Sea Foam killed my bike...

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Depends on if you hydrolocked it or not.. could have bent a rod, who knows? Drain the diesel, fillerup with premium, add some octane booster, go from there

[minos36]

roflmao... i'm pretty anonymous, too. so, i have to laugh. thread title needs to be changed to [vin diesel] killed my bike.

on a positive note... i hope you can fix it, dude.

[PuddleJumper]

Wow, a Diesel GS! I want one. I bet the mileage is awesome!

Seriously, I don't think the diesel would hurt it. It would make it smoke like crazy, but that should be all.

I used to work for an oil co. and I was low on gas for the crew truck. I new I didn't have enough to get to the nearest gas station, so, I put some diesel from the rig in the tank and limped back to civilization. The truck didn't run real strong and smoked like a train, but no harm came to it.

Drain the carbs and tank, pull the plugs and clean or replace them.
Might be better to go ahead and clean the carbs.

Good luck and BeSafe.

[bubba zanetti]

It could be worse, he could have filled a diesel with petrol. 

[NWDave]

Drain the bowls, tank, fuel lines.  Then put some more seafoam and gas in the tank, turn the fuel valve to PRI shortly to allow gas to drain into the bowls and try to start her up. 

[BassHz]

It could be worse, he could have filled a diesel with petrol. 

Or all you guys could know me personally and see me on a regular basis.

Tank drained.  I guess I'll be learning how to remove the carbs.  I sure wish I could loosen those stripped bowl drain screws.  Is that clock-wise or counterclock-wise to drain the bowls?  Ordering Clymers as we speak.

Will update.

BH

[DrtRydr23]

Or all you guys could know me personally and see me on a regular basis.

Tank drained.  I guess I'll be learning how to remove the carbs.  I sure wish I could loosen those stripped bowl drain screws.  Is that clock-wise or counterclock-wise to drain the bowls?  Ordering Clymers as we speak.

Will update.

BH

Counter-clockwise, and use vice-grips.  Works like a charm.  One of mine are stripped and I have to use vice-grips to open it.  Might want to consider ordering replacements for them.  You can probably get them from http://www.bikebandit.com/.  Just look in the OEM parts section under your bike's production year.

You can also turn the carbs upside down and dump the fuel out through the top vent port between the carbs.  I started doing it this way when I was rejetting to avoid damaging the drain screws too much.

Good luck.

[DrtRydr23]

By the way, I think I was the one that originally suggested throwing SeaFoam in the tank.  I felt bad at first, but reading that you put diesel in makes me feel better....for me, not for you.  Also, when I used SeaFoam in my tank I went with the instructions for "adding to gasoline or diesel" near the top of the can.  I think it said to use around 1 oz per gallon of gas.  I think I put 6 oz in with a full tank when I used it, but I don't think that 8 oz would really hurt anything.  Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there.  I'm glad that I didn't kill your bike.

John

PS- I guess it's good that there's rain in the forecast here in KC.  You won't be missing as much seat time on the GS that way.

[galahs]

Mate drain your fuel tank, drain you float bowls.

Fill your tank to full with petrol, add some sea foam.

Switch the petcock to prime

Run the engine (just let it idle for 15 minutes) sit on the bike and swish the bike from side to side to swish fuel around the inside surface of the tank.

Drain your tank, drain your float bowls

Refill tank with fresh fuel and some more sea foam.

Remove and clean/replace your spark plugs

Enjoy! 

[BassHz]

By the way, I think I was the one that originally suggested throwing SeaFoam in the tank.  I felt bad at first, but reading that you put diesel in makes me feel better....for me, not for you.  Also, when I used SeaFoam in my tank I went with the instructions for "adding to gasoline or diesel" near the top of the can.  I think it said to use around 1 oz per gallon of gas.  I think I put 6 oz in with a full tank when I used it, but I don't think that 8 oz would really hurt anything.  Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there.  I'm glad that I didn't kill your bike.

John

PS- I guess it's good that there's rain in the forecast here in KC.  You won't be missing as much seat time on the GS that way.

I think I subconsciously took that "adding to gasoline or diesel" instruction on the can too literally. 

I thought of you and that reference when I discovered what I had done.  My "idiocracy" equals your vendication.   I wondered if you would remember that thread.   Also, if I ever get this sorted out, I'll do a retraction thread to make up for any bad publicity I may have caused SeaFoam.

+1 on the rain to give me some time to work this out.

I expected some razzing over this but you guys have surprised me with your coolness and helpful instructions.

Thanks again,

BH

[BassHz]

SUCCESS!

I did what everyone said about draining the tank, float bowls and cleaning the spark plugs and she fired up this morning...fairly easily.  I put some good fresh gasoline in the tank, set the petcock to PRI and drained each carb alternately until the fuel didn't look like runny vegetable oil and smelled normal.  Set petcock back to ON she seems to be running fine.  I waited on the SeaFoam because I wanted to make sure I was getting pure fuel to the cylinder.  This evening I will add some SeaFoam and let it run on idle for a while.

I really thought I had killed the GS and was in for a major repair bill.  Thanks for the support.

BH

[ohgood]

Excellent. Everyone has done it, or will do  it at least ONCE. Most won't admit to doing it. You people know who you are. I put about 1 gallon of diesel in a brand new truck once. I promptly switched to the gas nozzle and all was fine. Put about 40,000 mile on that truck before I sold it.

Remember, you can do more harm if you don't step back and think for a few moments and find the root. You should not be embarrassed at all. Admitting the mistake is much cooler than destroying the carbs and acting like it was 'the stupid bikes fault'.

Congrats on your newly cleared carbs and tank. You KNOW there is no water, rust, or diesel in there now

[galahs]

Glad it all worked out mate 


Your story doesn't shock me, because I had a neighbour who thought her radiator was bone dry so poured in litres and litres of water until it came up to the top of the filler cap.

she then thought whilst she was there she should check the oil. So she pulled out the dipstick and to her surprise, water poured out!

[NWDave]

SUCCESS!

I did what everyone said about draining the tank, float bowls and cleaning the spark plugs and she fired up this morning...fairly easily.  I put some good fresh gasoline in the tank, set the petcock to PRI and drained each carb alternately until the fuel didn't look like runny vegetable oil and smelled normal.  Set petcock back to ON she seems to be running fine.  I waited on the SeaFoam because I wanted to make sure I was getting pure fuel to the cylinder.  This evening I will add some SeaFoam and let it run on idle for a while.

I really thought I had killed the GS and was in for a major repair bill.  Thanks for the support.

BH

Good stuff, adding the seafoam was really just to help clean any areas where the diesel might have been left over or caused some build up.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Don't feel bad... my roommate owns a construction company, and employs one not so bright individual. In going through his receipts, said individual used the company gas card for $280 in gasoline. That's right at 100 gallons. Now, all of the work trucks are diesel, all of the gas tanks they use are diesel, all of the equipment they run is diesel. So he pumped 100 gallons of gas into a diesel fuel tank... someone's in for a surprise...