Diesel?.... what the f***!!

[Greasy Biker]

So,

What would happen if you accidently put diesel into a 1200GS? would it knacker the fuel injection system, or would it just be a matter of draining everything and refilling with petrol?

Highly unlikely I know, just wondered........

GB

 

[rce]

You are fecked if you have turned it over, you may get away with a drain but diesel is not the thing to put in a petrol engine and is likely to bung something up.

 

[Wapping]

I pumped 30 or so litres of French diesel into my GSA.

Did not crank the engine.

Got most of it out.

Fouled the plugs when I did crank it.

Put new plugs in.

In ran with a bit of popping and banging for a few miles and was then fine..... Other than lots of smoke when blipping the throttle in neutral.

It took about 90 litres ( three tank fulls) of prime 4 star to stop it smoking and wash the last of the oily diesel out of the fuel tank and system.

No damage at all and the engine is still going strong at 56,000.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

I pumped 30 or so litres of French diesel into my GSA.

Did not crank the engine.

Got most of it out.

Fouled the plugs when I did crank it.

Put new plugs in.

In ran with a bit of popping and banging for a few miles and was then fine..... Other than lots of smoke when blipping the throttle in neutral.

It took about 90 litres ( three tank fulls) of prime 4 star to stop it smoking and wash the last of the oily diesel out of the fuel tank and system.

No damage at all and the engine is still going strong at 56,000.

That must have been a moment................unusual for you

 

[the beer hunter]

A mate of mine filled up his GSXR with gazoil in France not realising what it was.

The attendant came out & tried to convey what he'd done, he eventually twigged on.

He took his tank off, drained it & filled up with petrol. It was a bit smokey for a while but ran OK.

 

[wheelnut]

I think you do more damage putting petrol in a diesel than vice versa.

Mainly due to petrol knackering the diesel pump.

 

[Gremlin Serbia]

A friend of mine accidentaly refilled F 800 GS with euro-diesel...it worked for some "some time" and then turned off...

After leeking of all diesel from the tank, and refilling with proper gasoline BMW revamped without any damage.

 

[Rusty Bolts]

I put 2 litres in my Blackbird 'cos I'm a tw*t' then topped up with 16ltrs of petrol. No problems and the cat still worked. Obviously. I wouldn't recommend it (because diesel is bloody expensive) but it is amazing what you can get away.

 

[VAL. H.]

So,

What would happen if you accidently put diesel into a 1200GS? would it knacker the fuel injection system, or would it just be a matter of draining everything and refilling with petrol?

Highly unlikely I know, just wondered........

GB

A friend of mine accidentaly refilled F 800 GS with euro-diesel...it worked for some "some time" and then turned off...

After leeking of all diesel from the tank, and refilling with proper gasoline BMW revamped without any damage.

I read about Paul from 'Paul & Mave's Pan American Highway adventure' Put diesel in his 1200 in Alaska.
Apparently he rode it till it went wrong before he realised what had happened. He tipped the bike on its side to empty the tank, filled it up with his spare fuel and returned to the fuel station, filled up with petrol and carried on up the Haul road with little or no affects. This was only a couple of weeks into their adventure.

The Moral being that the 1200GS can handle some pretty crap fuel and still keep running. I would guess that changing the fuel filter asap would be a wise thing to do.


Val.

 

[Greasy Biker]

I read about Paul from 'Paul & Mave's Pan American Highway adventure' Put diesel in his 1200 in Alaska.
Apparently he rode it till it went wrong before he realised what had happened. He tipped the bike on its side to empty the tank, filled it up with his spare fuel and returned to the fuel station, filled up with petrol and carried on up the Haul road with little or no affects. This was only a couple of weeks into their adventure.

The Moral being that the 1200GS can handle some pretty crap fuel and still keep running. I would guess that changing the fuel filter asap would be a wise thing to do.


Val.

Interesting!! Thanks for the replies - I know from personal experience (petrol into an old Peugeot diesel) how easy it can be to make this mistake.

I'm planning to travel a little further afield in the next couple of years - can anyone recommend an easy way to tell the difference? Is there a simple test (Litmus Paper??) that can be done when buying fuel from the more unusual vendors, i.e. being sold in plastic bottles at the side of the road?

My sense of smell is cr*p when trying to tell the difference between petrol & diesel - I blame it on a miss-spent youth - can anyone recommend an easy solution?


GB

 

[ducatiparts.110mb]

I'm planning to travel a little further afield in the next couple of years - can anyone recommend an easy way to tell the difference? Is there a simple test (Litmus Paper??) that can be done when buying fuel from the more unusual vendors, i.e. being sold in plastic bottles at the side of the road?

Petrol evaporates completely, diesel doesn't.

Whilst you're waiting for it to evaporate you could read the lables on the pump / can / plastic bottle etc

 

[(RIP) Miff]

Surely a "Round the world adventure bike" should be able to withstand some weird shit being put in the tank??? Maybe not actually be able to run on fermented yak's milk, but not make the engine turn into scrap at the flick of a switch??

When Land Rover sell the Defender, they have an optional extra of another fuel map so the vehicle can be run on "Low grade" fuel, especially for overlanding types.

 

[JJH]

Petrol evaporates completely, diesel doesn't.

Whilst you're waiting for it to evaporate you could read the lables on the pump / can / plastic bottle etc

Petrol will burn diesel will not. Pour a little on the ground if you can light it it's petrol if you can't it's diesel JJH

 

[Pukmeister]

Petrol will burn diesel will not. Pour a little on the ground if you can light it it's petrol if you can't it's diesel JJH

I can't imagine that would make me very popular on most forecourts.

 

[Greasy Biker]

Petrol will burn diesel will not. Pour a little on the ground if you can light it it's petrol if you can't it's diesel JJH

JJH - thanks for the easy solution for identifying petrol/diesel - a straight forward method when being offered 'petrol' sold at the roadside, & not via a conventional 'pump' aka; Shell, Texaco, etc.. As mentioned, I'm planning on travelling a little further afield in a year or so - no doubt influenced by a mate who took part in the Mongolian Rally last year

'Miff' - I think there are a number of vehicles that can alter their ignition/injection settings to cope with low-grade fuels - is there something that can cope with diesel & petrol? - aside from the multi-fuel stoves from Primus/MSR, etc...


GB

 

[John Armstrong]

Petrol evaporates completely, diesel doesn't.

I'd guess from the state of most garage forecourts near the diesel only pumps that petrol won't have a "greasy / Oily" type of feel if you rubbed it between your fingers.

Best not try and rub your eyes immediately afterwards

 

[ducatiparts.110mb]

I can't imagine that would make me very popular on most forecourts.

Just as well that most of us rely on the label on the pump

 

[Neil W]

Put diesel in a petrol and it stops, clean out the diesel, new plugs and some injector cleaner and it will be fine. As diesel is a better lubricant than petrol it will do the pump no harm.

Put petrol in a diesel and it will run very well for a short time and then it will be very broken. it damages the pump which is lubricated by the diesel , the injectors and often the head and head gasket will join the party.

Older diesels can survive petrol much better than the newer ones as will a vehicle that has still got diesel in the tank.

 

[JJH]

JJH - thanks for the easy solution for identifying petrol/diesel - a straight forward method when being offered 'petrol' sold at the roadside, & not via a conventional 'pump' aka; Shell, Texaco, etc.. As mentioned, I'm planning on travelling a little further afield in a year or so - no doubt influenced by a mate who took part in the Mongolian Rally last year

'Miff' - I think there are a number of vehicles that can alter their ignition/injection settings to cope with low-grade fuels - is there something that can cope with diesel & petrol? - aside from the multi-fuel stoves from Primus/MSR, etc...


GB

Just be carefull that its not some other sprit like meths or alachol.
There is nothing you can do to make a gs run on diesel bar raise the compression ratio, make it direct fuel injection, alter the cam timing, and ingition timing and change the injector pressure. when this is done the engine will run the risk of self destruction due to the higher combustion pressures.
You might get away with 10% diesel 90% petrol but I wont be trying it. JJH

 

[Mark Hooton]

Ten penneth

I put some derv in the tank of my CB1300 in Bonny Jockland last year (because I am a twat). I then filled the tank up with unleaded and it was fine.....................

I guess the unleaded `diluted` the diesel to a point where it wouldnt fek anything up?

Mark
www.cymarcbikeparts.co.uk