No excuses, grabbed the wrong can by mistake and well, it ran fine for a half hour or so. There was some gasoline in the tank to start with, so it was getting a mix.
Briggs and Stratton 17 hp.
Obviously I will empty the tank, replace the fuel filter and clean the carb.
Can anyone suggest anything else I can do, or perhaps enlighten me as to the repercussions of what I’ve done. I feel like pitting myself I’m so mad at my screw up.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
:smack:
Oh my. Sounds like you’re doing the right things, to start with… but does anyone here know what effect diesel fuel would have on an internal combustion engine? Yow.
What happened when the engine quit? Did it just die, or was it unpleasant and scary-sounding? Cause if it made funky noises, I would recommend bringing it to a professional (preferably one that won’t take advantage of you).
With any luck, emptying the tank and cleaning the carb and replacing the fuel filter will have you in the green. However, you might want to cross your fingers or something ;).
You might also want to clean the spark plug. Other than that, you should be alright, since those two-stroke B&S engines are pretty robust. Give it a good run with the proper fuel to flush everything out.
ok, you guys are giving me a glimmer of hope.
As far as the way it ran, it just did. I put it up after a half hour or so of cutting.
My suspicions got piqued the next day when it wouldn’t start. The motor just turned over and over (plugs fouled hopefully?) I took off the air cleaner and sprayed carb cleaner into the intake and it would fire up and run for a minute, obviously like it was running off starting fluid. When I stopped squirting, it wouldn’t crank.
I hope those Briggs/Strattons are as good as their reputations. course, they haven’t made them idiot proof yet. lol
Gratuitous Bump ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Nah, between Grelby and Q.E.D., it’s been covered.
Putting 4-stroke (straight gas) into a 2-stroke that expects a gas-oil mix is bad, but what you’ve done shouldn’t be a problem.
If fact, what I’d do is just drain the tank, fuel line and carb, refill it, then give it a go. The gas itself should clean out the carb and filter.
If that doesn’t work, then do the cleaning.
Gotta clean or change the plugs. Also, the carbs keep some fuel
so did you clean out the float reservior too?
I appreciate the advice, and I’m happy to report that she’s purring like a happy cat. Smoked like hell at first though. I did drain and flush the tank, lines, and carb resevoir. Didn’t have to clean the plug.
My chief concern is that I had done some type of damage to the piston/rings/cylinders with the introduction of the diesel, but the engine is running just fine so I’ll hope that I did little or no harm.
cheers
Just to add to my post count…
I did this exact thing to my Craftsman rider last summer. I filled it with the tractor diesel and it started smoking bad after about two minutes. I just drained the tank, lines, and carb and then refilled it. It smoked for a bit until the excess diesel was burned off and then it ran fine…and has been running fine ever since. I’m on six acres in a fire area so I’m on the the rider or the tractor almost every weekend keeping the grass down. So if my anecdotal evidence is any indication of the long term effects of diesel consumption, you should be just fine.
It should be fine. Diesel fuel is pretty much just a fuel/oil mix anyway, so what’s the harm? I’d make sure the plug doesn’t have any gunk build up, and forget about it. On second thought, don’t forget about it, remember not to put diesel fuel in your lawnmower.
I’ll quote Jimmy, our small engine / landscape equipment repair man with over 27 years experience, who works downstairs from me…
“Down’t fawkin sweat it. Tell him he did everyding right by drainin n cleanin the fuel tank and cleanin the carb. I hope he cleaned da bowl (under the carb) too. If it was da other way around (gasoline in a diesel engine), he’d be screwed, but this is nothin to lose any sleep ova. And tell him not ta worry if the carb smokes alot after he restarts it with gas, dat’s normal.”
If you need more non-paraphrased info or details, give him a call at my job 914-969-7777, tell him John Buck said it was cool to call. He’s brash, but knows his stuff.
The only downside to this is that now I have no excuse Not to cut the grass
