Kerosine in a gas engine?

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: expat
Ford had a small Marine engine in the 60's called the Watermotor, you would start it on Gas then switch to Kerosine.
In England at that time, Kerosine cost less than Petrol.

The compression was about 7-1


Under the British tax system, kerosene was a heating fuel, and didn't attract transport taxes. If you used kero for power applications, off highway (farms, boats etc.), it was fine, but if you used it for road transport, you had to tally the gallons and send a tax cheque in (read that on the Rover BRM Gas Turbine car).

They do the same now with homemade biodiesel, and running cars on vegetable oil. Need to register with the tax office, keep auditable records, and pay the taxes.

 

[TC]

Adding relatively "large" (I'll decline to define that) amounts of kerosene to motor oil for short periods to clean out engines is old-school and not crazy at all. I'm not saying "Do it" or "Don't do it," but just that it's something that's been done to a gazillion engines over the decades without incident the vast majority of the time.

As for adding kerosene to gasoline, there's plenty of "fuel cleaners" that use up to 100% kerosene as a rude-n-crude, but potentially effective cleaning agent. There's two below. So nothing space cadet about adding kerosene to petrol. But that's in small quantities -- I don't know what would happen if you started adding gallons to a tank, but I wouldn't want to be the one experimenting.
http://www.menards.com/msds/103824_002.pdf
http://www.armoredautogroup.com/pdf/STP/STP-High-Mileage-Fuel-Injector-Cleaner-_8-2011_.pdf

 

[rob6773]

I think Kero at one point was cheaper than gasoline and some stations got in trouble for adding to regular. A gas station where we had a shop was supposedly closed for a while before we got there because of this.

 

[INDYMAC]

I've been using LE L-X 2300 (50% K1) for a couple of years now as a fuel additive in all my vehicles and lawn mower. I've been very impressed with it, more so than any other fuel additive I've tried.

http://products.lelubricants.com/item/gasoline/l-x-heavy-duty-chemical-supplement-2300/2300?bc=100|1136|1128&forward=1

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: INDYMAC
I've been using LE L-X 2300 (50% K1) for a couple of years now as a fuel additive in all my vehicles and lawn mower. I've been very impressed with it, more so than any other fuel additive I've tried.


what does it do?
what's K1?

 

[INDYMAC]

It does this:

"Increased Power - is realized through more complete combustion.
Reduced Frictional Wear - with 2300 L-X's exclusive formulation. Reduces wear of valve stems, guides and other moving parts in the upper section of the engine. Lubrication of the upper compression ring significantly reduces fuel dilution and blowby.
Cleaner Internal Engine Parts - will yield more efficient engine operation. Carbon, varnish and gum deposits are cleaned away. Further formations are prevented from forming on rings, plugs, pistons, valves, carburetors, fuel injectors, PCV valves and other engine parts.
Extended Engine Life - is experienced because of reduced friction wear of internal engine parts because they are kept cleaner.
Corrosive Wear is Reduced - through minimized fuel dilution.
Fuel System Corrosion Prevented - because the dispersed water is kept in suspension for complete removal.
Mixes Thoroughly - with fuel without any agitation required."

K1 is #1 kerosene.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Thanks. Can you actually see/feel a difference?

 

[AVB]

Originally Posted By: Astro14
They were crazy...

You could have added Naptha to the gas tank and it would have run...but neither of those things would help it run well...

Now, for a diesel car in the 70s, I added a few gallons of Kero during a severe cold snap (single digits) because the fuel in CT wasn't winter blended and the poor car barely ran. Thinning with Kero helped it considerably...


I have a advanced engine performance text book from when I was in tech school that suggest using Naptha as fuel injector cleaner. I had older men tell me of using mothballs in the gas tanks of cars back in the days of leaded gas. After looking into mothballs I found they were made from Naphthalene.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: AVB

I have a advanced engine performance text book from when I was in tech school that suggest using Naptha as fuel injector cleaner.


naphta or similar solvent is an active ingredient in seafom, so it totally makes sense.

Quote:
Naphtha is used primarily as feedstock for producing high octane gasoline (via the catalytic reforming process). It is also used in the bitumen mining industry as a diluent, the petrochemical industry for producing olefins in steam crackers, and the chemical industry for solvent (cleaning) applications. Common products made with it include lighter fluid, fuel for camp stoves, and some cleaning solvents.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naphtha

Now, kerosene is heavier though.

Related topic: https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1279933

 

[AVB]

The book mentioned Zippo lighter fluid as a source of Naptha.

 

[friendly_jacek]

I bought a gallon of fuel for camp stoves as a cheap source of naphtha.

 

[AVB]

I have a gallon of Crown V&P naphtha at the shop that I have been using to light the grill, it seems to burn cleaner than charcoal lighter fluid. But that may be my imagination.

 

[ARB1977]

My grandfather back in the day used to run kerosene in the oil towards the end of oci. My uncles used to brag how clean those engines were.

 

[earlyre]

so i finally asked my brother about this, since what stands out most in the memory was his car.
turns out it was a one time deal, sort of a last ditch effort to clean out that particular engine.
begin long winded story:
so back in the day, My brother(Rick) worked @ the local SOHIO gas station. guy pulls in driving a diesel VW rabbit. they don't carry diesel @ that station(even today), he mistakenly fills it w/unleaded. realizes what he did before leaving, and another customer w/ this really rough running Pontiac wagon agrees to take the fuel after they siphon it out of the rabbit( so they put a mix of unleaded & Deisel in this wagon - and apparently the diesel smell NEVER went away.)
around this time Rick is looking for a good cheap car, and this wagon is running bad, but the body was in good shape. he eventually ends up buying it from them.
The Hillbilly he bought it from NEVER changed the oil in ANY of his cars, b/c he was convinced that it didn't need to be changed, anything that said otherwise was an oil company conspiracy to sell more product.
when Rick bought the car, it was only running on 7 Cyl. when he went to change the oil, it was so gunked up, that literally chunks came out. so he tried (one @ a time)some sort of engine flush chemical, Kerosine in the crank case, and ATF, to try and get the [censored] out. each time getting more chunky oil out. on advice from our grandpa he did the kerosine in the gas as a last ditch effort to clean out the engine.
He eventually sold it to a friend of his, who passed it down to a sibling, and many years later it still wouldn't die.