I did a stupid. I put gear lube into my gas instead of 2 cycle oil. Now what?

nhmaina

Seaman
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Jul 18, 2010
Messages
69
Searching the threads I am either the dumbest person here, or the only one that will admit it. I managed to put gear lube oil into my gas instead of 2 cycle oil. I had about 2 gallons of properly mixed gas in the tank when I put another 2 gallons in with 6 oz of gear lube oil. Both containers were grey and said mercury, but that's just a dumb excuse! This may explain why my engine was hard to start (I had another thread on this, but I thought this was better as a separate question). I ran it for about 30 -60 minutes with this mixture. At one point I felt the pee stream and it was suprisingly cool, so I don't think I damaged anything as far as heat. However, what should I do now, should I take the fuel out and try to use it in my push lawnmower, or will it ruin that? And, did it do anything to my carb or other elements in the fuel system? Any help would be appreciated.
 

ezmobee

Supreme Mariner
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Mar 26, 2007
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23,767
Re: I did a stupid. I put gear lube into my gas instead of 2 cycle oil. Now what?

Get rid the fuel. I wouldn't run that in anything. I'd probably just run some fresh, properly mixed, gas through your Mercury with some SeaFoam added.
 

Tronald

Seaman
Joined
Nov 9, 2009
Messages
58
Re: I did a stupid. I put gear lube into my gas instead of 2 cycle oil. Now what?

Also check to see if there's fishing line all wound up around the pickup tube in the fuel tank.

Tronald
 

robert graham

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Apr 16, 2009
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6,908
Re: I did a stupid. I put gear lube into my gas instead of 2 cycle oil. Now what?

Drain all that gas, refill with fresh gas/TCW3 Outboard oil mix, check/clean spark plugs for possible carbon deposits, run the motor on new gas...probably no harm done at all. There's lots of worse things you could have done, like no oil in the gas at all. Not to sound like Bond-O, but "any oil is better than no oil at all". Good Luck
 

nhmaina

Seaman
Joined
Jul 18, 2010
Messages
69
Re: I did a stupid. I put gear lube into my gas instead of 2 cycle oil. Now what?

Hey, thanks to everyone for the feedback. I will look at the plugs this weekend. Do you think it's worth it to put in fuel injector cleaner or anything like that? Also, I bought 2 different oils, one is synthetic, any recommendations?
 

ezmobee

Supreme Mariner
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Mar 26, 2007
Messages
23,767
Re: I did a stupid. I put gear lube into my gas instead of 2 cycle oil. Now what?

Run SeaFoam if anything.

TCW-3 rated oil is TCW-3 rated oil (debatable to some). Even the Wal-Mart Super-Tech stuff is just dandy.
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
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Mar 25, 2004
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28,074
Re: I did a stupid. I put gear lube into my gas instead of 2 cycle oil. Now what?

That gear oil may have metallic addatives which make it unsuitable for burning in the motor.
 

j_martin

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Joined
Sep 22, 2006
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7,474
Re: I did a stupid. I put gear lube into my gas instead of 2 cycle oil. Now what?

The biggest thing gear lube does to a motor is make the rings stick. (don't ask) Run some fresh gas and TCW3 oil, with an ounce/gallon of SeaFoam and it'll be fine.

Might have fowled the plugs. Just throw a new set in. Not much money.

hope it helps
John
 

nhmaina

Seaman
Joined
Jul 18, 2010
Messages
69
Re: I did a stupid. I put gear lube into my gas instead of 2 cycle oil. Now what?

I took out the old gas. I ran almost all the gas through the engine though. i only had about 1/4 gallon left. I checked the plugs and there was oil coming out around the top spark plug and bottom spark plug. Also, there was burn oil around the outside of the top and bottom plugs, otherwise, they looked fine. The middle plug looked a little too clean, it had no burnt residue. Could I only be firing on 2 of the cylinders, the top and bottom ones?

The biggest thing gear lube does to a motor is make the rings stick. (don't ask) Run some fresh gas and TCW3 oil, with an ounce/gallon of SeaFoam and it'll be fine.

Might have fowled the plugs. Just throw a new set in. Not much money.

hope it helps
John
 

j_martin

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Sep 22, 2006
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7,474
Re: I did a stupid. I put gear lube into my gas instead of 2 cycle oil. Now what?

Could be. Usually super clean means water intrusion.
 
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