A Diesel Anecdote, Plus a Little Advice from Forrest Gump

No question about it, the film Forrest Gump was a major achievement for Hollywood as well as for its star Tom Hanks. It was one of the most original and memorable films of 1994. 

The story followed the life of Forrest Gump, a slow-witted but kind hearted man whose life intersected with many historical moments in U.S. history. Borrowing a technique employed by Woody Allen in his short feature Zelig, in a number of scenes we see Gump is inserted into real footage from history, interacting with U.S. presidents JFK, LBJ and others. 

Woven throughout the film are various pearls of wisdom delivered by its hero. You've likely heard, "My mama said 'Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." 

Forrest Gump has a masterful and entertaining way of presenting valuable life lessons. Many of them are delivered as proverbial insights from Forrest's mother (Sally Field) whom he loves to quote. For example, several times in the film Forrest is asked if he were stupid. Gump replies, "My mama says that stupid is as stupid does." What she meant, and we need to learn, is that a person should be judged by his or her actions.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

The Colonial Pipeline ransomware hack earlier this month hit the Southeast like a jackhammer. In parts of the Southeast 85% of the gas stations were out of gas. The Colonial Pipeline runs from Texas to New Jersey and supplies 45% of the fuel to this region. As of yesterday, two-thirds of all gas stations in Washington D.C. were empty.

Against this backdrop we came across a story that shows how dangerous it is to rely on advice you find on social media. The article appeared in USA Today's Fact Check column. It's titled, Fact Check: Watered-down diesel can't be used in a gas-powered engine.

This attention-grabbing headline implies that someone actually said you can do this. So I read further.

As you can imagine, people were panicking last week because of the fuel shortages. Some of these who looked online for solutions came across a post on Facebook that read, "Remember, if the station is out of gas you can put diesel in your car as long as you water it down."

What!!!?

To make matters worse, the post was shared 1800 times. Perhaps it was shared as a joke, but if someone actually attempted to implement this advice, they would be in a serious quandary. First, the USA Today piece explains, "diesel fuel is thicker than gasoline and can damage components in a gas-powered vehicle. Adding water doesn't help, though, and does its own harm."

No kidding. As the article goes on to note, just as water and oil don't mix, neither does water and diesel fuel. Inside the tank, the water will settle to the bottom and rust your fuel tank.

For the record, gasoline and diesel fuel don't mix either. That is why they have distinct dispensing nozzles and color schemes at the pump.

By the time you reach the end of the article they hardly have to spell it out, but they do. The claim that you can mix oil with diesel fuel is... False. 

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Related Links

USA Today--Watered-down diesel Fact Check

Washington Post Map of Gasoline Shortages

What Happens if You Put Diesel in a Gasoline Car?

Troubleshooting Tip: Getting a Diesel Engine Started When It's Run Out of Fuel

If you ever run out of gas, you know what a hassle it can be. In a gasoline-powered vehicle it's an inconvenience. With a diesel, it's a bit more complicated.

Fuel gauges are especially important when you're on the highway and the exit ramps are limited. I personally believe half full should be treated as "almost empty" so that one is at least beginning to pay attention. Nevertheless, it happens. If you're distracted, for whatever reason, when that first wheezing occurs you know you're in trouble. What do you do?

This summer K.J. Jones wrote an article on the Truck Trend Network addressing this issue. 

He begins by pointing out that technological advances these past two decades have eliminated some of the former hands-on procedures for dealing with this situation, such as manually priming the fuel system. Even so, if you do run out of fuel, the first thing you need to know is what NOT to do. That is, don't try to start the engine on empty, Jones says, because injectors and other parts can be damaged when there's a lack of lubrication.

Actually, he doesn't promise a lot of detail here in this article, but it's information that diesel owners should be aware of, foremost being that the task can be messy and is more than inconvenient. 

Putting fuel in the tank is the first step. Unfortunately, that isn't the end of it. You're not going to be able to start the engine again after you refuel because there's air in the lines.

The next step, logically, is to bleed the lines and injectors, a task not too unlike bleeding your brakes. You'll likely want to have your owners manual handy to locate the bleed screws, especially if you have never done that before on this vehicle. Have a few rags handy as well as a bottle to collect the priming fluid.

BLUE FLAME TIP: If you're a rookie on bleeding air from your lines, there are diesel forums for every make of engine listed here in the right hand column. You can find the help you need by doing a search. For example, here's what I found at the Diesel Hub when I asked about bleed procedures for a 6.5 diesel fuel system: https://www.dieselhub.com/maintenance/6.5-diesel-fuel-system-bleed-procedures.html

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The Jones article has some helpful photos, but keep in mind that vehicles are not uniform. The Truck Trend article aims to get you thinking in the right direction, though. The next steps are up to you.

Here's the Link:
http://www.trucktrend.com/how-to/engine/how-to-start-a-diesel-engine-when-it-runs-out-of-fuel