roadside people. Once before I called that number and talked to a Tech person. This time the Roadside Assistance people told me to call the local MB dealer and talk to a Senior Tech. I did call, but had to leave a message and, of course no one has called me back. I have emailed the "Kit" people explaining the problem and asking for the "make-up" of their liquid so I can relay that info to the Merz Tech People.. and maybe those "chemists" can tell me what the reactions would be. It will be tomorrow or even Monday before I can try the "put some diesel in a glass container and add some car wash to it to see what happens". It's an excellant idea that I will perform. Again, thanks for all responses!

update
 

Well, I had to work all day Sunday and Monday.. never got a call from the local dealership, will have to call them back.. but here is the response I got from the Kit Carnauba Car Wash People.


After consulting with our formulation chemist regarding your situation, the
following was concluded.

The wash itself is basically a mix of a blend of anionic surfactants and
water. The the water will want to sink or settle in a petroleum environment
but he doesn't think there will be an issue or concern for foaming. The
anionic surfactants will not be happy in the petroleum matrix at all as far
as generating foam and the viscosity of the wash will not have much of an
effect on anything either.

If such a small amount of car wash was added, it should be a semi-easy fix.
He suggests having
the tank drained, followed by a fuel treatment that should eliminate any
water in the line. Products such as this are available for regular
combustion engines as well as diesel engines.

Again, our chemist is not an expert in the area of surfactants meeting
petroleums, but he really doesn't think the surfactants are a significant
concern. But, the water in the line could cause the engine to miss, and
should be eliminated as much as possible, as soon as possible.

Thank you for contacting us and best of luck in correcting this issue.

Sincerely,
Kristin Hrudka
Consumer Services
Northern Labs, Inc.

The W123 diesel fuel tank has a pick-up that is slightly higher than the bottom of the fuel tank. Also, the fuel tank is not flat on the bottom, but has some areas that are slightly lower than other areas - not much maybe 1/4 to 3/8 inch or so and the fuel pick-up is about 1/4 inch higher than the area immediately around it (meaning the total relief is about 3/8 to 1/2 inch). This area is sufficiently large enough to hold water that is a breeding ground for algae growth.

As you drive around corners and the excess fuel is returned to the fuel tank the fuel is mixed up and sloshed around inside the fuel tank. The wax that is in your tank will probably get mixed with the fuel as you drive and thus go through the fuel system.

Draining the fuel tank will not get all of the fuel out. The only way to completely drain the tank is to remove it. Removing the W123 fuel tank is very easy and once it is out it will be easy to drain it completely and flush out the wax by adding some diesel, slosh it around the fuel tank, and then drain it out - doing this several times should get all of the wax out.

Or, you can add a water separator instead of taking the fuel tank out. However, whether or not the water separator will catch the non-water components of the wax is unknown. Racor makes water separators for diesel fuel.

Or, you can just drive your car as others have suggested. Keeping the fuel level up will help keep the wax diluted. Also, driving around town will probably keep the wax mixed with the fuel whereas driving on the highway has the chance that the wax could run through the fuel system in higher concentrations that could cause problems.

I would think the fuel filters would catch the wax before it got to the injection pump. Changing the fuel filters a couple of times as you drive through the next 4-5 tanks would seem to catch most if not all of the wax.

My $0.02 worth!
Good Luck!!
Tom