gas and diesel mix

Hi guys and gals. I didn't do it, but an acquaintance has mixed 19 gals of diesel fuel with one gallon of gasoline. Can this be used in a diesel motor, or is all lost? I know nothing of these things. Thanks.

Back when I was a diesel grease monkey some of the drivers used to toss a gallon or so of gas in with their fuel in each tank to prevent gelling. Of course that was 1 gallon of gas to 100 or more gallons of diesel.

I assume it could be run through a reasonably healthy diesel without causing any damage but I wouldn't put it in anything I really cared about.

Is it a modern Diesel or oldschool? I would be very fearful of putting that into a modern Diesel.

I know for running in cold weather we would run a 50/50 mix of diesel and kerosene.. not sure what the gasoline will do...

HappyAndy wrote: Is it a modern Diesel or oldschool? I would be very fearful of putting that into a modern Diesel.

Agreed. Older diesels tend to be fairly tolerate of what they'll burn. Newer ones with high pressure pumps are less so - remember gasoline is considered a solvent, diesel fuel a lubricant. It might be ok, but for as much as injection pumps cost, it's an expensive gamble to save $70 worth of fuel.

My old MB 220D owner's manual said to mix gasoline into the Diesel if you couldn't get any cold weather Diesel fuel. I don't recall the ratio, but it was more than 1:10, I think.

Thanks for all the comments so far. It's a '95 Chevy pickup with a 6.5 turbo diesel.

That engine has a rotary pump which is fuel lubricated. I wouldn't risk it if it was my truck. Drain itand mix 1 gallon of your mix at a time with a full tank of fresh diesel or find someone with a 2.5 ton truck with a multi-fuel engine and dump it in there.

I don't think the one gallon in 19 gallons would be a problem, but you could put a quart of ATF in the fuel, which will help lubricate the pump and should counteract the gasoline. A note of caution, this makes the fuel a reddish color, similar to off-road Diesel, which isn't legal for on-road use.

So, you can burn diesel, jet fuel, kerosene, vegetable oil, peanut oil, linseed oil, transmission fluid and about anything else in that engine but it can't handle one gallon of gasoline?

Not buying it.

Put the fuel in, add a cup of ATF it the lubrication thing worries you and continue with life.

My 99 F-250 diesel has been filled twice with gasoline. Once mixed with about 1/4 tank of diesel- it ran rough, but it did run.

The second time it was bone dry and filled completely with gas- didn't do so well that time. Fuel tank had to be removed and drained, filters changed, etc.

But it survived, and has over 450,000 miles on it.

The stuff you've got has 5% less lubricating capability than straight diesel. In a '95, it wouldn't bother me a bit. Newer one, perhaps.

It would bother me even less to do it in your truck than in mine.

on the most simplistic level, diesel motor will burn gas, a gas motor will not burn diesel. There are obviously complicating factors, but a 20 year old diesel truck has burned more than a gallon of water in its lifetime.

Thanks guys. Much appreciated.

2 stroke oil works good too