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does it matter that their is a smidge of gasoline left inside a gas can before I fill it up? Or is swishing some diesel fuel around inside enough to clean it out?
cleaning a gas can to use diesel fuel?
- Thread starter The motor guy
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reason im asking is I have a tractor with the fuel fill on the hood and want to use 3 or 4 1 gallon cans filled with diesel since a 5 gallon can is too hulky to hold up on the hood.
So you have 1 gallon gas cans that may have a few drops of gas in them but they are otherwise clean? If yes, then you're good to go fill with diesel.
A few drops of gas in your container probably will not hurt anything BUT if your cans are like mine they leave more than a few drops in the bottom. I would wash it out with diesel. Gas will lower the Cetane rating of the diesel and most off road pump diesel is already at the lower end of what is recommended usually 40.
JHZR2
Staff member
Swish it out with a bit of diesel. Add a tiny bit of tcw-3 in the first batch of diesel.
You're going to put Diesel in a RED colored container? Oh, the horror! 
There will always be the rebels.You're going to put Diesel in a RED colored container? Oh, the horror!
Actually, the OP DIDN'T say he had "1 gallon gas cans", let alone red cans. He mentioned, "a smidge of gasoline left inside a can..."
It's blue for kero, green for diesel
It's blue for kero, green for diesel
At my house all the blue cans are labeled "Water" and the diesels are yellow. :')
Really? Diesel and gasoline often move in the same pipelines, get stored in the same tanks, and might even get transported in the same tankers. Of course after they've been emptied. There's inevitably a little bit that gets mixed and it's never a problem as long as it's a tiny amount.
Granted, I haven't used a fuel can in a while but I remember it was red and said "GASOLINE" right on the side to comply with federal and state laws/regulations on fuel transport/storage. Is there a requirement for fuel canisters to be labeled as containing diesel, kerosene, etc? I'm seeing yellow mostly with a lot of green similar to what I see at diesel fuel pumps.
Granted, I haven't used a fuel can in a while but I remember it was red and said "GASOLINE" right on the side to comply with federal and state laws/regulations on fuel transport/storage. Is there a requirement for fuel canisters to be labeled as containing diesel, kerosene, etc? I'm seeing yellow mostly with a lot of green similar to what I see at diesel fuel pumps.
I had to read that subject line real slow to make sense of it lol.
I don’t like mix up containers. Color coding and labeling help prevent errors.
That side some residual won’t hurt anything.
I don’t like mix up containers. Color coding and labeling help prevent errors.
That side some residual won’t hurt anything.
My dad drove a diesel car for a few years and I went through the owners manual. I'm pretty sure that the recommendation was to mix in some kerosene if No 1 diesel wasn't available. The other thing about it was that the owners manual had a coupon for an engine block heater installation at any dealer service department, although we never needed in in our climate.
CleanSump
Site Donor 2022
OK, so this is really old school. I had a 1985 Mercedes 240D. The owners' manual had a section about mixing gas with diesel in Winter. That was really aimed at the Northern European market, I think. But it was there with a temperature chart, or references to temps. They were Neg F temps.
Never tried it, never got below the teens F when I had it. Two glows and off we'd go. Sounded like a sewing machine.
Edit: Just hit me as I posted. There was also instructions to soak a rag with gasoline and put it near the air cleaner intake when she wouldn't start in the cold. It said never, ever, use ether. But a gas rag was OK? And that was a Mercedes official manual.
Never tried it, never got below the teens F when I had it. Two glows and off we'd go. Sounded like a sewing machine.
Edit: Just hit me as I posted. There was also instructions to soak a rag with gasoline and put it near the air cleaner intake when she wouldn't start in the cold. It said never, ever, use ether. But a gas rag was OK? And that was a Mercedes official manual.
The car my dad drove was a 1984 300D-Turbo. I found the US owners manual available online.
The recommendation for winter fuel mixing is on page 85. Wait - I can actually paste that here, although not inline from the source but as an image of the individual page.
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CleanSump
Site Donor 2022
The 240D was a plain, non-turbo, 4-banger.
The same source has the 1983 owners manual that includes the 240D.
The stuff on the fuel seems the same as the 1984 version. But that has a unified collection that includes the 240D.
Maybe the 1985 300D/CD?
Where did you find that page? MBUSA has scanned a whole bunch of them and all I could find for any of their diesels from 1979 to 1985 was a recommendation to mix kerosene in cold weather.
Strike that. I had another look at 1979. It's kind of weird that they call it supplementary fuel, but it seems that kerosene is preferred, gasoline has a hard limit of 30%, and they don't recommend using premium. Also - leaded gasoline would have been available back then, and there's no mention of whether it has to be unleaded.
I have used RED ( five gal) cans for diesel for at least 15 years.
Op, i know what you mean about lifting the cans up to fill the tractor. I only put about 4 gal per can in mine and can barely lift it nearly head high. Ain't as easy as some folks think. LOL
Op, i know what you mean about lifting the cans up to fill the tractor. I only put about 4 gal per can in mine and can barely lift it nearly head high. Ain't as easy as some folks think. LOL
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