Diesel in DEF tank

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by tonakis, Mar 13, 2014.

  1. tonakis

    tonakis Light Load Member

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    Yes. I did it. It was stupid, I know that. I am not looking for responses like that.

    Here's the story:

    Got a Cascadia with the DEF. Out of the 5 trucks I drove in this company, none of them used DEF. Nobody told me how to fuel DEF. So, not knowing that there is a seperate handle for the DEF (hidden in the pump), I accidentally put exactly one gallon of diesel in the DEF tank.

    Drove 500 miles with noticeable loss of power, but no overheating or engine lights, good oil pressure and all. Lightly loaded (23k lbs) and in Texas, on small hills speed drops from 65 to about 50. I am not sure if there is an actual problem or it is just the Cascadia, but it seems to me that I was in the mountains with 40k+ load I would start going backwards.

    Currently waiting at a Petro to get it checked/fixed. Hopefully did not damage anything.

    How bad is it?
     
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  3. carramrod32

    carramrod32 Heavy Load Member

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    Probably 4 to 5,000 dollars to fix, not covered by warranty. So I've heard.
     
  4. Reroll

    Reroll Light Load Member

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    Denver, CO
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    We all make mistakes, and I'm not judging you, but I have to know one thing: the diesel nozzle is twice the size of hole in the def filler neck - how in the world did you manage to get it in there?
     
  5. nikmirbre

    nikmirbre Road Train Member

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    Thank God I don't have Def on my truck yet but, I don't believe a Diesel pump will fit in a def tank, its designed like that for a reason…...
     
  6. STexan

    STexan Road Train Member

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    Longview, TX
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    Some people remove the blue filler "bushing" from the DEF tank to aid filling making it possible to put a diesel nozzle in the DEF tank. This is not a good idea, hence this story.

    I don't know what is involved in correcting this issue. Obviously the tank has to be drained of diesel and the injection plumbing flushed. I'm not sure if the diesel permanently harms any of the pumps, intake nozzles, or injectors but I assume it may.

    The DEF tank monitor sensed a proper DEF mixture was not present and told the engine to de-rate until the issue is resolved.
     
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  7. cabwrecker

    cabwrecker The clutch wrecker

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    Lol you sprayed diesel on your diesel particulate filter. You know you did damage to some degree or another, right?

    Just so you know, that DPF is sitting behind your exhaust port getting hot enough to make platinum and ceramic glow and cook captured hydrocarbon byproducts, then turn them into entirely different chemical structure.
    Your DEF system then began sparying a mixture of DEF (Urea, ammonia and a few other lovely little chemicals) and a very energetic hydrocarbon (Diesel) onto a ceramic hexagonal filter that's lined with various precious metals.

    500 miles? How much diesel in the DEF port are we talking? Did you fill it up? Because if that's the case, you're DPF screwed. A little diesel in the def, followed by a short period of driving- maybe not so bad but it still ain't a rose garden.


    Surprised your exhaust system wasn't pinging alarms at you. That's kind of sort of pretty serious.


    Depends on the truck, and more specificaly the engine. I know Detroit have a mixture sensor, most newer Cummins do as well. Couldn't tell you about CAT, Pacar, Mercedes or Volvo. It depends on the year. First few years DEF was in heavy use most trucks weren't equipped with such protective measures. And still, he ran the truck 500 miles at what we can only assume was a nominal interstate speed- that's hot enough to get that DPF a`glowin. The exhaust system is going to operate to some degree or another and having diesel sprayed on his filter isn't helping anything. Was he able to displace a huge amount of power out of the engine? No. Doesn't change the fact that this comb in question had diesel sprayed on it, in motion, at high speed no less.
     
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  8. tonakis

    tonakis Light Load Member

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    Fort LAuderdale, FL
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    As I said, only 1 gallon of the 20 is diesel. And this is exactly what I am hoping - that after draining the tank and putting fresh DEF it would be okay. Really hoping it hasn't damaged anything.

    Ahhh, you learn every day. The hard way too.
     
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  9. Patrickm213

    Patrickm213 Medium Load Member

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    Diesel has a specific gravity of ~.90 and DEF is 1.09 so the diesel should mostly float on top of the tank.

    However, it seems like you drove 500 miles(after you realized your mistake? Why?) immediately so it was probably mixed in with any DEF that was used. You probably still have diesel in the lines as well.
     
  10. david123abc

    david123abc Heavy Load Member

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    I'm confused why you attempted to drive it when you realized what you had done. Did you call someone at your company and they told you to drive it and see what happened?
     
  11. cabwrecker

    cabwrecker The clutch wrecker

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    1 gallon out of 20?
    Hell you'll be fine. I know for a fact I accidentally threw more than that (Probably closer to 4-5 gallons before I realized what was going on- I was that fatigued) in a dd13 one night when I was still with my trainer and extremely fatigued. Nothing happened. Truck ran fine, no derate.
     
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