Alberta gas station mixed up diesel and gasoline for 3 days
For three days, motorists pumping fuel at this particular Gas Plus location were served a mixture of both gasoline and diesel.
“We can now confirm that there was a mix of fuel delivered on Saturday, July 24, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. affecting only the regular and diesel tanks,” GP Fuels Inc. told the CBC. “Diesel fuel was delivered into the regular gas tank, and regular gas was delivered into the diesel tank by the delivery company.”
GP Fuels estimates that during the mix-up period, the gasoline was tainted with about 20 per cent diesel and that the diesel was tainted with about 40 per cent regular gasoline.
this happens all the time, why is it news?
Gasoline bricks current diesels, so yes this is news.
Getting harder to find good help these days.
Ha.
Back in the early sixties my brother put gas in our new David Brown 950 Diesel.
He said it ran really good for a little while.
Injection pump seized up.
Dad was NOT happy
Let me quote BLM … “They have insurance”
Out there somewhere, an anti-pickuper is rejoicing.
“an anti-pickuper is rejoicing”
Once dear leader has his majority mandate he will solve all that by either banning diesel pick-up trucks or regulating them to death.
Good way to get $10k worth of new injectors……..
Talking newer diesels.
You forget the high pressure pump , the filters and housing, maybe the low pressure pump if it has one, clean out of the lines and fuel tank.
Hopefully the cat and particulate filter or sensors were not damaged also .
And that the combustion chambers weren’t damaged , pistons, valves/seats.
Then there is the labour and down time while you pay for a rental.
Lots of $$$$$$.
human beings will make mistakes.
guaranteed.
you’d think it would be next to impossible to confuse these 2 fuels and you would be right;
however… the key phrase in this observation is “next to.”
was the individual who visited this on a ton of people they have never met – tired, rookie, under the influence, in the middle of a divorce or what etc.
probably no longer has a job if employed or will lose the contract if independent. bad news all around.
In my previous life, I managed a production facility with a 14 truck delivery operation. At least once a month, a driver would accidentally fill the diesel tank with gasoline. Sometimes, they would realize the mistake before they restarted the truck, but not always…
Diesel identified as gasoline and gasoline identified as diesel. Works for trans athletes.
I feel bad for the soon to be bankrupt franchisee since they probably didn’t do anything wrong…
are there any other gas stations around there?
was alla S the truck driver?
In my diesel that would probably cost up to 20000 for injectors, pump etc. A little diesel in a gas engine will cause it to run a little rough by gas in newer diesels results in SERIOUS damage.
Engines should have been able to survive this. Gasoline engine may start running a little rich, but you can burn 2 stroke mix without any long term damage if you have to. Diesels, also should be fine. Unless you had one guy running tank empty every day, and always using the same filling station.
You thin down one 1/2 tank of diesel with some gasoline, should be fine. That is actually how you thin out the summer diesel if you get caught in an early freeze and it all gels up on you.
60/40 diesel/gas, only for a few days, you may want to do a tune up, but your engine and injectors should be fine.
maybe on a gas engine, a diesel is going either brick or die an early death with gasoline mixed in it.
It’s funny when people who clearly have never ran a diesel, try to play expert on the internet. Perkins, John Deere, Cummins, Allison, Mack, Cat, … ran a lot of diesels in lots of applications One drop of gasoline don’t “brick” your engine. And it wasn’t even straight gasoline, just diluted diesel. And no one pushes their rig after running it empty, so less diluted than out of the pump.
Most of these guys will have no problem. Especially if they used more than one filling station in the interim.
Living in a warmish part of the antipodes, I don’t have to worry much about Diesel fuel “jelling” in that special Canadian-grade cold weather. We are not noted for our use of “block-heaters”, either.
However, I was given to understand that in such places, “winter-grade” diesel actually contains some “gasoline” to keep the stuff liquid enough to be pumped from the vehicle tank, through the “fuel handling system” and into the cylinders at the correct moment..
Is that still the practice?
Also, where I live, the fill points for the big tanks under the driveway, are capped with a lid that has to be unlocked by the delivery driver before transferring fuel. CAST into the exposed top of this lid is the designation of the fuel type that is specific for that tank.
There may be some “interesting” details missing from the original story.
Check this out … lack of paraffin & additional kerosene is the major difference.
When it comes to using diesel fuel, Canada is classified as the country with an “arctic” climate. Temperatures in the winter easily drop to – 40 °C. When such freezing temperatures hit, failing to prep your diesel engine could mean its failure.
At the fuel station, you can choose between “summer” diesel fuel, which is usually suitable for use between May and October, and “winter” diesel fuel, which is good between November and April.
As the summer fuel faces low temperatures, it starts to thicken up. Gelled fuel is useless for your vehicle. That’s where the winter diesel blend comes in.
Let’s look at the difference between summer and winter diesel fuel options.
SUMMER DIESEL FUEL (GRADE NO.2)
During warmer months, it’s reasonable to use grade no.2 diesel fuel, also called “summer” diesel fuel. It starts clouding at about – 7 °C compared to “straight-up” grade no.1 fuel, which does the same at – 40 °C.
WINTER DIESEL FUEL (GRADE NO.1 + GRADE NO.2)
Winter diesel fuel is a mix of grade no.1 and grade no.2 fuel. The main component of grade no.1 diesel is kerosene. Meanwhile, it doesn’t contain paraffin. These two factors lower the cloud and pour points of the mix, thus preventing gelling in cold temperatures.
Depending on the area you live in, the ratio of no.1 to no.2 diesel fuels in the winter blend can vary. Generally, it’s about 20 to 80. For the coldest regions, pure grade no.1 diesel fuel may be required.
Even though pure grade no. 1 diesel fuel may seem an excellent solution due to its low gelling point, it’s more expensive and has a lower energy content. Running an engine on pure grade no.1 diesel fuel continuously could reduce the fuel system’s life.
Overall, you can use summer diesel fuel before the temperature drops below – 7 °C. Then it’s time to switch to the winter blend.
I’ve filled up at this station once in my life. It was on July 25, 2021.
Unbelievable.
That’s why they call it Gas Plus …
I understand that quite a few diesel injectors and pumps rely on diesel fuel as lubricant during operation, and using gasoline will cause premature failure of those components.
On the farm we use brand name diesel partly because it is supposed to have some extra lubricant. People that use the generic brands may mix in a lubricity enhancer (which also takes out most of the price difference).
Given that Gas Plus likely doesn’t run much for extra additives, I wouldn’t rule out fuel system damage in a few percent of the diesel vehicles that filled there.
Not sure how gas station tanks are filled but this seems to be an easily solvable problem. Different hose conns for gas and diesel at the tanks, as are the filling nozzles at the pumps.