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Bad fuel choice.......I've buggered meself now

wreckerman893

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In my never ending quest for cheap fuel alternatives I bought 55 gallons of recycled solvent (thought it was mineral spirits) Friday for $2.41 a gallon.
Turns out it was laquer thinner but I was commited by then (and prob should be commited now) so I put about 20 gallons in the duece and added a few gallons of used motor oil to lube the pump. The tank was almost empty by the way.
Sat morning I drove to the flea market with no problems. Later, I went over the Freight Trains to change the primary fuel filter. I drove about 20 miles to drop off some tires for FT and noticed I had a leak from the filter.
I made it home and was going to check the gasket on the filter but didn't have a one inch wrench to take it off.
Fast forward to this afternoon. I got a wrench and changed the gasket on the primary filter. NO LEAK....YEA.
I cranked the engine again to move the duece and the other two filters began leaking (pouring) fuel all over the block.
So I screwed up by using the undiluted laquer thinner for fuel. The gaskets are probably bad on all of the filters.
My question is: What else do I need to replace that could have been affected by the thinner?
I need to get the truck fixed in time to make the Tannerhill event next weekend.
All help is appriciated.

Wreck
 

dmetalmiki

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RE: Bad fuel choice.......I

just a query.I thought regular fuel over there (only) cost doller summatt a gallon?..?..if so why buy that "gunk"?..at $2.41.we run similar stuff HIGHLY diluted with contam(pet/diesel) WITH hydraulic oil 2 gallons to 50. no probs. The fuel density compensator has a diaphram in it! not sure what it is made of as this is NOT a dissemble/repair/replace interior parts unit. everything else is metel! shoudn't be affected. place some of your fuel IN A DISH and test variouse rubber seals compounds gaskets and observe the results! good luck...oh and ditto below.
 

cranetruck

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RE: Bad fuel choice.......I

Take a sample of a fuel line that you don't use, like the one to the flame heater and let it soak in the thinner, look for any effects on a daily basis.
There are O-rings in the hydraulic head of the IP, but they should not come in contact with the fuel...
There is a "rubber" hose on the in-tank fuel pump and a "rubber" fuel hose from the frame to the IP pump, short piece, but keep an eye on it.

...and thanks for the honesty of reporting the error in judgement.
 

sailor2000

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Re: RE: Bad fuel choice.......I

dmetalmiki said:
just a query.I thought regular fuel over there (only) cost doller summatt a gallon?..?..if so why buy that "gunk"?..at $2.41.we run similar stuff HIGHLY diluted with contam(pet/diesel) WITH hydraulic oil 2 gallons to 50. no probs. The fuel density compensator has a diaphram in it! not sure what it is made of as this is NOT a dissemble/repair/replace interior parts unit. everything else is metel! shoudn't be affected. place some of your fuel IN A DISH and test variouse rubber seals compounds gaskets and observe the results! good luck...oh and ditto below.
Dollar sumtin????????????????????????? I paid $3.08 with the cash discount for diesel today....
 

wreckerman893

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Regular gas is 2.70 a gallon and climbing here. :shock:
The thinner prob would have worked as a fuel extender if I had diluted it a LOT MORE.
Once I get the immediate problem fixed I will burn this stuff a little at a time until I get rid of it, I'm that chea.......err....frugal. :lol:
Looks like I'm going to veggie oil. :roll:
 

DDoyle

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I dunno about this - but I bet if you go to your local auto paint store, someone there can tell you something about the elastomers in paint guns. Someone here (Bjorn) can tell you something about the elastomers in the fuel system. Should be easy to figure out from there.

HTH,
David Doyle
 

sailor2000

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Sadly, a solvent is still a solvent even if it is diluted. Unless you change allllllll the soft goods in the fuel system (starting at the gaskets on the fuel tank thru to the injectors) to something compatable, you will still have trouble... don't forget the seals on the top and bottom of your fuel filter elements themselves as well...
 

cranetruck

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DDoyle said:
..... Someone here (Bjorn) can tell you something about the elastomers in the fuel system. Should be easy to figure out from there.
HTH,
David Doyle
Thanks David, but these days I'm glad to be able to spell the word...don't remember much from chemistry.
That's why I suggested that Richard puts a sample in the thinner and look for any bad effect. :)
 

hndrsonj

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I think i'd eat the loss, it would not be going in my tank even if it was free.
 

wdbtchr

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Lacquer thinner is pretty hot, you cold blend it off in a gasoline buring engine. Back when I was young and dumb I use to play with all kinds of stuff in my hot rod. I even tried using hydrogen peroxide, I got some 30% stuff from the lab guys, it allowed you to run a much richer mixture but it was too much trouble to be switching jets when you couldn't get it. Had to be careful too because the 30% stuff would auto ignite if it dried out on something paper or cloth.
 

Bill W

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"because the 30% stuff would auto ignite"

Great now you just gave wreckerman another alternate fuel to try in his tank!!
I'm sure his next thread is gonna be titled "BOOM"!! :shock:
 

devilman96

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WM,

I’m having really good luck with used oil, (engine, hyd, etc)... I just filter it out of our waste oil tank using a spin on oil filter (5 micron) and a base using a small 12V pump like you see on 15-30 gallon spray tanks sold at places like tractor supply. I've run up to 80% oil which is a little errr to much as it will gag you to death if you get a whiff of it but it runs fine.

There’s been discussion on the dirt, soot, etc in the oil effecting the IP but I have yet to hear of someone loosing anything running used engine oil… veggie oil on the other hand I've heard heaps about problems and failures. My oil testing doesn’t show any ill effects on the lube side of the venture and I’m approaching 4000 miles since my last oil change... (I’m trying to run my modified oil filter until it drops out so I’m testing in 500 mile intervals) thus far synthetic oil and a good media filter seem to be the thing for an LDT.
 

sprucemt

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wreckerman893 said:
In my never ending quest for cheap fuel alternatives I bought 55 gallons of recycled solvent (thought it was mineral spirits) Friday for $2.41 a gallon.
Wreck
How about illegal disposal of hazardous waste?
 

littlebob

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Baton Rouge LA
RE: Re: Bad fuel choice.......I

I usaully use laquer thinner for cleang carbs and it works well. Anything it doesn't destroy should be really clean. I don't know where all of the parts are that would be affected, but I would try to get it out as soon as possible a run straight diesel fuel through it as soon as possible. From what I've read, the injector parts are all machined surfaces and shouldn't be affected if it didn't run too long with the stuff. anything not metal would be in question.

littlebob
 

bottleworks

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devilman96 said:
...I have yet to hear of someone loosing anything running used engine oil… veggie oil on the other hand I've heard heaps about problems and failures. My oil testing doesn’t show any ill effects on the lube side of the venture and I’m approaching 4000 miles since my last oil change...
I think your drawing conclusions without a full set of information. There are 100x more people using WVO compared to used motor oil. Then you have to consider what engine each person has...and type of usage, frequency of usage, driving habits, climate, etc. Give me a side by side comparison. With that said, I don't think you should be running straight WVO or used motor oil. WVO is too thick and can coat the injectors....Used motor oil contains metals and your releasing them into the air for all to breathe.
 
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