View Full Version : I put diesel in my engine.


arnoldc6
August 29th, 2013, 03:42 AM
I think.
Was at 76, super tired and i reach for the far left button without even checking.
Is this gonna cause engine damage?
And do you guys know if is diesel higher density than unleaded? I put in 4.2 gallons of diesel in there, if diesel floats on top i can always pull it in the shop and have them drain it.
Man i am ****ing retarded.

Oh and since the ****ing gas station isn't picking up phone calls, is yellow diesel? Haven't fill up my bike in almost a month.. was doing maintenance.

csmith12
August 29th, 2013, 03:54 AM
Possible but unlikely unless you tried to ride it for a long time afterwards. Flush and fill and see where your at but I bet your gunna be fine.

arnoldc6
August 29th, 2013, 04:01 AM
Possible but unlikely unless you tried to ride it for a long time afterwards. Flush and fill and see where your at but I bet your gunna be fine.

So unlike Fi system diesel DOES burn on a carburetor engine?

j98sprint
August 29th, 2013, 04:09 AM
Drain the tank. Drain the float bowls. Put gasoline in the tank. Ride your motorcycle.

j98sprint

ForceofWill
August 29th, 2013, 04:13 AM
Since you say you pushed the far left button I'm assuming the pump had multiple buttons for 1 pump hose. If that's the case all the buttons for that hose will be Gasoline. They won't mix diesel and gas like that. Diesel will be a seperate hose/handle and it's always GREEN.

arnoldc6
August 29th, 2013, 04:26 AM
Since you say you pushed the far left button I'm assuming the pump had multiple buttons for 1 pump hose. If that's the case all the buttons for that hose will be Gasoline. They won't mix diesel and gas like that. Diesel will be a seperate hose/handle and it's always GREEN.

I hope so man. I called that place and guess what? She doesn't ****ing speak English. When i try to explain and ask she said it's diesel. I don't think she even knows what diesel is tho...
Man i am depressed. This is one of the shittest day in a few months.

csmith12
August 29th, 2013, 04:41 AM
So unlike Fi system diesel DOES burn on a carburetor engine?

Well, say you were not 100% OUT of gas when you filled with diesel. So with that assumption, the bike "could" run on whatever % of mix for a while. FI or carbed, it's possible to to burn a bit of diesel but it's gunna run like crap.

Also, I have seen;
No colors on the pump
Color for gas only
Color for diesel only
1 hose/handle for both gas and diesel

Back to your issue though...
So if you pressed the far left button on the pump, lets assume you got lowest grade gas. Is the bike running fine or do you just think you put diesel in it and want to be preemptive?

arnoldc6
August 29th, 2013, 04:48 AM
Well, say you were not 100% OUT of gas when you filled with diesel. So with that assumption, the bike "could" run on whatever % of mix for a while. FI or carbed, it's possible to to burn a bit of diesel but it's gunna run like crap.

Also, I have seen;
No colors on the pump
Color for gas only
Color for diesel only
1 hose/handle for both gas and diesel

Back to your issue though...
So if you pressed the far left button on the pump, lets assume you got lowest grade gas. Is the bike running fine or do you just think you put diesel in it and want to be preemptive?

Well the lowest grade in my state i've seen is 87...which is for our bike.
I am just not sure if it's diesel or not..i have about .3-.5 gallons left but the time i few it up.
So far it runs fine but even so it could've been the last drip of last tank.
Not enough for me to drive back there to check it myself..
I think i am gonna stay up until is 8am in central time just to call their HQ and ask.

Motofool
August 29th, 2013, 06:05 AM
I think.
Was at 76, super tired and i reach for the far left button without even checking.
Is this gonna cause engine damage?
And do you guys know if is diesel higher density than unleaded?...........

Cheer up, Arnold !!!

Diesel and gas will mix perfectly.
I have seen engines working with that mix in countries where gasoline is scarce.
It will not damage your engine.
Start ups with a cold engine will be hard, but once it starts up, you will see plenty of white smoke coming from the exhaust pipes at all times.

If the mix is so high on Diesel, you will not be able to start the engine.
Try starting it up and look for that white smoke and verify if you actually filled it up with Diesel or gasoline.

arnoldc6
August 29th, 2013, 06:10 AM
Cheer up, Arnold !!!

Diesel and gas will mix perfectly.
I have seen engines working with that mix in countries where gasoline is scarce.
It will not damage your engine.
Start ups with a cold engine will be hard, but once it starts up, you will see plenty of white smoke coming from the exhaust pipes at all times.

If the mix is so high on Diesel, you will not be able to start the engine.
Try starting it up and look for that white smoke and verify if you actually filled it up with Diesel or gasoline.

Good idea!
Thanks!
Well it's too late to change things now, but at least i learnt not to stare at ceiling lights for no reason.:D

jkv45
August 29th, 2013, 06:15 AM
If you did put diesel in it I would completely drain the tank and float bowls.

I'm don't think it will run at all if you added a large amount of it.

The fuels are completely different. They flow, meter, and ignite differently.

MR2Aaron
August 29th, 2013, 06:24 AM
I hope so man. I called that place and guess what? She doesn't ****ing speak English. When i try to explain and ask she said it's diesel. I don't think she even knows what diesel is tho...
Man i am depressed. This is one of the shittest day in a few months.

It's ok, it won't hurt nothin'.

I'd get a sample out of tank into a clear container. Diesel is bright greenish yellow, and looks like the brine left over from a jar of sandwich peppers. Brighter than pickle brine. Gasoline is more yellow than green and appears mostly clear unless you have a huge container of it. It also smells different from diesel. You'd have had to use the special diesel handle, though, to actually buy diesel. If it's one of those pumps that has four handles, I could imagine that happening, but otherwise, that seems unlikely.

The good news is, this is relatively easy to fix, if you do in fact have diesel in there. Just drain the tank and carbs into something (a diesel can?), and refill with gasoline. A little bit of residue left in the tank won't hurt anything.

DaBlue1
August 29th, 2013, 06:43 AM
On most newer gas pumps, the far left hose is gas, the far right hoses are usually either diesel or E15+ (depending on the pump, some are on the far right). Most of the diesel hoses I've seen have a green handle and the E15+ have yellow. Some of the gas handles range from black, silver, gold, blue (for race gas E100+) even seen some red ones on much older pumps.
The newer selection buttons on the pumps are yellow for gas and orange (some white with green letters) for E15+.

If you got diesel fuel in your tank you will definitely know it by it's smell and color. With most gasolines they will be translucent, diesel is a little more opaque (darker in color). One other thing to note is that the metal tip of the diesel hose is much bigger in diameter than the gas hose in most cases and will not fit in a newer gas filler neck.

Motofool
August 29th, 2013, 07:14 AM
Good idea!
Thanks!
Well it's too late to change things now, but at least i learnt not to stare at ceiling lights for no reason.:D

You are welcome :)

Feel better yet?
You have not been the first biker:

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/592587.html

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/alternative-fuels/diesel-in-unleaded.htm

"In any car manufactured in the last 25 years or so, there's a plate under the gas cap that prevents anything but the small unleaded-gasoline nozzle from fitting into the tank. When unleaded gasoline first appeared, this plate helped to prevent drivers from putting the leaded gasoline nozzle in -- the unleaded and leaded nozzles were different sizes. The diesel nozzle is even bigger than leaded nozzles were, so it would never fit in the gas tank of most cars. However, most motorcycles and trucks don't have this plate, so it's easy to make this mistake if you're driving one of those vehicles. And if you're driving an older car, there's no plate either."

Alex
August 29th, 2013, 07:16 AM
If you put 4.2 gallons of diesel in, the bike would stop running in a few miles. Yes, a bike or car can run (poorly) on a mix, but you had an almost empty tank, so it's almost entirely diesel now if that's what you filled it with. Seeing how you were able to ride home, I doubt you filled it with diesel in the first place.

alex.s
August 29th, 2013, 08:41 AM
diesel wont ignite properly by itself simply from the spark. if there is gas in the mix the gas will burn first, igniting the diesel. also i think the ninja 250 gas tank does have the little plate with a hole in it, and i'm pretty sure the diesel nozzle would not fit in there.

n4mwd
August 29th, 2013, 09:47 AM
Maybe just go back to the station in the daytime and check that exact same pump to see what the far left dispenses. Or you could just smell your gas tank. Diesel is an oil which smells totally different from gas. It may also be possible that you got E85 instead. In that case, it will smell like a bar.

Did you get a receipt? Sometimes the pump prints what you got on the receipt.

I would be more worried about E85 than diesel. E85 can actually damage your bike and diesel at worst would simply not run and would need to be flushed out.

Worst case, drain the tank and refill with known good stuff (87 octane).

crazymadbastard
August 29th, 2013, 10:26 AM
simply look inside the tank witha match, if it blows up and kills you it was gas. If it simply catches on fire it is diesel. :D

Dont do that!!

I agreee if it was diesel your bike would not run right.

kslane
August 29th, 2013, 04:46 PM
simply look inside the tank witha match, if it blows up and kills you it was gas. If it simply catches on fire it is diesel. :D

Dont do that!! I agreee if it was diesel your bike would not run right.

My uncle would mix some Diesel in with gas once a year on his farm truck. IT ran like crap during this time but truck lasted him for years. I do not recall his reason for doing this

Whiskey
August 29th, 2013, 05:20 PM
Pop the tank open & have a good sniff, petrol & diesel smell different, if you smell diesel then you ****ed up, if you smell petrol all's good.

I've no idea of what E85 smells like, booze has an 'alcohol' smell, but the very pure stuff (<99.997% pure molecular biology grade EtOH) has a very weak odour. E85 should reek of booze, but I've not seen it anywhere, let alone used it.

BlueRaven
August 29th, 2013, 05:49 PM
Did you get a receipt? Sometimes the pump prints what you got on the receipt.

Worst case, drain the tank and refill with known good stuff (87 octane).

:whathesaid:

n4mwd
August 29th, 2013, 08:02 PM
My uncle would mix some Diesel in with gas once a year on his farm truck. IT ran like crap during this time but truck lasted him for years. I do not recall his reason for doing this

It lubricates the valves and rings.

MR2Aaron
August 31st, 2013, 04:59 PM
It lubricates the valves and rings.

Wouldn't you need to do that like, all the time for it to make any difference?

kslane
August 31st, 2013, 05:02 PM
Aww that explanes it, :eek: his farm truck ran forever:thumbup: and it was a FORD lol

GREY NINJA
August 31st, 2013, 05:26 PM
Since you say you pushed the far left button I'm assuming the pump had multiple buttons for 1 pump hose. If that's the case all the buttons for that hose will be Gasoline. They won't mix diesel and gas like that. Diesel will be a seperate hose/handle and it's always GREEN. :thumbup:

n4mwd
August 31st, 2013, 05:40 PM
Wouldn't you need to do that like, all the time for it to make any difference?

Probably. But people put kerosene in their cars all the time and kerosene is a kid brother to diesel. Kerosene aka injector cleaner.

rabies
September 6th, 2013, 07:17 AM
diesal and pump gas wont come from the same hose(law)
you most likely did flexfuel E85...and no it wont harm your bike...but it wont run on it. E85 is 105 octane.......put higher comp pistons in your bike and rejet and enjoy it :D