how do you fix a gas engine that has had diesel fuel run in it?

Answer 1

All you need to do is drain the diesel out of the tank and fill with gasoline. Then clean the spark plugs if they are fouled with the diesel fuel and crank over engine until it starts. Allow starter to cool inbetween attempts to start.

Answer 2

First of all how did you do that did you not realize the price difference and how bad the diesel smelled. How much you hurt your motor depends how much diesel you put in and how far you drove it before you realized that you didn't put gas in your vehicle. Diesel is a lot thicker and has less lubricity which means you could have stopped up anything from your fuel pump to your fuel line, to your injectors, which are costly. The best thing to do is to get it towed to your dealership and hope everything isn't plugged up. The least you are going to do is flush you whole system, change your oil, because there is no doubt that you more than likely now have diesel in your oil, and maybe even change out your spark plugs.

Don't do what nautical mike said you could seriously damage your engine that way. The only way to get rid of that diesel is to flush it out because diesel burns at a whole lot higher temp. than gas, and spark plugs can't get that hot that's why diesels use glow plugs instead

HONDU i know everything that you said. Yes diesel fires from compression and glow plugs do help heat up the air to make compression, I never said that they fired from the glow plugs like spark plugs, I simply stated tat spark plugs wouldn't work in a diesel engine. And why would he put more fuel in his vehicle if he had more than an 1/8 of a tank left, which wouldn't be enough to dilute the diesel, but whatever. Depending on what kind of engine he has, his compression ratio is somewhere from 6:1 to 9:1, diesel compression ratio is twice that, so there is no way a gas engine could burn that diesel. Do you even own a diesel?

Answer 3

If the engine doesn't already have cracked pistons or other damage from trying to run on diesel, do just as nautical mike says. Probably the diesel was diluted with gasoline that was already in the tank You might crank it awhile without the plugs in to help flush carb or injectors.
Diesel engines fire from compression not glow plugs. Glow plugs are simply to aid cold starts. As anyone with knowledge of diesel engines can tell you.

WTF? "and spark plugs can't get that hot thats why diesel engines have glow plugs" Sorry man, I guess I somehow misread that. You said yourself in your first note that how much he hurt his engine depends on how much diesel he put in and how far he drove before...... Will his engine run on diesel or not?
Yes I own a diesel and I also spent thirty years repairing and rebuilding Caterpillar, Detroit, Cummins and Deutz Diesel engines. I have also seen a gas engine run on diluted diesel.
Finally, you are welcome. I am glad you had a chance to learn something you never knew before.

Answer 4

Drain the Diesel fuel.

Answer 5

You're going to have to flush the entire fuel system. Diesel fuel fires by compression, gasoline fires by ignition. You can't have diesel fuel in a car that burns gas. Flush it all out, and refill your tank with the proper fuel.

Answer 6

drain the tank flush the lines change fuelfilter fill with gas and it should ok it will smoke for sometime a small amount left will not hurt the engine

Answer 7

you'll have to emty and clean out your gas tank, replace the filters, maybe the lines aswell, flush out the injectors and replace the spark plugs. all in all, clean everything and replace everything that can't be cleaned.

Answer 8

Dran the tank,clear the feul line's,replace feul felter.

Answer 9

big repair. have to drain tank, clean lines. may need fuel pump and injectors. pricey

Answer 10

drain the desil from the tank change the filter and start it it will smoke for awhile