Old hydraulic oil

Canal Navvy

Canal Navvy

Well-known member
Bit bothered here and looking for reassurance.

If someone mistook a can of old hydraulic oil for derv and put it in their fuel tank would there be any future problems? 🤔
 
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Smiffy

Well-known member
Bit bothered here and looking for reassurance.

If someone mistook a can of old hydraulic oil for derv and put it in their fuel tank would there be any future problems? 🤔

Depends on the engine. And how long you ran it for before realising. Common rail engines dislike rubbish in the diesel alot more than older stuff.
 
Quattromike

Quattromike

Well member-known
You may get hydraulic lock 🤔 but I suspect the fuel filter will catch it, presuming you have one fitted. How much are you talking about? Was quite common to put a little ATF in to diesel tanks to clean the injectors/valves up at times
 
Bri963

Bri963

Well-known member
If it’s pre aftertreatment probably not a lot except white smoke And lack of power. To be safe, drain it out and dump it. If it’s got any sort of after treatment it’ll poison a DOC/SCR system and shorten it’s life, and it could partially clog a DPF or cause it to go exothermic.
 
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DaveDCB

Well-known member
Bit bothered here and looking for reassurance.

If someone mistook a can of old hydraulic oil for derv and put it in their fuel tank would there be any future problems? 🤔
Filled a 3cx hydraulic tank with diesel once, obviously only topped it up, never turned machine on thankfully so drained it and refilled with new hydraulic oil, no problems. Just an expensive oil swap!
 
Bri963

Bri963

Well-known member
I topped a Hyster forklift hydraulic Tank up with diesel back in the ‘70’s. It made a hell of a mess across the yard until I realised what I’d done. No lasting damage, except to reputation.
 
Canal Navvy

Canal Navvy

Well-known member
fuel tank on what??????
and how big was the can of old oil compared to said tanks contents?

Don't know what it went into😕 , drained the oil out of my little Terex into the only empty can I had on site and some dodgy sod pinched it.

It is certainly some comfort that someone will have an expensive mot next time round 😁

Fortunately not a great loss, possibly even a cost effective way of disposing of waste oil 😀, just the cost of a black plastic can.
 
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Stroppymonkey

Well-known member
Poured 20l of old bund water into my discovery fuel tank once while in a rush for the school run and fuel light on. I had the thing running while i did it, went inside to get offspring and came out to find it stalled. God I felt stupid. The garage laughed a lot.
Truck was fine after a clear out though.
 
Mick-the-fitter

Mick-the-fitter

It’s what I do!
I once went out to a Poclain where someone had put a hydraulic return pilot line into the fuel tank, they where next to each other! The reason for the customer ringing in the breakdown was, the machine had got very smokey, the diesel tank was still full after a few days of work (happy with that!) but they still had a hydraulic leak somewhere and couldn’t find it, I was the third fitter to attend to the machine the first fitter had been to fit a new fuel tank a week before because it was leaking around a weld.
 
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