Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

Hi Everyone, I just started reading the July-August V-8 Times, just a fabulous magazine. Jerry Windle has done a great job of editing it for 20 years.

There's an article on pages 17 & 18, submitted by the Wichita RG #25, about electric fuel pumps by Randy Rundle, who among other things, preps cars for the Hemming's Great Race since 1989 when it was called the Great Race. I had not come across his name before.

There's a paragraph where he explains that 40+ psi fuel systems don't get bothered by the lower boiling point of the e-gas the same way our 2-4 psi systems do, so they don't vapor lock.

So beside writing about the fuel pump he has decided works best, which he conveniently has for sale, he advises: "Don't forget to add a pint of diesel fuel to 10 gallons of gasoline. It will raise the boiling point of modern gasoline and lubricate the gaskets in the carburetor to keep them from shrinking resulting in a leaky carburetor."

I read that and thought it was an interesting proposition. What say you FordBarn Forum Experts?

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

It is a horrible idea. Diesel boils from 500F-650F. It will likely make your car smoke, is 0 octane, may make your engine run on after the ignition is turned off and won't vaporize in the carburetor. Gasoline boils from 100-400F.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

I read the same artical and have been using the same fuel pumps he sells for a few years . However I have been buying the same pump from Napa. A pint in 10 gallons would be diluted to the point I doubt it would make a motor diesel or smoke to the point you could notice it.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

MMO smells better than diesel. 8^)

Jack E/NJ

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

I'm not sure what will happen, but this thinking out of the box has merit, might work, might not. But it's worth a try. The only way to prove something is to try it, and that' exactily what I'll do.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

What about using it in gas without ethanol?

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

Might be thinking out of the box, but it's not a new idea. Back in the 50s and early 60s a lot of people ran some diesel mixed in every month or so. The belief was it cleaned the fuel system. My dad also did this in his trucks.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

A little off-topic here but I know some forum members have serious problems with vapor lock. Apparently something to do with day-time and engine running temps and air flow thru the engine compartment. I use 87 oct 10% ethenol thru a stock pump to a stock engine with 160 degree stats .... no problems. I better knock-on-wood.

Oh yes .... I add MMO to my gas and it seems to help quiet my valves.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

And it's great on pancakes!

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

It might be new to the younger generation but it was not uncommon to put a bit of diesel fuel into the gas tanks of trucks and tractors back in the sixties, seventies. If you got a little too much diesel it might smoke a little but never a problem that I recall. It might have done some good but certainly did no harm.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

A friends dad ran an auto electric repair shop in Detroit starting in the early 50's. He loved to tinker with things. One time he came up with a car that ran on kerosene. Guess it ran ok, but smoked like hell. Could probably use it now to fog out the zika mosquitos. He's been gone now for awhile but when we all get together we still laugh about some of the stuff he came up with.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

I bought a bunch of old car manuals at a garage sale a while back and included was a manual for an old tractor (maybe a Case but not 100% sure) that ran on kerosene.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

John deere. The A my grandfather had . It had a small gasoline tank and a large kerosene tank. Started it on gas and when the motor warmed up you switched it over to kerosene.

Military engines some were called multi fuel but I don't know if that also included gasoline. I don't know anything about them other then the name

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

Back in the 30's and 40s there was a kit made for cars to run on diesel
fuel. A friend of mines father had what looked like an early 30's Essex.
There was a canister about 6 or 8"s in diameter and 18"s long on the
firewall that was filled with kero or diesel. The engine was started on
gas and when it got good and warm the diesel was turned on. I
remember one day we didn't wait long enough and went a few hundred
yards and it stalled on the diesel and we had to go through the warm
up again. Thinking about it now The fuel in the canister would only take
you 25 miles but in those days you didn't travel that far. The other
thought is the diesel may have been metered into the gas and ran as
a mixture?? Mixing diesel with corn gas doesn't get rid of the alcohol
that attract water and damages gas tanks and even brass floats in the
tank. The diesel in gas is like a very weak dose of MMO which may
lubricate the valves a little. Best bet is real gas and MMO. Vapor Lock
is mainly from real hot engine temps.The previous post with 160 stats
is an example. G.M.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

Quite a common setup in the 40s and 50s. Kerosene or "distillate" was a popular and low cost fuel for farm tractors. Seems to me it required a different carburetor and manifold to burn the distillate.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

Look at a Fairbanks Morse stationary engine, they have a small bowl for gasoline, large tank under the engine for kerosene, starts on gasoline, warms up, switch over to kerosene. Smells good

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

I think why not try it? If it doesn't work just driving will use up the gas and then fill the tank again without diesel. I am sure you can find someone who can give you a pint without buying a whole gallon of diesel for the try out.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

I caught that in the latest EFV8 magazine too. My first thought was Marvel Mystery Oil like GM mentioned. My Pop had a pickup accidentally topped off with diesel at a full service filling station once and he didn't get very far. It wasn't just a pint though.

A small quantity of diesel would just be a top end lube but MMO is made for that and is proven to work well. It will aid the electric fuel pump too which was the purpose that Randy Rundle added the diesel for. I figure Randy was coming up with a solution that a person could literally get near anywhere for the GAR. Otherwise they would have to carry MMO in gallon jugs with them.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

I was told at the CNM in Tulsa that Sta Bil is diesel fuel.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

I feel comfortable with real Gas and MMO!

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

I myself love MMO

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

1 pint in 10 gallons is a 1 to 80 ratio. Would mix make smoke? Probably not. Will it be enough to prevent vapor lock. Maybe. Wil be harmful to the engine? No. It shouldn't be any worse then adding MMO as instructed on the container. As stated before, top end lube and a possible increase in the boiling temp of the fuel.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

When I was a teenager ( more years ago than I like to think!) one of the valves stuck in my '47 Merc. The old-time mechanic from across the street brought over a quart of diesel fuel and with the engine running at a fast idle he slowly poured the fuel down the carb. The car smoked like heck but when he was done, the valve was no longer stuck.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

I few years ago I had a suburban diesel. Got fuel at the same station most
of the time where the owner pumped the fuel. One day we were talking and
I didn't notice but he filled it with gas. In 1/8 mile it started loosing power
and in 3/4 mile it had trouble moving. Made it into Pizza Hut and smelled the
tank and it was gas. Called the station they sent a tow truck and drained the gas and refilled with diesel. It ran good for years with no injector pump
damage. G.M.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

:p:p:p I LOVE that!!!!!

MMO in my gasoline for several years and the '36 pickup with a 59AB Flattie running the original fuel pump, and she runs great.

Of course that is with a Jere Jobe built Stromberg 97, THAT made a HUGE difference!!! Jere is kinda retired from that now.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

Back in the 60's my dad would do the same thing about every other year to clean the carbon ( as he referred to it as) from our vehicles. Smoked like hell. I remember one time the cops & fire department showed up as the neighbors had called them thinking fire. http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif Bill

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

We always used ATF to poor down the carb for a quickie top lube job when I was younger and cars still had carburetors.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

For those that don't know Jere he also does a good job on
the Lincoln V/12 distributors. G.M.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

My Brother-in-law Hooked up a tank and pump to a 4 bl carb on a 70's Pontiac. Started on gas and when on the hyway swirched over to diesel. Ran pretty well on the interstate but when it stalled, was very hard to start even on gas. But it did run OK st speed.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

During WW2 our next-door neighbor ex-farmers had a ’31 Chevrolet and liked to take it to the beach, about 50 miles each way, during the summer months. Gas was rationed so they ran the car on kerosene. The man showed me how it was done. He had drilled a hole in the top of the float chamber and used a rubber plug to stop it. He used a syringe, similar to turkey a baster to fill and empty the chamber and used pure gas to start it. I don’t know if something else was mixed with the kerosene but don’t recall that it smoked much.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

It was a belief that the horizontal two cylinder JDs would have excessive cylinder wear so it wasn't unheard of for farmers to mix some diesel with gas in hopes of avoiding the wear. I have heard of stories of up to 20% diesel used. No blown up engines or other issues except some smoke. Of course the excessive wear was just a wive's tale. Probably started by folks who owned tractors with vertical cylinders. Guess that wive's tale is no sillier than the one about a little diesel in gas inviting the devil into your engine.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

Ford tractors like the 8N, NAA, 600, & 800 series could be purchased with Kerosene fuel systems well up into the 50s.

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

There is truth to that story. My dad ran a model D John Deere for years on distillate, kind of a mix of diesel and gas that the fuel suppliers sold. Later on he had the tractor converted to burn pure gas when distillate was no longer easily available. He claimed the engine did not last as long on gas. More frequent valve jobs and rings required. Pure gas was too "dry" .

Re: Add 1 pint Diesel to 10 Gal. e-gas, what do you think?
 

Sea foam is kind of oily???