Sister in law put diesel in my gas lawn tractor

[Melensdad]

The lovely Mrs_Bob and I go out of town for like 9 days. I come home to a lawn tractor stuck in the yard, GASOLINE tank full of diesel fuel, dead grass from the puddle of diesel she spilled around the tractor. Of course it is stuck on a side slope under an oak tree with low hanging branches.

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And did I mention that the pool is green because, despite the detailed instructions that said PUT CHLORINE TABLETS IN THE FLOATING THING every 3rd day, there was literally ZERO chlorine in the pool . . . and the algae bloom was in full swing and took 10# of chlorine shock to kill off before I started that project?!?​

Drag it up to the workshop with the big tractor and drain the diesel. MOST of it ended up back into the diesel can that it came from.

There are 3 fuel lines. One from the pump to the carb. One from the filter to the pump. One from the tank to the filter. Disconnected all of them, drained each. Blew out the fuel pump.

New fuel filter installed.

Refilled the tank with gas.

Charged the brand freaking new $200 battery that was drained because she kept "cranking" the engine until the battery died.

She did mention one puff of WHITE smoke.

So since it was diesel, which is basically oil, I knew the engine was well lubed, which explains the white smoke. With everything drained, charged and properly fueled with GASOLINE, i set about restarting it.

Cranking . . . cranking . . . cranking to suck fuel from the tank UP to the pump, then to the engine. Starts to sputter. Then lots of white smoke from the residue diesel now mixing with gasoline. Ran it for nearly a minute with WHITE SMOKE blowing out the exhaust. Rough then smoother then smooth and finally no more white smoke.

Honestly I think it is more trouble to leave and go on vacation than to stay at home.

Took about 3 hours total, but that included a trip to the store to get a new filter.

 

[Doc]

I think I'd hide the keys to the mower next trip and either hire a pool boy or drain the pool. Geesh.

 

[Melensdad]

I think I'd hide the keys to the mower next trip and either hire a pool boy or drain the pool. Geesh.

Well she did clean the house, do our laundry and over-feed the dogs!

But this is the 2nd time with this Ventrac that she has screwed it up. First time I had to replace the engine because we were gone for a month and she didn't check the oil, seized it up.

 

[J5 Bombardier]

My father in law has dementia, when he was still at home on his farm , he did that at least 4 times to his gas lawn mower. The first time he stumped me for a bit, after that it was hook up an aux fuel tank and start the smoke show.

 

[Melensdad]

My father in law has dementia, when he was still at home on his farm , he did that at least 4 times to his gas lawn mower. The first time he stumped me for a bit, after that it was hook up an aux fuel tank and start the smoke show.

I was not surprised by the smoke at the start up, but I was surprised by HOW LONG it kept blowing out white smoke. Seemed like forever. And there was a lot of it. I thought I had done a good job of flushing the diesel out of the lines but apparently there was a lot more in the lines, pump, etc than I could have guess.

Smoke show was pretty impressive.

I sent a video to my sister in law. Of course I also indicated that I had been working on it ALL DAY, that I was worried the engine was RUINED and that UNTIL I GET TIME IN MY BUSY SCHEDULE she should not go anywhere near, or drive our Side-by-Side either.

 

[tommu56]

The lovely Mrs_Bob and I go out of town for like 9 days. I come home to a lawn tractor stuck in the yard, GASOLINE tank full of diesel fuel, dead grass from the puddle of diesel she spilled around the tractor. Of course it is stuck on a side slope under an oak tree with low hanging branches.

​

And did I mention that the pool is green because, despite the detailed instructions that said PUT CHLORINE TABLETS IN THE FLOATING THING every 3rd day, there was literally ZERO chlorine in the pool . . . and the algae bloom was in full swing and took 10# of chlorine shock to kill off before I started that project?!?​

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Drag it up to the workshop with the big tractor and drain the diesel. MOST of it ended up back into the diesel can that it came from.

There are 3 fuel lines. One from the pump to the carb. One from the filter to the pump. One from the tank to the filter. Disconnected all of them, drained each. Blew out the fuel pump.

New fuel filter installed.

Refilled the tank with gas.

Charged the brand freaking new $200 battery that was drained because she kept "cranking" the engine until the battery died.

She did mention one puff of WHITE smoke.

So since it was diesel, which is basically oil, I knew the engine was well lubed, which explains the white smoke. With everything drained, charged and properly fueled with GASOLINE, i set about restarting it.

Cranking . . . cranking . . . cranking to suck fuel from the tank UP to the pump, then to the engine. Starts to sputter. Then lots of white smoke from the residue diesel now mixing with gasoline. Ran it for nearly a minute with WHITE SMOKE blowing out the exhaust. Rough then smoother then smooth and finally no more white smoke.

Honestly I think it is more trouble to leave and go on vacation than to stay at home.

Took about 3 hours total, but that included a trip to the store to get a new filter.

Better results than gas in your diesel tractor I'd say!

 

[Melensdad]

Better results than gas in your diesel tractor I'd say!

TRUE

There is a reason I won't even let her near it.

 

[FrancSevin]

The wife did the same thing with our gasoline power washers. TWICE.

And they claim to be equal to men. We are far more stupid, but this? Never.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

Years ago one of the other operators for our snowmobile trail groomer came in from a run and fueled up at night. He mistakenly filled the hydraulic oil tank with diesel fuel. Thankfully he didn't move it and shut it off right away. We had to drain the hydraulic tank right there parked at the pumps of the only station in town at midnight at -30. That was fun scrounging and trying to find 7 5 gallon pails of univis 30 hydraulic oil at midnight on a Saturday night in a small town.

 

[m1west]

The only time anything goes wrong around here is when I go out of town for a couple days with the wife at home.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

The only time anything goes wrong around here is when I go out of town for a couple days with the wife at home.

Ain't that the truth. I still have nightmares of the frantic phone call first thing in the morning when my sewage pump died at home and I was just waking up after having a few the previous night at camp an hour away. Yah...I was back to the city to home depot when they opened at 7am and home to first pull the old crappy pump and install the new one. I was back at camp by 1pm with a beer in my hand.

 

[Melensdad]

The only time anything goes wrong around here is when I go out of town for a couple days with the wife at home.

Well I tend to travel with my wife, but the SIL lives in the apartment over my workshop . . . so. And the engine on this tractor was blown because she didn't check the oil while I was gone for 5 weeks. And I just got back into town and now I ordered a new heavy duty washing machine too (parts are no longer available for the current machine, and the bearings are shot). So honestly I simply hate to leave. Travel can be fun, but returning home, not so much.