used motor oil experiment

[dumkid]

picked up a free taotao 50cc scooter the other day, put some seafoam in it and after a few miles it runs good (wouldn't idle when I got it) i have some used oil on hand and figured i could put some in the gas tank and see what happens. my dad thinks I'll just carbon everything up but i think free oil is cheaper than $5 gas.
I'll tell you if it hurts anything

 

[ripcord]

You're going to regret it...

 

[Kira]

Sooooo...this is a troll, right?

What else can "I'm putting old oil in the gas tank" possibly mean?

"I think free oil is cheaper than $5 gas", is "**** Martin" caliber stupidity.

 

[wpod]

You will be surprised with all the money you will be saving.

 

[ripcord]

You will be surprised with all the money you will be saving.

And the walking. Don't forget all the walking

 

[dumkid]

its just an experiment lol. i probably will regret it but I've always wondered if you can mix used oil with gas at around 60:1 and have no problems. people put 2stroke oil in their gas and have no problems. I've never found similar data for used 4stroke oil (which is oily like 2t oil, the similarities pretty much end there) i know it won't run on straight motor oil, so ill be mixing it with gas, should have said that in the first post. cars can burn oil for many thousands of miles without problems so I don't think ill seriously damage anything, and if I do it's not like it was an expensive or nice scooter.

 

[ripcord]

Do you mean one part oil to 60 parts gas? If so, it will run that way even if it's smokey. If you mean the other way around, not so much. At least filter the used oil through a coffee filter or two to get any grit out of it.

 

[atikovi]

i have some used oil on hand and figured i could put some in the gas tank and see what happens.

A gas engine wont run on motor oil. Too thick to even flow out of the carburetor.

 

[dumkid]

I'm not going to run it on straight motor oil, should probably clarify that. i plan on mixing it like 2 stroke gas, somewhere around 60 parts gas to 1 part oil. i do want to try different ratios of gas/oil to find the ratio where the scooter starts to smoke. also after the used motor oil experiment if you guys want to test other fuels just post your ideas here, this scooter is for science.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I wouldn’t destroy it just to destroy it. If you don’t want it, I would just give it to someone who would enjoy it and get good use out of it.

 

[mustangmel]

Before there was such a thing as 2 stroke oil, they run them on plain pcmo

 

[Tdbo]

I'm not going to run it on straight motor oil, should probably clarify that. i plan on mixing it like 2 stroke gas, somewhere around 60 parts gas to 1 part oil. i do want to try different ratios of gas/oil to find the ratio where the scooter starts to smoke. also after the used motor oil experiment if you guys want to test other fuels just post your ideas here, this scooter is for science.

So, just the mosquito fogger effect, eh?

 

[Joel_MD]

So, just the mosquito fogger effect, eh?

Or a reenactment of the Battle of Verdun.

 

[RedSpider]

Relax people, 60:1 isnt going to produce much smoke at all and it will be many, many miles before carbon becomes a major issue at that ratio.

Back in the 70's and 80's when mopeds were all the rage in my circle of friends we all used whatever 10w-30 or 10w-40 was sitting on the shelf in our garages. Nobody I knew used 2-stroke oil. I dont remember any of us losing an engine from that. Or at all for that matter.

Personally I wasnt all that strict about using 2-stroke oil until a few years ago, for the longest time I ran all my 2-cycle stuff with whatever pcmo I had laying around. I recently got rid of a weed eater I had since the late 80's and I only got rid of it because the shaft broke, the engine ran fine, it just wasnt worth fixing. Never saw 2-cycle oil in its entire life, very intentionally because I wanted to see how long it would last using regular engine oil. That thing just wouldnt die.

Mazda wankel side seals and apex seals are lubricated the same way as a 2-cycle, using whatever pcmo is in the pan, and yes they arent known for longevity, but the youngest one of the three I had blow up had over 135,000 miles on it, and when I tore it down the rotor faces didnt, at least visually, have any more carbon on them than your typical piston top would have with that many miles. The seals werent carboned up either, one just simply cracked and caused two of the rotor faces to lose compression on the aft rotor.

The contaminants in the used oil are going to be a bigger issue than anything else.

 

[Paco Pena]

You can buy good shoes with your savings. You will need them.

Paco

 

[Ursatdx]

OP's name checks out.

 

[dumkid]

i don't plan on being more than a mile from home on this thing anyway. its already died on me a few times, isn't street legal, and might have a burnt valve. new head is $25 on Amazon if it really needs it. if you want it, come get it. it'll go 30 mph with a tailwind, leaks oil, gas, and somehow it leaks water even though it's air cooled. if you come get it I'm keeping the headlight and battery because I bought them and can use them for something else. if none of you want it quit bashing me for ruining something valuable. i haven't put oil in the gas yet because it barely runs on normal gas. i should get some better shoes though, pushing this thing home wearing flipflops isn't ideal lol

 

[Meep meep]

i don't plan on being more than a mile from home on this thing anyway. its already died on me a few times, isn't street legal, and might have a burnt valve. new head is $25 on Amazon if it really needs it. if you want it, come get it. it'll go 30 mph with a tailwind, leaks oil, gas, and somehow it leaks water even though it's air cooled. if you come get it I'm keeping the headlight and battery because I bought them and can use them for something else. if none of you want it quit bashing me for ruining something valuable. i haven't put oil in the gas yet because it barely runs on normal gas. i should get some better shoes though, pushing this thing home wearing flipflops isn't ideal lol

Genuinely interested in your progress. If it gets carbed up would you try running a couple of tanks on gas mixed with tcw3 (if you have any to hand)

 

[dumkid]

maybe. i do have tcw3 on hand. i just added the first tank of gas+used oil today, and it runs exactly the same as on straight gas. i added about 1/2 cup to a gallon of fuel.

 

[missingcurlybracket]

Would 1:60 used oil:gasoline result in noticeable savings over however many miles you're gonna put on it?