Had a brain snap! Put 20 litres of petrol in the tank

[Aussiebugman]

Wow what an idiot, I picked up the petrol drum and not the deisel drum and filled my New L3800. I drove it without realising for 30 minutes or so and it started coughing and spluttering.
I took the fuel filter off and realised from the smell what I had done. Drained the tank and put some deisel in her.
Obviously I will at a minimum need to flush the system. I am not sure where to start now. Any tips?

 

[Daren Todd]

Drain everything including fuel lines, and injector lines. Leave lines disconnected from injection pump. And then fill tank with diesel.

bleed the diesel to the injection pump. Crank motor over to push the gas out of the injection pump.

Hook injection lines back to injection pump. Leave fuel lines disconnected from injectors. Crank engine over till fuel starts to spurt out of injection lines.

Then hook lines to injectors, leaving a little loose. Crank engine over again, tightening injection lines after they stop bubbling and you get solid fuel from them. Then start tractor and let run at lower rpms for a bit before using tractor

I do a similar bleed on my deutz motors, but on them, they have a pressure relief in the return line banjo fitting. So on those, I just disconnect the return banjo fitting, and can use the manual fuel pump to force what gas is in the injection pump, right out the return side. There may be a way to do a similar deal on the kubota.

 

[85Hokie]

I think Daren covered that well - step by step.

And dont beat yourself up too bad - been done a many of time!

 

[skeets]

Yep Daren covered it well,,,,and dont be to hard on your self,,, you aint the first one to do this, and you wont be the last! At least you caught it before you took off and blew the poor thing up,, Good on ya Mate

 

[Daren Todd]

I think Daren covered that well - step by step.

And dont beat yourself up too bad - been done a many of time!

Try being in a rental buisiness. I've had several customers tell there hands to "GAS" up the equipment before they drop it off Well, you can pretty much figure out what happened

Smallest equipment takes 35 gallons. Average is 90 gallons. And had one done on a 200 gallon tank The logistics of draining and disposing of that much mixed fuel is a nightmare. I have to call my waste hauler and have them drop off barrels since it's gas and can't go in the bulk tank. Not to mention the bill the customer recieves afterwards.

 

[GWD]

Try to get most of the gasoline out but also look at the facts.

Your tractor can run for 30 minutes on gasoline before it dies. If you drain the tank and fill it with diesel, in 10 minutes of running the gasoline will be used up, or mixed in, and the diesel will have replaced it. Then, just carry on. Some truckers even add a little gasoline to their diesel in winter to liven up the performance.

There likely has been little or no damage to the engine.

Be prepared for this post to be rigorously flamed. But you are not a dealer or paid mechanic so don't have to go through the "ultimate" process of cleaning out the gas.

I've been there and done that.

 

[Diydave]

Try to get most of the gasoline out but also look at the facts.

Your tractor can run for 30 minutes on gasoline before it dies. If you drain the tank and fill it with diesel, in 10 minutes of running the gasoline will be used up, or mixed in, and the diesel will have replaced it. Then, just carry on. Some truckers even add a little gasoline to their diesel in winter to liven up the performance.

There likely has been little or no damage to the engine.

Be prepared for this post to be rigorously flamed. But you are not a dealer or paid mechanic so don't have to go through the "ultimate" process of cleaning out the gas.

I've been there and done that.

BTDT, too. other than embarrassment, no harm done. And I didn't flame the post...

 

[Grouse Feathers]

It is a new tractor if you have the time why not do it right?

A diesel relies on the lubricity of diesel fuel there is no lubricity in gasoline.
I don't know what emission controls there are on a L3800, but any emission controls can be damaged by gasoline.
There is a risk of pre-detonation with high mixtures of gasoline to diesel.

 

[socapots]

Try being in a rental buisiness. I've had several customers tell there hands to "GAS" up the equipment before they drop it off Well, you can pretty much figure out what happened

Smallest equipment takes 35 gallons. Average is 90 gallons. And had one done on a 200 gallon tank The logistics of draining and disposing of that much mixed fuel is a nightmare. I have to call my waste hauler and have them drop off barrels since it's gas and can't go in the bulk tank. Not to mention the bill the customer recieves afterwards.

I thought i remember someone trekking me one was heavier than the other.
And because of that you could separate them. Anyone ever hear that?
Not that you would try it with 200 gallons.

 

[Aussiebugman]

Drain everything including fuel lines, and injector lines. Leave lines disconnected from injection pump. And then fill tank with diesel.

bleed the diesel to the injection pump. Crank motor over to push the gas out of the injection pump.

Hook injection lines back to injection pump. Leave fuel lines disconnected from injectors. Crank engine over till fuel starts to spurt out of injection lines.

Then hook lines to injectors, leaving a little loose. Crank engine over again, tightening injection lines after they stop bubbling and you get solid fuel from them. Then start tractor and let run at lower rpms for a bit before using tractor

I do a similar bleed on my deutz motors, but on them, they have a pressure relief in the return line banjo fitting. So on those, I just disconnect the return banjo fitting, and can use the manual fuel pump to force what gas is in the injection pump, right out the return side. There may be a way to do a similar deal on the kubota.

Thanks Daren,
I followed your instructions carefully and once I had drained and bled everything I cranked her over and it sounds like nothing was ever wrong! Sweet music! Thanks so much for your guidance it made a big difference to my attitude in solving the problem it allowed me to attack it with confidence.
Thanks also to everyone else that posted encouragement I needed it.

 

[Aussiebugman]

Thanks Larry will check that out.

 

[85Hokie]

"I thought i remember someone trekking me one was heavier than the other.
And because of that you could separate them. Anyone ever hear that?
Not that you would try it with 200 gallons."

Diesel IS heavier than gasoline, 7. something vs 6. something, but that will not have any real effect on mixing.

Unfortunately they will stay together, much like a mixed drink, take rum and coke - it makes a pretty mixture but will stay like that for a long time. Other than placing heat on the bottom of the tank and "cooking" the gas out (now that outta be fun!) the two will stay together.

If caught before running, might be easy to siphon out the gas in a tank before cranking and use that later in a higher mixture ratio - I have heard and read that some old time truckers would add a bit of gas to their diesel tanks to thin out the mixture and make it flow better in the very cold.

 

[D2Cat]

Back in about 1980 VW had in their owner's manual to add up to 10% gasoline in winter months to prevent gelling of diesel fuel.

Older injection pumps would run on just about any oil product. Guys would add power steering fluid to the fuel, saying it lubes up the IP. Many used their drained oil directly added to their fuel tank.

Remember, today injection pumps are built to much closer tolerances, and with all the emission requirements dilution with gasoline would be asking for mechanical problems.

 

[nickelplated5s]

I know a couple of people who have put DEF in the diesel of Super Duty's. 14K mistake. Be glad you don't have that problem and I wonder when we will see it here on the Tier 4's. The HPFP's use the diesel as lubricant and the DEF or H2O in fuel will grenade them.

 

[Grouse Feathers]

A long time ago I had a boss who bought one of the Oldsmobile diesels that GM brought out in an attempt to permanently sabotage diesels. After about a year he had the diesel replaced with a gas engine. He loaned his Oldsmobile to his son-in-law to drive to a ball game in Detroit. When his sil needed to refuel he followed the directions on the instrument panel and filled it with diesel. It didn't make it home.