# Gasoline / Diesel mix: What to do with?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-diesel-mix-what-to-do-with/440495
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 7, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-diesel-mix-what-to-do-with/440495 "2008-03-07T19:43:28Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-diesel-mix-what-to-do-with/440495/1 "2008-03-07T19:43:28Z")
Because of a snafu at work, I am now sitting on 80 gallons of a 4 to one mixture of gasoline (87 octane) and diesel fuel. I’ve been burning it in some small 4 stroke engines, figuring that it would just smoke a bit, but I’m leery of putting it in anything especially valuable like a truck. What can I do with this stuff?
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-diesel-mix-what-to-do-with/440495/2 "2008-03-07T19:58:14Z")
Build a flame thrower.
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### Author:  [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2008, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-diesel-mix-what-to-do-with/440495/3 "2008-03-07T20:15:08Z")
Been siphoning out a diesel tank, have you? I’ve been there.
Some people add gas to diesel in the winter to thin the fuel at low temperatures. Since you presumably have a diesel vehicle that was involved in the original snafu, this implies you could top up its tank occasionally with your mixture. Personally I wouldn’t take the risk, though.
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### Author:  [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-diesel-mix-what-to-do-with/440495/4 "2008-03-07T20:45:20Z")
That’s the recipe for malatov cocktails.
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### Author:  [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2008, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-diesel-mix-what-to-do-with/440495/5 "2008-03-08T06:15:30Z")
I have a dusty dirt road…
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### Author:  [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2008, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-diesel-mix-what-to-do-with/440495/6 "2008-03-08T07:46:01Z")
4 parts diesel or gas? If it’s 4 parts diesel that’s essentially drip torch fuel and you might be able to donate it to a wildland fire agency or the Nature Conservancy.
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### Author:  [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2008, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-diesel-mix-what-to-do-with/440495/7 "2008-03-08T10:59:38Z")
“Jamie want big boom.”
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### Author:  [@Carson\_O\_Genic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carson_O_Genic)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2008, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-diesel-mix-what-to-do-with/440495/8 "2008-03-08T13:08:10Z")
In the pipelining days of yore,receipts would get cut manually via hydrometer readings to the various tankage.It was permissable to put the comingle from gas/diesel (#2) into the low end gas,but absolutely forbidden to put gas in the diesel or #1. Any such mix would result in downgrade of the whole batch to interface tankage for return to refiner,a certain money loser.
I’m not up on modern motors,though I suppose much like you do,it will smoke a bit.OTOH,you might screw up a computer balanced system,and likely violate emissions standards.
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### Author:  [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-diesel-mix-what-to-do-with/440495/9 "2008-03-08T13:41:42Z")
If you have an older gasoline machine, pre 1980’s, a tractor, a car or truck, lawnmower, etc. you can probably get by using the mix, assuming your talking about 80% gas and 20% diesel. I don’t think I’d try it in a modern, computer equipped engine and definately not in a diesel engine. Keep adding gas as you use it to dilute it even more.
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### Author:  [@Public\_Animal\_No.9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Public_Animal_No.9)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-diesel-mix-what-to-do-with/440495/10 "2008-03-08T16:42:34Z")
You should be able to contact a local fuel oil supplier and have them take it off your hands. For a fee, naturally. But they deal with mixtures like this all the time (spill cleanups, consolidating near-empty drums, and so on). It’ll probably go back to the refinery.
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### Author:  [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-diesel-mix-what-to-do-with/440495/11 "2008-03-09T03:25:57Z")
Some service station heat with wast oil burners, They could handle it as it will just be mixed in,
They probably won’t pay for it, but will take it off your hand.
Call around
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### Author:  [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-diesel-mix-what-to-do-with/440495/12 "2008-03-10T17:23:23Z")
If we’re talking 4 gallons of gasoline to 1 gallon of diesel, just add a couple of gallons to your gas tank every time you fill up. Assuming a standard 16 gallon tank, adding two gallons of your mix will add a pint or two of diesel. Not that much different than many of the different fuel treatments available.
If it’s the other way around, I have no idea what you can do with it other than have one hell of a fire.
Waste oil burners won’t touch anything with gasoline - too dangerous.