About six weeks after we arrived at SEA FLOAT on the Cau Lon River, Republic of Vietnam, the decision was made that we should take our boat to Binh Thuy to do an engine change.  So, with very little notice, our officer-in-charge (OIC) and four of us were off for the bright lights.  Our journey started by going due West on the Cau Lon until it emptied out into what we called "Square Bay".  From there we turned Northeast and picked up the Song Bo De that would eventually get us to Ca Mau (the provincial capital).  We made Ca Mau about 1330 and pulled in next to a Zippo boat (a modified landing carft with two M132A1 flame thrower guns on the bow).  A quick radio call to the MACV (Military Advisory Command - Vietnam) compound and some of our sister detachment's guys came down in a battered gray 1966 International crew cab pickup truck to get us. 

 

We stayed overnight at the MACV compound with our sister detachment.  Bright and early the next morning, we took the pickup truck over to the Army POL (petroleum, oil, and lubricants) point to pickup several drums of gasoline to fuel our boat.  While we were loading the drums and transfer pump, we also decided to fuel the pickup whose gauge was showing low fuel.  One of the guys grabbed a nozzle, removed the tank cap, stuck the nozzle into the spout, and turned on the pump.  He then left to help with getting the barrels loaded.  It was about this time that I came past the fuel hose and the hairs on the back of my head stood on end.  Gasoline has a very distinctive smell when it's being dispensed and the smell wasn't right.  I stopped the pump, pulled out the nozzle, and gave the end a wipe and smell with my finger.  Oh, oh . . . diesel fuel! 

 

Now we had a problem.  No one knew how much diesel we pumped into the truck and we could not drain the fuel.  The only thing to do was fill the rest of the tank with gasoline and hope that the truck would start.  We topped off the tank to the very top and tried to fire-up the engine.  After some trying and several false starts, the engine finally fired and stayed running.  The exhaust smoked and the engine balked and sputtered and made all sorts of distressed noises.  We tried to put the truck into gear but our first attempts stalled the engine.  Undaunted, we tried again and eventually got the truck moving under its own power -- very reluctantly.  The engine continued to protest and the exhaust still smoked, but as we got further the stuttering and banging and smoke got less.  By the time we got the truck down to the water front, we'd pretty much burned off the diesel or diluted it enough for the engine to run normally.

 

We unloaded the truck, rolled the drums down to the water's edge, unscrewed the bung seals, and inserted the transfer pump.  About an hour and a half later, we'd pumpd in about 200 gallons of combat gasoline into our fuel bladders.  It was then pack up the gear and take everything back to the POL point.  By the middle of the day, we were ready to go and the rest of the journey to Binh Thuy was done without a hitch.  We pulled into the piers at the base about 1545 in the afternoon, just as everyone was getting off work.  We checked in, were told where we could bunk, and what we needed to do before securing for the night.  By 1800 most of us had grabbed a 2-1/2 truck and were on our way to town for a couple of beers. 

 

I never forgot the experience of putting diesel in a gasoline vehicle.  However, that must've prepared me when I did exactly the reverse years later. 

 

I was getting diesel fuel for my VW Golf.  It was in the winter and I stopped at the gas station for some fuel.  Stupid me, I wasn't paying attention and grabbed the wrong hose -- unleaded gasoline.  I put about 2 gallons of the stuff into my 10.5 gallon tank before I realized what I'd done.  The only thing to do was to try and drain off as much gas as possible right there on the drive way.  I called my dad who was retired and told him what I needed to do.  He got some gallon jugs and some oil drain pans together and brought them to the gas station where I was cooling my heels and feeling very stupid.  Then it was out and under to drain as much contaminated fuel out of the tank and into my containers as possible.  We got as much out as we could and then it was time to fill up the tank with diesel fuel. 

 

When this was done, I got in the car and tried to get it started.  It was just like the experience with the old 1966 International pickup of years before.  Fortunately, I'd been able to drain most of the gasoline/diesel mix out of the tank this time and the car started, ran, and idled (badly).  It kept running, not without protest, and with some extra grayish smoke from the exhaust pipe.  After about ten minutes of allowing the fuel to mix (there was a lot of vibration caused by the residual gasoline contamination in the fuel), we packed up our jugs of contaminated fuel and limped over to my parent's house.  By the time we got there (about two miles away), the old VW Golf was running almost like normal.

 

These two experiences taught me a very valuable lesson;  no matter how much of a hurry you're in, make sure that you check that you're putting the right kind of fuel in your fuel tank.  Talk about an embarrassment.  The bright side was in both cases there wasn't enough of the offending different fuel pumped into the tank before the mistake was caught.  If the nozzle had been locked in the FUEL position and left unattended, there would have been too much of the contaminant fuel in the tank to allow the engine to start.  I still remember how lucky I was on these two occasions -- and I haven't repeated the error.  (Knock on wood.)