The new DP's may run on gasoline

msmith1199 wrote:
So if you ran gas in a regular diesel engine what would the result be? I had been told that since gas was more flammable than diesel that it could severely damage the engine. Is that not true?

I would say it is at least half true (from other posts in this thread) I do know that the energy per unit volume is different, I have heard argument as to which is more powerful.. I know of a TV show where gasoline was put in a Diesel tank and disaster followed, but that is Hollywood, not necessarily reality (Though the two stars and one other actor on the show were quite real in that they took all the training classes their Characters would have had to take (Just the two stars did not write the final or they could have done their character's job for a living,,, As for the one other.. Well what he did on the show WAS his day job.)

Kind of like the police dispatcher on Adam-12.. Yup, that was HER day job too.

But from other posts in this thread.. Running Gasoline in a Diesel engine not designed for it LONG TERM will cause damage.

Back in the old days (LIke 1960s and likely earlier) they had diesel engines that needed to be pre-heated. So they had not glo plugs, but SPARK plugs, and a carburetor and a gasoline tank (Small)

You started them on Gasoline and then switched to D once they were warmed.. I drove one.. once (A front end loader).

Is there a huge difference between the electric fuel injection used in most current gasoline engines and the mechanical injection pumps used in a diesel?
I would guess that with the new computer controlled engines that there are more similarities than there are differences.

dbl post

Here's a story of gas in diesel engines:

Some years ago I provided helicopter service to an Indian Tribe that resides at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. They owned and operated equipment which had either gas or diesel engines. Every once and a while the boys would get confused over which was which and gas was used in the diesel until the engine quit running.

At that point I would fly in (expensive) a mechanic (expensive) and parts (expensive) to repair the engine. My understanding was usually the problem was no further down the line than the ejector pump. All no "lubrication in gas" business I suppose. Diesel in the gas engine wasn't much of problem since the engine would just stop running till the right fuel was used following all the purging necessary.

Unfortunate for the Tribe, this was too regular a problem however good for the flying business.

It will take more, a lot more whizbang before DP's stop at the gas pump.

Interesting views.....

Those multi-fuel deuce-n-halfs in the Army would run on Avgas and cooking oil too. (We filtered the oil through a t-shirt) Just for training purposes though not on a regular basis

You can build an engine that runs on compressed air, hence no pollution. But you just kick the pollution can to another phase in the supply chain.

Nothing to replace diesel, in the near term, for energy density.

People are carbon emitters, O2 in CO2 out. The Greens want to regulate your carbon emissions, not theirs.

Well I made the mistake of putting half a tank of gas in my F350 diesel. Got back on I75 and the truck started running VERY rough. Got of onto secondary roads and drove about 100 miles home. Next morning went to my Ford dealer and they laughed and said welcome to the club. Seems lots of folks make this mistake. They drained the fuel tank and refilled with diesel and the truck ran like new. No damage. It ran rough and smelled really bad from the mixture.

I remember one time during the winter a long time ago, the diesel fuel delivery guy didn't mix in the additive that stops diesel fuel from freezing up when it's cold during the winter. Are shop mechanic added 1 gallon of gasoline per 50 gallons of diesel fuel and sent me on my way over the Cascade Mountains for the night and it worked my diesel fuel didn't freeze and my CAT motor ran fine!

Remember, the diesel engine replaced the gas engine in heavy duty trucks because it was more fuel efficient, more reliable and produced more power. Many, many years ago, I hauled coal from PA to NJ and NY, 55 to 60K GVW was the max load in those days. "Mountains" in NJ are nothing compared to those in the west and it was not uncommon for a driver to be walking alongside his gas engine truck or reading the newspaper as it struggled up the hill - Old NJ members may remember the Jugtown on old 22. A modern diesel truck will take that same "hill" with the same load without breaking a sweat.

Do not discount the political implications facing the diesel engine. There are some who are actively working to regulate this efficient, very clean burning, by comparison to older units, engine out of existence. Compliance costs were a prime factor in Caterpillar pulling out of the On Highway sector of the market.