Gas in tank, did not try to start

[Cold water]

Hello everyone,
I accidentally put 17 gallons of gas in my tank. I realized it when I looked at my receipt and it was $.24 less per gallon than the posted price. In SC at a BP, the gas nozzle was green and afterwards I noticed that the diesel was black. Every other place I have been to the diesel is green. Go figure! I did not attempt to start the truck. Had towed to where we were going. Thanks to AAA. I do have an electric lift pump. Should I just try to siphon it out of the tank or should I sacrifice the filter and water separator? Sucks, 350 miles from home. No service centers here are open on Saturdays.
Thanks for your input in advance!

[DmaxMaverick]

No reason to sacrifice the filter. Take the fuel line loose at the filter inlet, extend it (hardware store visit) to a container or wherever you're going to store it, and pump away until you get bubbles. Add 5 gallons of the correct fuel, prime it, and get to a station to top it off. Don't look back.

How much gas in how much #2? If you filled up a 34 gallon tank with 17 gallons gas, that's about 50%. Unfortunately, that's 34 gallons pretty much useless fuel. You could dilute it and use it in an older diesel (10% gas is not a problem, but that's a lot of fuel). Otherwise, you'll have to find some place that will take it.

[Cold water]

Hey DmaxMaverick,
Thanks for your reply. I appreciate your quick response. Gonna take it to my nephew. Family farm and they can use it for starting fires to get rid of waste from the
land that they clear. Burning stumps etc.

[DmaxMaverick]

That's what I would do, but most folks don't have that option. Let us know how it turns out.

[Cold water]

O.K., I removed the fuel filter from the Fass unit. Put a tall 5 gallon bucket under it and drained the tank as much as possible, about 26 gallons. I cleaned the seal of the fuel filter, added 6.4 ounces of 2 cycle oil to the filter and primed it after I put 5.5 gallons of fresh fuel with an additional 6.4 ounces of 2 cycle. Let the Fass run for about for about 30 seconds and then vroom. The truck came to life. Let it run for about a minute listening for any odd noises and there were none. Gonna wait till this local beach traffic dies down and run up to top off the tank. Only about 1.5 to 2 miles away. Fingers crossed.

[Cold water]

Oh, by the way. I do need to say thanks to a couple of my nephews friends here at Topsail Island/ Surf City NC. They got me a couple of buckets and ran me around for about an hour getting fresh fuel and other items. Some pretty good people!

[DmaxMaverick]

Nothing wrong with using the 2 cycle oil, in any case. Glad to hear you got it worked out.

Only 26 gallons? That's better, in this situation. I thought the EC/LB had a 34. I've never actually seen one in the flesh, so that's good to know.

[Cold water]

You still maybe correct. I hit 26 instead of 29. I fire her up last night and went to get fuel and the gauge was at the half tank mark. I could only get 20 gallons in the tank. So that’s 20 at the pump and 5.5 from the can. Total of 25.5 plus whatever I couldn’t get out of tank.

Tried to get the 1/4 tank kit installed before we left but other things came up. Had the rockers and cab corners done. Truck spent way too much time at the body shop. I put a set of road tires put on the extra set of rims. Really wasn’t interested in running tho distance with the Cooper STT PROs that I use for winter driving and hunting season. New rear shocks, had to get rid of the camper shocks. My lower back is happier and so is the wife. Really wish I had gotten that done now.

[DmaxMaverick]

The GMT-800 (non cab/chassis) trucks are either 26 or 34 gallons, dependent on the wheelbase. The EC/LB just never came into the conversation. I've not seen one that I recall, but I knew they were an option. That leaves about 3' of unused space on the frame, compared to the regular cab short bed (26 gallon tank). It doesn't make sense why they wouldn't option the 34 on your model, but GM rarely makes much sense. Just curious.

[Cold water]

I’ll check it after I run a few hundred miles. Gonna keep topping off the tank for a while. We will be running back over the next couple of days, so I will run it low and get back with you. I am a bit curious myself, I thought it had somewhere in the neighborhood of 33 gallons. The UIC displays over 600 miles available, but that is always taken a grain of salt.

[a5150nut]

For what its worth, my 2006 K 3500 Ext Cab the most i have ever got in the tank after the light comes on is 28 gallons and a bit. But at 1/8 tank 27 gallons

[DmaxMaverick]

Long bed or short?

[a5150nut]

Long bed or short?


long bed i don't think they made a short bed

[DmaxMaverick]

Just confirming. Mine is a short bed with 26 gallon tank, and I can get 28.5 gallons in it from run-out empty (intentionally) if I top it off. The nozzle shuts off at about 26.5. A friend with a 8.1L gasser twin to mine can't get more than 25 gallons in his, no matter what he does. The gas tanks share the same replacement part number, but I don't know what the factory sent, even though the mfg dates are within a month (Oct 2000). The difference is probably the sender/pick-up, or his tank was delivered with a factory installed dent.

[Cold water]

O.K., Topped the tank off about every 100 miles (roughly 5-7 gallons) on the way home and drove at ease. Never pushed it, kept highway speed around 70. Added double does of fuel additive every time I topped off. Truck seemed to run great, EGT's stayed fairly normal, and engine temp stayed fairly normal even though air temps were pushing 100 and the humidity was soupy.

UIC stated 20.2 mpg, reality was about 20-20.5.
Truly thank you for your guidance in this matter. I was so pissed at myself I was ready to slam my head into something very hard.

I have a question about using 2 cycle in these older/first gen trucks. Should I start another thread?

[DmaxMaverick]

It's your thread, take it where you like.

Regarding 2-cycle oil, I've been using it, and recommending it for years, in any Diesel engine, since low-sulfur Diesel was a thing (more so since ULSD). I use Super Tech TC-W3 (Walmart brand water cooled outboard oil), but any TC-W3 oil is fine. 1-2%, or about a qt. in a 20+ gallon fill. It's better than most other oils, as it's formulated to burn, opposed to other oils that resist burning, such as ATF or engine oil. TC-W3 is formulated for a more complete burn in cooler running engines. 2-cycle oils intended for air-cooled engines (chain saw, etc.) resist burning to a higher temperature. I have no idea which is ideal of the two for Diesel engines, but once the oil is in the combustion chamber, it's done its job and should be burned as completely as possible in the liquid-cooled environment.

[Cold water]

Well you just read my mind!!! Hopefully you didn't get in too deep.:eek:
Greatly appreciate your input and the wealth of knowledge.