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gasoline powered 7.3 Power Stroke

G

Gold-Leaf-Deere

Member
My son just bought a 2002 Power Stroke 7.3 that the last owner filled the Tank with Gasoline and drove it until the 7.3 started making strange noises and quit. Any ideas as to the damage that might of happened? Thanks Charles
 
None, other than to a guy's pocketbook. :>)

Happens all the time.

Tell him to drain the fuel system and refill with diesel. Cycle the ignition a couple of times to pump 'er up and it should run just fine.

Allan
 
Toasted injectors and rings at best. At worst burned up pistons and valves, bent rods from predetination. All in all probably a major rebuild if they drove it till it stopped. Some people can't ready the sign in the instrument cluster or fuel door, DIESEL FUEL ONLY! Maybe you will get lucky and find a running 7.3.
 
How do you get pre-detonation when the fuel isn't introduced til compression is almost complete?

They put gas in a diesel, not diesel in a gasser.
 
We are talking a 7.3 not a newer direct injection diesel. Gasolines flash point is -45F Diesels flash point 143F. Diesel fuel detonates just over TDC in a diesel, gasoline detonates before TDC in a diesel. If the drove it till it stopped, like it said in the post, something happened.
 
allan is right. change all filters and remove the drain plug to the frame filter housing. happened to me before. mine was fine after cleaning out
 
Like they said, he isn't the first and he won't be the last. Gas is dirty and it can clog the fuel filter. Change that, drain tank, and go to town.
While you have the tank drained I would recommened doing the Hutch and Harpoon mods as long as your in there. The truck will run a lot quieter and it will fill the tank way quicker. Go to FTE for more info. ford-trucks.com
 

I'm not sure about the damage or not, but I'd like to know how gas will detonate before TDC if it doesn't get injected until the piston is at TDC or slightly after TDC?

I would assume like some of the others posting that this wouldnt be much different than having water in your fuel; it just won't burn.

May do some damage to the injectors and/or pump, but I'm sure others on here are better experts than I am.
 
Seems to me that the amount or % of gasoline to diesel fuel would have something to do with how long the engine might have run? A 50% 50% mixture would likely run for some time and pretty hot combustion? Near 100% gasoline probably would not combust in a cold engine? And 90% gasoline might cause the engine to stop as soon as the filters and pump were flushed with the new mix? Too little information to speculate how much damage might have been done?
 
put gas in a diesel engine flash point is way lower,compression on a diesel is at least 30 to 1,i have seen engines melted putting gas in them,diesel can't burn gas period!!!!!
 
I think Hutch passed away didnt he? He use to post on TDS before it was sold, but I havent been back on there in some time, since I no longer own a Powerstroke.
 
I did that to a diesel JD 4020 once. Went about 50 feet and it died. No damage, just extreme embarrasment.
 
I believe most diesels run in the neighborhood of 18 to 1 compression, not 30 to 1. You need at least 15 to 1 to burn diesel at all. The highest compression diesel out there is the old 6.5s, running about 21 to 1. Thats why thhose 6.5s could only handle about 10psi of boost before blowing the head clean off (mine hits 12psi regularly). However the newer diesels can run 2 to 3 times more boost because of the lower compression ratios. Chevy tried to build power with compression and everyone else went with less comp and more boost. They won.
 
i am refering to all the over the road big trucks that have cummins and cat diesels and yes they do have 30 to 1 compression i drove trucks for 30 years you can't put gas in a diesel engine without burning the engine up period !!!!!
 
(quoted from post at 19:31:37 02/05/11) still can't put gas in a diesel engine without burning up the engine!!!!
Click to expand...

I disagree. It happens once a month if not more to someone on FTE and I haven't heard of one yet that needed to get torn down. Now, guys on FTE tearing them apart just for fun is a whole different story.
 
Ok let me be a little clearer. A 7.3 is not a direct injection
diesel, an air fuel mix is induced into the chamber by a intake
valve. The intake valve opens as the piston is traveling down
from the exhaust stroke, sucking the mix into the chamber.
The compression on a diesel is so at TDC the mixture ignites.
Diesel fuel has a high flash point requiring a higher
compression. Gasoline has a much lower flash point requiring
less compression, thus igniting before TDC in a 7.3. A gasoline
internal combustion engine will destroy itself from preignition
over a period of time, low compression. A diesel on average
runs 3 times the compression, so it does not take long to
destroy it with preingition.


A Duramax on the other hand is a direct injection diesel. Air
is the only thing coming thru the intake valve. The diesel fuel
is directly injected to the combustion chamber just before
TDC. Gasoline would have the same effect in this engine also.
Detonating as soon as it was injected.

Lastly the oiling system on a diesel is differet from a gas
engine. It is called fuel oil for a reason, it has lubricating
properties the engine relys on. Gasoline has no lubricating
properties and runs a diesel dry burning up components as it
flows thru the system.
 
One of my old bosses filled a Detroit 225, drained and filed, ran fine.(Two trucks one gas one diesel, filled the wrong one)
 
This 7.3 is in fact a direct injection motor, specifically it is an " huei" engine. Atomized fuel is injected through an electronically controlled hydraulic injector driven by high pressure engine oil.
 
With no disrespect, the Power Stroke is a direct injection diesel. some dual fuel industrial or marine engines put gaseous fuel into the intake, but not true diesels of any type.
""quote from site below""
As the computer determines that a cylinder should fire it signals the Injector Driver Module. The IDM sends a 110 volt pulse-width modulated signal to the injector solenoid. When the injector solenoid is actuated, it opens a poppet valve which allows high pressure oil to flow into the intensifier piston. The intensifier piston is forced down, pressurizing the fuel inside the injector. When fuel pressure inside the injector reaches approximately 2700 psi, it causes the injector pintle to rise off its seat and fuel is injected into the cylinder from the nozzle. As long as the poppet valve is open and oil is flowing into the injector, fuel will be injected.
Gasoline can ruin parts and cause lack of lubrication destruction to injection systems.
It does ignite more easily, but it isn"t in the cylinder/combustion chamber until injection, and that is timed to happen before TDC to assure maximum cylinder pressure just after TDC.
Jim
Info
 
OK, so we have answers everywhere from engine ruined to everything will be fine, nothing hurt. Let us know how things turn out. I'm betting things will be OK.
 
The ONLY thing gas MAY have hurt is close-tolerance high pressure diesel injection moving parts 'cause of it's lack of lubricity.

Outside of that, the engine will happily run on gasoline.

I don't know WHERE you guys get the "burn the PISTONS" ideas!
 
Hey, he's got nothing to lose by draining it out, changing the filters, and putting fresh diesel in.
 
Hey, he's one step up on Chevy. GM had been working on a gasoline-fueled diesel V8 engine for years. Spent a lot of research money on it.
Haven't heard a word about it since external_link took over though.

Back in the 70s, when GM came out with the Olds-350 diesels, they allowed up to 10% gasoline, if needed -when diesel fuel couldn't be found.
 
The 2002 truck was a company delivery vehicle, it has a 12 foot knaphide bed and a auto transmission, one of the employee drivers is the one who filled it with gasoline. I will haul it home next week for him, WE will let U fellers know what we find out. THANKS Charles
 
Yeah. A gas motor will make all kinds of knocking noises when filled with diesel, and either keep running, or do some really bad things. Lots of diesels have been filled with gas. And 30:1 compression? Yeah, that little gauge in your dash measures air pressure in your intake manifold, not compression.

One day I also had another driver tell me that liters measure the amount of torque a motor can produce, too, and not the displacement.
 
Look into the Ford Ecoboost. Twin-turbo direct-injection gasoline motor. If I ever decide I need a new truck- or a hole in my head- it'll be one I look into.
 
I have work with quite a few diesels that had gasoline accidentally put in them. The only one that I know of that suffered any major damage was a D310 in a 715 IH combine. That one did score the sleeves and pistons. That one would most likely have been alright too if the operator had not decided to continue to use it even though it was seriously down in power and over heating.
 
The 6.9 and 7.3 diesels are indirect-injection, compression-ignition engines. The 7.3 Powerstroke, as well as the 6.0, 6.4, and new 6.7, the Duramax, and Cummins are direct-injection compression-ignition engines. Gasoline motors are spark-ignition motors. Compression has to be kept low on them to prevent pre-ignition because the fuel is drawn in with the inatake air, before compression. Compression-ignition motors have the fuel injected into the cylinder near TDC (top dead center), eliminating the chance for pre-detonation.

As for combustion temperature, diesel has about 30-35% more BTU per volume than gasoline. So how does the gasoline burn hotter? It doesn't, it burns colder.
 
ALL over the road semi truck diesels run anywhere between 18 and 25 to 1. Not 30 to 1 or more. Straight from a PROFESSIONAL SEMI MECHANIC. could you imagine the starter it would take to turn it over at 30 to 1 or more?! The word BOOST on the guage must be confusing....
 
I've seen quite a few get gas in them, and when they started to spaz out, were parked, with no damage at all. Two were a Mack with a 335, and the D6 on the trailer, both from the same pump. Drained, new filters, both were fine. One got me a great deal on a backhoe, I'd been eyeballing this 3010 down the road with a sign, owner was a legendary local goofball. Stopped to look when I saw him out front, he says give it a try on that dirt pile, I just put 5 gallons in it. So I'm tossing some dirt around, and it starts to flutter, doesn't want to idle, so I pull the cap, and can smell the gas- he's ready to sell cheap. So I make the deal, tell him I'm going home to get some more fuel to make sure I make it home, come back with 15 gal of diesel and baby it home, running much better after the first 300 ft, and filled it with diesel, ran like a train. I think if someone didn't respect the signs of obvious distress coming from the engine and kept running it under load, it would be very possible to damage the engine- but a trained operator with some sense shouldn't do that- gas, diesel, whatever, if something's wrong, park it and check it out- it only gonna get more expensive
 

Scot - Just curious where you are finding that a power stroke is not-direct injection? I'm no expert by any means, but everything I've read is that 7.3 liter engines after 1994 are direct injection which is when they changed the name to Powerstroke.

http://www.internationalpowerstroke.com/73psd.html


Can you let me know where we can find this information?
 
(quoted from post at 20:55:44 02/07/11)
Scot - Just curious where you are finding that a power stroke is not-direct injection? I'm no expert by any means, but everything I've read is that 7.3 liter engines after 1994 are direct injection which is when they changed the name to Powerstroke.

http://www.internationalpowerstroke.com/73psd.html


Can you let me know where we can find this information?
Click to expand...

In addition, what do you think IDI stood for? InDirect Injection
 

sflem849 - Just curious if you are agreeing with me on the direct injection or not. The IDI engine ended in 1994. All Powerstrokes are direct injection just like the cummings and duramax.

Here is another quote: this is Wikipedia, but the information looks good:

[i:1cb79e43a5]In mid 1994, the 7.3L Power Stroke diesel was introduced. Although the previous 7.3L had the same displacement, there weren't any other similarities between the two. The Power Stroke is an electronically controlled, [b:1cb79e43a5]direct injection engine[/b:1cb79e43a5] with a 4.11 in (104.4 mm) bore and 4.18 in (106.2 mm) stroke creating a displacement of 444 cu in (7.3 L). It has a 17.5:1 compression ratio, and has a dry weight of approximately 920 lbs.[/i:1cb79e43a5]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Power_Stroke_engine
 
(quoted from post at 16:56:56 02/08/11)
sflem849 - Just curious if you are agreeing with me on the direct injection or not. The IDI engine ended in 1994. All Powerstrokes are direct injection just like the cummings and duramax.

Here is another quote: this is Wikipedia, but the information looks good:

[i:5096cc699e]In mid 1994, the 7.3L Power Stroke diesel was introduced. Although the previous 7.3L had the same displacement, there weren't any other similarities between the two. The Power Stroke is an electronically controlled, [b:5096cc699e]direct injection engine[/b:5096cc699e] with a 4.11 in (104.4 mm) bore and 4.18 in (106.2 mm) stroke creating a displacement of 444 cu in (7.3 L). It has a 17.5:1 compression ratio, and has a dry weight of approximately 920 lbs.[/i:5096cc699e]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Power_Stroke_engine
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you. I spend more time on FTE than I do on YT!!! It's sad.
 
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