Pay the price later?

[JeffMD]

So,
Last night I was bringing the family back from a little drive in the country. I made a turn and accelerated up a little hill and the truck sort of stuttered a little. I knew I was getting low on fuel, but the gauge was still showing some. I stop for a light and make a turn and climb a hill and the engine dies. I set some flares and do a quick diagnostic and decide I am "out of fuel".

(I recently replaced my fuel cap as I didn't believe it was venting properly. I am pretty sure the pick up tube is no longer sucking from the bottom of the tank.)

Rather than calling for a tow truck, and waiting (in a travel lane, no shoulder) and facing probably a $150 tow bill, I improvised and poured about half a gallon of olive oil in the tank. I was able to bleed, restart, and get to the gas station to fill up.

So am I MacGyver or the idiot that killed his IP and doesn't know it yet?

 

[Turbine Doc]

Nah your IP should be fine

 

[hereismylife]

The only thing I see wrong with that is it can gel up if it was freezing out but it looks like you are down in texas so I would agree with turbine on this. Just make sure you do put enough fuel in to dilute the oil.:thumbsup:

 

[Holyoak]

As long as it was clean olive oil you should be fine. Filling up to dilute it was a good move.

 

[JeffMD]

Thanks guys, good to hear!

Normally I run commercial B100 but I threw thirty gallons of petroleum diesel in the tank at the station. When I got it home I hit the high idle switch for a minute to try purge the lines a bit.

 

[Dan Hunter]

I'm curious how your exhaust smelled.

 

[TurboTahoe]

I would think you would be fine. I'm sure the exhaust made everyone behind you hungry. Glad you made it. Now... stop running your tank dry! Who knows what kind of deposits you just sucked into the line!

-Rob

 

[Dieseldad97]

My question is...who carries olive oil with them in their truck??? LOL.

 

[Dan Hunter]

Or at least that amount. And does B100 make a good Caesar salad?

 

[Veg_Out]

Just because I must ask, do you have a fuel pressure gauge? I think this is the most valuable of all 6.5 gauges.

 

[JMJNet]

At least you have olive oil in the truck?

 

[JeffMD]

The olive oil was in the truck from when I moved my parents to my sisters house. I just hadn't gotten around to cleaning out the truck after the move. Sometimes being lazy pays off!

Exhaust had me craving Italian food, smelled delicious, but could have used some garlic!

As far as B100 on a salad, I guess you could, but I don't know how it would taste.... when in doubt have some garlic handy!

I don't have a fuel pressure gauge yet, but having replaced the stereo I now have perfect place for some more switches and gauges!

My big question now is do I go to the trouble of dropping the tank and fixing the pickup or just get in the habit of filling up say every 450 miles instead of 500?

ETA: Thinking back on it, I did do a bit more idling this tank than usual, and the exhaust did definitely smell like an Italian kitchen (minus the garlic) so I could have just run it dry. But I was sure the gauge showed fuel in the tank when I was on flat ground.... Maybe I did just run it out!

 

[sshewins]

Not to worry, as Rudolf Diesel used peanut oil in his very first engine. Your following our real founders footsteps..LOL

 

[JiFaire]

I think I've heard about everything now...



You are definitely MacGuyver. For today, anyway.

 

[pgguru]

A half gallon of Olive oil was probably $20

 

[JeffMD]

A half gallon of Olive oil was probably $20

Lets see....... that would be $40 per gallon..... 42 tank..... fill up would be