You'll be ok, you just do not have all the air out of the system, bump the starter quite a few times (re. 8 to 10) to get all the air out of the system and listen to everyone else, don't crack the injectors. The common rail motors are self priming. With that ratio of gas in the system, if you would have sucked up the premium fuel, your motor would have quit. You probably just burnt off the diesel that was in the fuel filter and rail.

 

sraibkis and dezeldog, i am hopeful that my truck will be fixed tomorrow. couldnt get to it today. hoping it is the sensors that my codes were inducatig on.....

 

Well keep us up to date!

 

FYI, do not use Diesel 911 UNLESS you are gelling up. Read the bottle. It says for diesel emergencies only. If you want to add lubrication, use Howes, PowerServe or other similar product. 911 is for occasional use when your fuel is Gelled up.
Extended use, will harm the injection system.

 

I did the "BP" green handle thing and put 16 gal of gas in a totally empty tank. But I noticed it right at the gas station and siphoned out all 16 gallons into red gas cans and refilled with Diesel........Truck ran fine and has been for a year. I didn't even change the fuel filter because I only drove 50 feet to start the siphon process. BTW, it took four hours to drain 16 gallons through a 3/8" hose!

I think you still need to purge the system and then you will be fine.

 

Yep, got the call from the shop today. New lift pump, new fuel pump, and then we will see if I need new injectors. I am now thinking that they need to empty the fuel again and drop the tank for a flushin. I am cringing while thinking about how much this bill is going to be. I will certainly not make this mistake again. Where can I get the best deals on parts?

 

we cracked a line at the 1st cylinder and cranked it for about 30 seconds, before getting fuel from it, closing it and then it started. It wont idle though, so is it possible that there is air in 5 of the other lines that can be purged at the head like the other one did? any other suggestions.

 

An HPCR system is self purging when it starts cranking. The COV valve purges air form the pump and injectors #1 and #6 cycle to purge the rail.

If you have fuel pressure at the CP3 it will purge and start without cracking any lines or doing anything else.

If it doesn't start or takes ether\ether substitue to start then its likely an injector problem.

 

Is this your "certified insurance mechanic"? If it is, he's taking your insurance company for a ride!
If it's not, since you asked about the best place for parts, then he's taking YOU for a ride.
If it didn't completely quit running, it wasn't running 100% gasoline for starters. I've seen gas in diesels quite a few times and all it caused was a headache. No way a couple seconds worth of running on diluted diesel trashed the lift pump, cp3 and possibly injectors.
I've helped a guy get his 6.0 Ford running after filling with gas and my old DMax, about 2 weeks after I sold it, I get a call from the lady who bought it and she's ticked off because her new truck that I told her was a good truck just died. Went out to help her (nice guy I am) and she' filled about 18 of the 26 gal tank with unleaded, got on the highway, got up to about 70mph and it died, period, no restart. Same injectors and cp3 as the CR Cummins.
After siphoning out almost 5 cans of gas, new fuel filter, it fired and ran fine. That was almost 2 years ago and she hasn't called me, see teh truck around sometimes.

 

I agree with Grit Dog. I know a buddy who accidently filled his tank up with unleaded in his duramax engine. He drove it until the engine stalled and wouldn't start. After taking it to the shop, the only thing that needed to be done was to drain the fuel tank and change the fuel filter. That was several years ago and the truck still runs without any problems.

 

Go back and read the OP's post and pay attention. 31 gallons of gasoline then he drive it a 1/4 mile home. That wasn't a dilution that was a FILL and a 1/4 at slow speeds is more than a few seconds. There are a whole bunch of factors that could have contributed but gas in an HPCR is a BAD deal with damage that is not readuly apparent.

Luck of the draw. Its happened before, it will happen again. Sometimes your bug sometimes your the windshield.

 

your got took gas didnt ruin the parts. i have a diesel pump hooked up to a tank thats pumped 1000s of gallons of gas with bo problem

 

I just filled my tractor with gas a couple of weeks ago. The only thing I found was it gradually lost power, would not rev up and eventually it would not start. Then it would start and idle and that was all. It took me a long time to figure out what happened!

The point is that I don't think the Cummins will start on gas. You still have gas at the injectors and so little is injected at idle and to start, that you may not have actually gotten diesel to inject yet. Keep trying to start it and give it full throttle to maybe inject more at each stroke. When it does finally start, it will probably be rough and smokey. Fine, let clear.

Stay away from ether! There is no reason to think there is mechanical damage causing loss of compression or something else, and you have some gas in the cylinders now. Ether, no. Ether equals engine death and it's irresponsible to recommend its use. Especially when there is gas in the cylinders. You NEVER get an engine running on ether, you only get it to fire because it got a slight whiff of the stuff. If you must use it, only give it enough to smell. Absolutely no liquid at all.

There is no need to replace everything in the fuel system! Somebody is trying to take you for a ride.

 

Oh!!! I got it!!!!!


It's APRIL FOOLS a day late!!!

 

Well, I've personally seen and fixed engines with broken ring lands, broken rings, broken pistons and a broken crankshaft from using ether. I've also seen people spray large amounts of liquid directly into the intake and seen people spray it in AFTER the engine was running. People on this site have recommended running the engine on ether. You might think it's a good idea, especially on someone else's truck, but I don't, and I speak from experience.

It's not a good idea to suggest to someone else that they do it. Especially on an easy starting Cummins in warm weather.

Laugh all you want. Ether is mostly misused and is only needed for special cases. Like cleaning those broken parts after they have been pulled out of the engine. I saw a guy with a bad VP44 last summer that would start his 2nd gen Cummins in 100 degree heat, after stopping to get fuel, by spraying liquid ether into the intake to rev the engine up. You should have heard that poor thing.