OTish: Diesel in the tank., Tuesday puzzler. Options

[mbseto]

So a local grocery with gas pumps accidentally put diesel in one of the regular pumps. The news said it was about an hour before they figured out the error and several people had filled up. I'm guessing the error was discovered due to disabled cars stacking up outside the filling area.

How far would you get with diesel in a regular engine??

[GregAmy]

You don't want to put gasoline in a VW TDI. The high pressure fuel pump uses the diesel as a lubricant; dropping gas in there causes all kinds of nasty spalling and small bits and pieces of metal to go through the fuel system, reportedly almost immediately. You bring it to the dealer, they stick the tank to get a sample to check for gas, and then present you with an $8k+ repair estimate (and then you reply, "I want VW to buy it back now...")

There have been cases of light twin aircraft being fueled with Jet-A (dry kerosene/diesel) instead of AvGas, and fragging engines on takeoff. Many have resulted in fatal accidents.

Edit: NTSB Safety Recommendation. http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-recs/rec...ers/A86_135.pdf

Edit 2:

When a gasoline engine is exposed to Jet A at takeoff power, detonation, high cylinder-head temperatures, loss of power and complete engine failure occur. The effects of Jet A in the tanks won’t be apparent until residual gas in the fuel system has been drawn through. Unless there’s been a long run-up and hold, this tends to coincide with takeoff. Interestingly, in an emergency, most turbine engines can run on gasoline for a limited time. If a jet aircraft is operated on gasoline, any run time should be logged in the maintenance record, and the fuel system should subsequently be purged.

http://www.planeandpilotmag.com/article/ti...n-in-your-tank/