gas in a diesel engine - Ford Forums

billbooth2000 · 07-11-2009, 20:40

Ohh boy - did we screw up! Put gasoline in a F250 diesel and drove it approx 5 miles before noting a rough running condition and realizing the big mistake. It has duel tanks, so switched over to remaining diesel fuel and traveled approx 1.5 miles home before shutting off the ignition. It seemed to be running better when it was shut down. How much damage or repairs does it sound like I need?

**jwko** · 07-11-2009, 21:47

Moved to the Ford F-150 | Ford F-250 | Ford Super Duty | Ford Diesel section.

RobXL · 07-12-2009, 08:12

Diesel engines are extremely robust and you didn't go very far before switching back to the correct fuel, so hopefully you got away with it. Is the engine running like it did before it burned gas?

**360ci** · 07-13-2009, 20:14

The engine should be fine. You're better off not using the tank you filled with gas (obviously), and to replace it with a new unit as the pump is likely integrated into the tank in which case it would be less expensive to replace it all, instead of removing it, and having it cleaned. It'll also give you better piece of mind.

Running gas for a prolonged period in a diesel, the engine will more than likely stall out after a while as you can't compress gasoline, as it's meant for spark ignition only. The diesel is rather robust, but gasoline can degrade hoses, injectors and other seals.