GAS in tank - fixed for about $100

[tdiDerry]

Well I'll tell the story and the remedy, you can skip down if you don't want to hear about me being an idiot.

No longer get to drive my loving TDi because I gave up 75 mile commute for a 9 mile one. My son now uses it for school. But I needed it for a long drive to a NFL football game, my first. So I pick up my buddy, go a mile to the gas station. get out, go around the car -forgot to open the fuel door. go back open it, take off the cap and remember that my son never puts in Power Service, go back and open trunk, get power service, put some in, put back and close trunk. Swipe card, and grab handle closest to the ready, open, fuel door, push the worn out button right above where I just got the pump handle from and fill the car to the tippy top.. I always fill up the filler neck.. Get in the car ready to go to the game, ask buddy where we are going to eat and proceed to drive 1.1 miles before the engine dies. Coast into a private gated golfcourse. Now I have had a faulty fuel pump before that I had to replace, which would overheat, so if you waited a while it would start and run for a short time.. Which this did.. ran poorly and had to rev it, but I managed to get away from the golfcourse and down the road a bit, when it died.. so we pushed it about 1/2 mile in the 106 degree AZ heat, to a parking lot where i called the wife, to bring me another car.. When she gets there she asked me what happened and then said -"did you put in Gas instead of Diesel..." and it hit me.. the pump handle was silver and not green.. and it was really clean as I though about it.. Went to the Game, came home and looked through the forums on what to do. Towed the car home the next morning, and proceeded below.

--Had to buy--
1. new fuel filter - $35
2. Hand syphon pump - $12
3. new diesel - $20 initially ($35 after it was running, $6 for PowerService if you don't already have it)
--- only if you dont have large Fuel can $10 for 6 gal at Walmart..
--- if you need containers for bad fuel, 2.79 buckets at Home depot..


--What I did-- 2005 MkIV w/PD (BEW)
1. Pumped out about 5 gals with hand pump through the filler nozzle. -this is so you can pull the fuel pump without getting fuel all over the back seat area.
2. Removed fuel pump. I use a very large flat head and lever the retatining ring against the cover screw-in tabs.
3. Syphoned the rest of the fuel out of the tank for fuel pump hole.
4. Removed and discard fuel filter.
5. Blow back lines from filter back to tank with air compressor. (you will have to take out the Thermostatic Tee)
6. Wiped out remaining fuel from tank that syphon couldn't get and that was blown back.
7. Re-installed fuel pump (be sure to dump out the bad fuel before replacing)
8. Disconnected return line from IP (Injector Pump) at junction after the hard line. Blow out both lines from filter to IP. Reconnected line.
9. Mixed in about 10 oz of PS additive to the 6 gallons new good diesel
10. Filled and Install Fuel filter, remember to put Thermostatic Tee back in. (Filled filter with new PS/Diesel mix)
11. Put remaining new Diesel/PS mix into tank.
12. Turn key on and allowed pump to run about 10 sec, and did that again, Turned over until it started (about 20 seconds), ran rough for about 10 seconds and has been fine since..

 

[ugenetoo]

Sure makes me feel stupid when you do something so simple, so wrongly.

Seems like an awful lot of work to completely clean out the tank though.
I think I would have grabbed a sixpack and rigged up a way to let that PD tank pump move all the fuel out that was put in.
Then fill it up with DF and maybe a triple shot of fuel pump lubricity additive, new fuel filter,and fired that mother up.

 

[40X40]

Well I'll tell the story and the remedy, you can skip down if you don't want to hear about me being an idiot.

No longer get to drive my loving TDi because I gave up 75 mile commute for a 9 mile one. My son now uses it for school. But I needed it for a long drive to a NFL football game, my first. So I pick up my buddy, go a mile to the gas station. get out, go around the car -forgot to open the fuel door. go back open it, take off the cap and remember that my son never puts in Power Service, go back and open trunk, get power service, put some in, put back and close trunk. Swipe card, and grab handle closest to the ready, open, fuel door, push the worn out button right above where I just got the pump handle from and fill the car to the tippy top.. I always fill up the filler neck.. Get in the car ready to go to the game, ask buddy where we are going to eat and proceed to drive 1.1 miles before the engine dies. Coast into a private gated golfcourse. Now I have had a faulty fuel pump before that I had to replace, which would overheat, so if you waited a while it would start and run for a short time.. Which this did.. ran poorly and had to rev it, but I managed to get away from the golfcourse and down the road a bit, when it died.. so we pushed it about 1/2 mile in the 106 degree AZ heat, to a parking lot where i called the wife, to bring me another car.. When she gets there she asked me what happened and then said -"did you put in Gas instead of Diesel..." and it hit me.. the pump handle was silver and not green.. and it was really clean as I though about it.. Went to the Game, came home and looked through the forums on what to do. Towed the car home the next morning, and proceeded below.

--Had to buy--
1. new fuel filter - $35
2. Hand syphon pump - $12
3. new diesel - $20 initially ($35 after it was running, $6 for PowerService if you don't already have it)
--- only if you dont have large Fuel can $10 for 6 gal at Walmart..
--- if you need containers for bad fuel, 2.79 buckets at Home depot..


--What I did-- 2005 MkIV w/PD (BEW)
1. Pumped out about 5 gals with hand pump through the filler nozzle. -this is so you can pull the fuel pump without getting fuel all over the back seat area.
2. Removed fuel pump. I use a very large flat head and lever the retatining ring against the cover screw-in tabs.
3. Syphoned the rest of the fuel out of the tank for fuel pump hole.
4. Removed and discard fuel filter.
5. Blow back lines from filter back to tank with air compressor. (you will have to take out the Thermostatic Tee)
6. Wiped out remaining fuel from tank that syphon couldn't get and that was blown back.
7. Re-installed fuel pump (be sure to dump out the bad fuel before replacing)
8. Disconnected return line from IP (Injector Pump) at junction after the hard line. Blow out both lines from filter to IP. Reconnected line.
9. Mixed in about 10 oz of PS additive to the 6 gallons new good diesel
10. Filled and Install Fuel filter, remember to put Thermostatic Tee back in. (Filled filter with new PS/Diesel mix)
11. Put remaining new Diesel/PS mix into tank.
12. Turn key on and allowed pump to run about 10 sec, and did that again, Turned over until it started (about 20 seconds), ran rough for about 10 seconds and has been fine since..

You did fine.

Bill

 

[VWBeamer]

Good job, BTW I don't think a few ounces of gas left would hurt, all diesel has some gas in it anyways, they are transported on the same trucks to the station.

 

[TheGrove]

Sure makes me feel stupid when you do something so simple, so wrongly.

Seems like an awful lot of work to completely clean out the tank though.
I think I would have grabbed a sixpack and rigged up a way to let that PD tank pump move all the fuel out that was put in.
Then fill it up with DF and maybe a triple shot of fuel pump lubricity additive, new fuel filter,and fired that mother up.

Big problem. The fuel pump is designed to move Diesel and is lubricated by the fuel. Using it to move gas will burn the pump out.

 

[40X40]

Big problem. The fuel pump is designed to move Diesel and is lubricated by the fuel. Using it to move gas will burn the pump out.

Maybe.

Bill

 

[Birdman]

Good job, BTW I don't think a few ounces of gas left would hurt, all diesel has some gas in it anyways, they are transported on the same trucks to the station.

Back in the early 80s the Crappy GM diesel manual actually said to put a little gas in the tank on super cold days. They make a big deal out of how to do it because it was said when the gas was first starting to go into the tank there was a high risk of fire? How I am not sure. But a good number of people were putting gas in the tanks that winter because it was a good deal below normal that winter. I had a Cutlass diesel and it started to die on a fairly steep 7+ grade short hill in a small town I go through every day. It did make it to the top and I coasted to the gas station which did not have diesel and pumped 1/2 gallon into a 3/4 full tank. Ran fine but I would not want to make a habit of doing that. That winter had Semi trucks frozen along the highways, My Buddy make a great deal of money restarting them. The State police had him and one other big rig mechanic on speed dial.

 

[tditom]

Back in the early 80s the Crappy GM diesel manual actually said to put a little gas in the tank on super cold days. They make a big deal out of how to do it because it was said when the gas was first starting to go into the tank there was a high risk of fire? How I am not sure. But a good number of people were putting gas in the tanks that winter because it was a good deal below normal that winter...

Did the same thing on the VW diesels we had in Germany during the 80's. I think the target was 10% gas.

 

[Softrockrenegade]

Be glad this wasnt a newer CR fuel system .... Would have been toast !!

 

[Jump62]

Did the same thing on the VW diesels we had in Germany during the 80's. I think the target was 10% gas.

I had a 1978 Rabbit Diesel and I remenber the owners manual recomended to add 1 Gal of regular to 9 Gal of diesel ( fuel tank was a wopping 10 gal ) to winterize the fuel. I lived outside of Ft Riley for 4 years and sometimes had to do this. Sometimes wish I didn't sell that car, very simple as compaired to our modern cars.

Paul
aka Jump62

 

[mrGutWrench]

You did fine.

Bill

__. For a PD. But on an ALH with no fuel pump in the tank, there's a system to prevent drainback to the tank. But you could modify this procedure to pull a vacuum at the fuel filter end of the supply line from the tank (not using air pressure to blow back the other way) once the tank was empty. I'd worry about damaging the non-return valves if I use air pressure at the fuel filter.

__. I also agree that a pint or so of gasoline left in a tank that you're going to put ~16 gallons of diesel in is no big deal.

__. But, as others have said, you did fine and this is a pretty good description of the work needed to fix this situation.