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Gasoline contaminated with Diesel for 2-stroke mix ???

Wilhelm

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An acquaintance of mime has about 70 liters of gasoline that is "contaminated" with an rather unknown amount of Diesel fuel.
He says it may be anything between 4-8 liters of Diesel on the full tank of 70 liters.

Now, obviously he can not use this "mix" of uncertain ratio in his Diesel car nor tractor.
But, can we use the contaminated fuel to make 2-stroke mix and spend it in multiple chainsaws (most of them would be mine)?
He will require at least 15 liters of mix to process his this winters firewood requirements so this would be a good opportunity to usefully spend a fair amount of the contaminated gasoline.

I know that in my youth I successfully "stretched" the limited fuel of my 2-stroke engine powered "bike" with Diesel out of my dads tractor fuel barrel, but that engine was turning only 4-5k rpm's max.

What are Your thoughts, opinions and experiences?
 

Wilhelm

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Thank You guys for Your replies.

If it were my fuel I would run it in the two 4-stroke mowers I have, and test/try as a mix in one of my generic chinese supermarket string trimmers.

But the fuel is not mine and the guy has ~120$ worth of it - I am just trying to figure out a way to utilize the contaminated gasoline purposefully.
 

GCJenks204

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What kind of container is it in? Do not Gas and diesel have different viscosities / specific gravities? Would they not separated some if left alone for a while? Siphon the lighter gas off and use each ?
 

Wilhelm

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What kind of container is it in? Do not Gas and diesel have different viscosities / specific gravities? Would they not separated some if left alone for a while? Siphon the lighter gas off and use each ?
The modern Diesel (Euro Diesel) is much less oily than the olden days Diesel fuels were so Diesel will mix with gasoline just as 2-stroke oil in fuel mix, maybe even better.

My dad is diluting Diesel with gasoline in the winter to make the tractor more willing to start in the cold.
Works quite good, tractor doesn't seem to mind.

I do not know in what kind of container the contaminated gasoline is currently stored, but I will find out tomorrow.
 

Wonkydonkey

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My 2cents worth.

Diesel is not really a lub in a combustion engine, (but it may well lub a bit) and will not lub a 2 stroke, like 2stroke oil does.....so I think the best bet is to (thin it out abit,
/ie, use a little in a 4 stroke engine, there fore if it does complain, the 4stroke will smoke sum more.. cough...cough... not seize...
I’ve done it the other way, I mixed from a large amount of diesel added to petrol tank with a small amount of petrol, I siphoned it, then I added into a diesel tank , and if it ran rough. I added more diesel, I guess you just have to work a rate that suits the engine, and yes some places do add petrol in to a diesel tank to stop it freezing, but it does not help/do any good if you add to much.. 5% petrol to diesel iirc... is what thins out diesel enough to stop it waxing/freezing. But newer engines are a lot less forgiving of mixed fuel.. somthing to do with rubber and fuel or oil tolerant...
 

Duane(Pa)

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I would use it in an old gas tractor with low compression. Too risky with a two stroke, as I would presume it will run hot as hell & ping like a sumbitch (pre ignition). Taint worth it in my book.
 

RedGas

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I don't think there's a hell of a lot of lubricity in gasoline when you feed it to diesels, especially engines with hydraulic injectors like Power Strokes...kinda like running hydraulic lifters on brake cleaner instead of oil... :grazy:

I might feed a small quantity of diesel (well diluted with gas) to a 4-stroke gas engine, though...it might smoke a lil, other than that, I don't think it'd hurt it.

I wouldn't run diesel in 2T motors, though. No way. I suspect it'd carbon things up in a hurry...
 
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smokey7

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Depending on my smell test and color id maybe mix it in some mower fuel. If i was desprate id run it in a saw mixed with oil as usual. It may not want to start on it cold so you may have to start on good mix and switch over once running.
 

cus_deluxe

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I accidentally topped off a 300cfm diesel powered air compressor with gas once....think it was about 50:50. I tried to run it in my old work truck (carbureted 350 chevy). Didnt work very well... at the rate youre talkin tho it would run fine in a lawn mower etc as said above, wouldnt run worth a *s-word in a saw is my guess.

Edit: forgot to add, i did dilute it, would add 5 gallons of that with 5 or so gallons of fresh fuel.
 
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deye223

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it will run in a 4 stroke but you will have a ash problem on the spark plugs
 

CR888

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If it was an old John-Deere don't worry about it .They ran them off of kerosene .Fact I've heard of them running on well head crude oil ,old Model D's during the great depression .
Nice story Al but.....its not the great depression and he wants to run the mixed fuel in his prized 2T chainsaws, not a John Deere tractor. I should think a bit of petrol mixed into diesel would be far worse a mistake as injectors and other components could really get damaged. I think a little diesel into petrol is far less a problem, the main issues will be carbon and plug fouling. Using it up in a 4stroke mower would be safest. Although if you live on the wild side & want to use it in your saws maybe run a few tanks through your least prized one first to see how it runs, check the spark plug, spark screen and perhaps peek at the exhaust port/piston crown to see how things are going. If it is working OK I'd remove spark screens on saws that you use it in. But at the end of the day I'm offering advice not based on experience so your responsible for what you decide to do.
 

RedGas

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Octane is probably going to be super low. I'd run it in any old briggs engine though.

I don't think diesel fuel has an octane rating. Seems to me it's cetane, not octane.

Whatever the case, I think diesel is going to be a lot less prone to pre-ignition than gasoline of any octane. It's a lot less volatile, with much longer molecules...
 

Wilhelm

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All sound opinions and suggestions, thanks to all who replied so far! :beer-toast1:

I'll see how the day turns out, maybe I make a liter of mix with that contaminated gasoline and try a quarter tank in one of my saws.
If it happens to look, sound and behave OK I'll go from there.

I don't own a least prized saw, they are all cherished.
If I had the time I would get some of that fuel, make 2-stroke mix and blow it through my weed whacker.
 
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