I need to know EXACTLY what happens when gasoline is used in our PSD engines. NOT what someone thinks might happen, or is rumored to happen, or IMHO happens, but what actually resulted when gasoline has been used for hundreds and thousands of miles. Are injectors damaged? Are cylinders scored? Are rods bent? Does the engine catch fire? Does the EGT to up or down? Etc. Etc..
Surely there have been many cases where gasoline was accidentally pumped into a diesel tank, and the truck then run for a long time before it was discovered. I'd like to hear reports of actual cases, and also to hear from Master Technicians who know what the results are as a result of their training and education.
Please don't anyone go out and fill your tank with gas as an experiment. Lets wait till we hear the answers first.
Thanks, and I await with bated breath.
Warren

 

On the several cases where the VW was towed to my shop, it simply ran until the injector pump was filled with gasoline and then it completly lost power, white smoke, barely run, if it ran at all. Turn the engine off and it will not start again. Simple matter of draining the tank, refilling with fuel tank. Priming the pump with diesel so you can get it to struggle back to life. Once the gasoline is cleared it is back to normal.
There is a lot less fuel energy per gallon in gasoline than diesel. The injector pump, ( fuel programming) is set to have the engine inject a certain amount of fuel. Assuming it's injecting diesel the engine will run fine. Start injecting something with a lot less energy than the engine will simply struggle to run. Keep it up and the lubricating losses will ruin your injector pump. IMO the jury's out on whether the PSD injectors would suffer any harm. All gasoline powered cars and trucks these days utilize injectors that rely on the gasoline for lubrucation and survive just fine for many 100k miles. So a short trip on the gasoline in the diesel injectors, I would be surprised if it wrecked them. Yes it's true they operate at a much higher pressure, but it's inside parts are still floating on a petroleum based fluid.
I better stop now, starting to ramble.

 

How bout you just don't do it? Make sure the green nozzle is diesel. In some *** backwards stations, green is gasoline. Just check before every fill up, very easy.

 

I always sniff the nozzle just to be sure it is diesel..

 

Me too, but after a couple minutes the attendant usually comes out and asks me to stop.

 

If you are talking about running straight gasoline in an engine then-as Kwik has stated-the engine will not run.
There are instances when people have put gasoline in diesel fuel on purpose to help decrease cloud point of fuel. This is not recommended or endorsed, but it is done. Fuel heaters or the addition of #1 diesel are best practice for decreasing cloud point.
As everyone else has already stated-don't do it.

 

I was never on the edge of putting gas in my diesel on purpose, but the extra $.80 per gallon we're paying for diesel prompted me to wonder if gas would work. Kwik seems to have summed up the answer; guess I'll just pay up at the pump.
Warren

 

Kwik,
Is there any 'studies' or 'tests' or 'data' discussing the 'point of no return' for mixing gasoline in with diesel on a diesel powered engine?

In other words, at what ratio of diesel to gasoline (as in the case where you accidently put some gasoline in your partialy diesel filled tank) would the mix be detrimental to your diesel engine, and NOT have to drain/drop the tank, worry about damaging the injectors, etc.?

 

I personally have never heard of any type of research in that regard.

 

I'm not a diesel expert, personally I don't even like them. Too many bad experiences with a poorly maintained Mercedes diesel. Anyway... I know a fair amount about gas engines. 87 octane is only stable until about a compression ratio of 9.5 At that point you get detonation. Leaner mixtures would accentuate this effect. 93 octane can go 10.5 to 11.5. As most of you are running diesels you surely have already realized that this means a diesel should pre-ignite(but not detonate due to a lack of spark) before the piston reaches tdc. How much before tdc the pre-ignition is will determine whether the engine stalls or sputters along. That's determined by compression ratio, intake temperature, air/fuel ratio, combustion chamber temperature, and any hot spots. Gasoline may have less energy per unit mass, but it also has much faster flame propagation. This is the dangerous and potentially damaging factor.

 

derherr65, remember that there is no fuel in the combustion chamber of a diesel engine until it is injected=no fuel to make detonation.
Gassers have the fuel/air mix already there from the beginning and are ignited by the spark plug, not compression heat.

 

Lol, trust me, I understand gasoline engines... as long as they are carbureted.

The diesel will have to allow for time to inject the correct volume of fuel. I thought it did this on the compression stroke. How many degrees before(or after) TDC does it begin injecting? When does it stop injecting?

I would expect it began before TDC and the temperature and pressure would be high enough to immiediately ignite gasoline increasing pressure and slowing the compression stroke. If that is correct, then compared to normal diesel ignition it would be detonation like.

 

Ok, let me 'splain you, not having read ANYTHING above but what you have posted. I am a diesel technician. IF YOU PUT AS LITTLE AS 3% GASOLINE IN DIESEL, THE ENGINE WILL EXPLODE!!! Litterally. ITS A BAD IDEA!!! You will be sad. And a diesel technician will probably monkey stomp your brains. Diesel engines ignite the fuel with superheated air, air much hotter than a spark ever dreamt it could be. They also have injection pressures around 3-4 THOUSAND PSI. If you inject gasoline at those pressures and temperatures, it will pre-ignite and cause a catastrophic failure (engine exploding/rods through the block/snapped crank shafts, connecting rods/ holes in pistons/ and other various bad deals). If you so much as have a remote like for your truck, you will REFRAIN from thinking about this ever again.

 

Well, I've resurrected several old VW diesels from the dead simply by replacing the fuel in the tank. There is not enough energy in gasoline to blow the engine apart.
I think it requires something like nitromethane to generate enough force.

 

The diesel injection timing is similar to the ignition timing on a gasser. It's injected a few degrees BTDC. I think that the duration is varied depending on the load, so the end of the injection event is dependant on conditions.