crazy car question

[mopinko]

what happens if you put diesel fuel in a regular engine? i'm sure i could look this up. but i bet someone here knows.

[Turbineguy]

1. Don't do it.

Diesel fuel promotes fast combustion (cetane), gasoline promotes slow combustion (octane). Even if the injectors and fuel system do not plug up the engine will knock like crazy.

[mopinko]

4. wasn't planning to experiment

believe me.

[NJCher]

2. I know what happens the other way around

A dingbat friend of mine went to France and put regular gasoline in a diesel engine. It went about 100 yards and bucked like a bronco. Cost her a few hundred bucks and a whole lot of time to get out of that one.


Cher

[Burried News]

3. It aint gunna run rayat - no way.

I don't think it will really do big damage.
I would drop the gas tank and empty it. If you are lazy - fill it with gas and crank it, but I would change out the fuel filters (there are sometimes two). Then I would remove the center wire from my distributor and cold crank it for 10 seconds to purge the carborator or fuel injectors. Wait a few minues - re-attach the wire and hot crank.

Then I would call car talk and ask them what might be wrong now.

Or you could borrow a friends car (Republican preferred)and fill it with oil and try to get it running based on my advice and see if it works befor screwing up your own.

PS I never did the above so I am just reasoning it out which doesn't always work with cars. :)

[dweller]

5. what's on your mind, mopinko?

this is actually a situation of a car i've looked at. It's sitting in a junkyard with a tank of diesel and gas. Until it had that mix, it was a nice running vehicle (according to the owner who sent it to the yard).

dp

[mopinko]

7. deflecting guilt

just wishing for a green vehicle.

[dweller]

8. check this out

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0816-01.htm

snip: "University of California, Davis engineering professor Andy Frank built a plug-in hybrid from the ground up in 1972 and
has since built seven others, one of which gets up to 250 mpg. They were converted from non-hybrids, including a
Ford Taurus and Chevrolet Suburban. "

dp

[mopinko]

9. is a plug in a shell game?

surely if it is plugged in to coal, or nuclear, there are costs elsewhere.

this article proves what i have said in defense of my hog- don't blame the buyer, blame the builder. as soon as someone makes a green truck that carries a 4' x 8', for a reasonable price, i'm there. i will be seriously in the market this spring.

[skids]

10. Plug in enviro-impact...

...First, you can't assume that it's being plugged into the grid. It might be plugged into the owners private wind-farm.

Secondly, the owner might be paying a surcharge to fund renewable sources on the grid, and thridly, even if it does run off coal, the jury is still out as to whether that really is "just as bad" as gas.

Anyway, as far as green pickups, keep an eye on the Dodge Ram... they will be introducing more models soon. Though, if you can buy a reasonably efficient beater a few more years that may give you the slack needed for a larger variety of diesel hybrids to hit the market.

http://hybridcars.com/hybrid-pick-up-trucks.html (see last paragraph)

[mopinko]

12. well, my other car is a bike.

i don't drive the hog that much. i have had some long term health issues that have finally been effectively treated, so i can ride a bike for a change. so, i am trying to really get in the habit of that. i have a second car that is good on gas, also.
i also work at home, and at a studio that is only a few miles away. hubby takes the train to work. so, all in all, we could be worse.
i'll watch for that ram. they should start showing up as lease returns in a year or 2. a van would work for me as well.
re: diesel, tho- i thought that diesel engines got better mileage. am i wrong about that? at least if i got a diesel, i could run on french fry oil.

[skids]

14. diesel: better a few years from now.

Diesels do get better mileage, but the sulfur content makes for bad emissions. If you live where you can get biodiesel easily, then there will be less emissions and less carbon load from using that.

In a few years sulfur content in diesel will be regulated much lower, and that will allow manufacturers to use less expensive emissions control systems.

Even with a diesel engine, adding a hybrid system can increase mileage, and more importantly a hybrid diesel can reduce emissions before they even come out of the engine, by allowing the computer control unit to run the engine at the speed where the least amount of pollution is produced.

I expect you'll see a lot more diesel hybrids available as soon as those new sulfur regulations take effect.

[madmom]

6. It'll run like shit till

you get it out.But it will clean the system real well.

[htuttle]

11. Ever seen that 'tune up in a can' stuff you pour into your carb?

That's just diesel, usually. It knocks, smokes, and rattles, but it will clean out the carbon in your gas engine once it's gone.

[mopinko]

13. that's cool to know. nt