by "DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time" (dc3ls-)
Published 09/06/2017 at 13:15
by "DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time" (dc3ls-)
Published 09/06/2017 at 13:15
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If your car ran out of gas. Could you run it off motor oil instead? I’m sure there would be long term damage to the fuel system and you’d gum up your cat and spark plugs. But if you were in the middle of no where, ran out of gas, but had oil on you, could you run your car off of it?
"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
09/06/2017 at 13:18, STARS: 9
I don’t even think your pump could force it through the injectors. Gas or diesel. A high pressure direct injection system has a chance but they are even more sensitive to injector clogging
"CB" (jrcb)
09/06/2017 at 13:18, STARS: 0
I’m gonna go with “no”.
"nerd_racing" (nerd189)
09/06/2017 at 13:19, STARS: 0
Way too viscous. Wouldn’t flow.
"vicali" (vicali)
09/06/2017 at 13:21, STARS: 0
Wouldn’t touch it with yours..
"cmill189 - sans Volvo" (cmill189)
09/06/2017 at 13:24, STARS: 0
If oil could be used for combustion I think your cylinder walls would be on fire already.
"Alfalfa" (alfalfa-romeo)
09/06/2017 at 13:26, STARS: 1
It’s not nearly as combustible as petrol, but setting that all aside remember that it needs travel up through at least a few feet of line that’s about 1/4" diameter, and go through the injectors in a fine mist.
"Berang" (berang)
09/06/2017 at 13:26, STARS: 1
It’s not volatile enough, flash point is too high. Even getting kerosene to burn in an IC engine is tough.
"lone_liberal" (token-liberal)
09/06/2017 at 13:27, STARS: 0
No, even if it made it to the combustion chamber the ignition point is way too high. It wouldn’t burn.
"unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins)" (unclevanos)
09/06/2017 at 13:28, STARS: 2
Not even possible. Only thing close to it is a runaway diesel engine.
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
09/06/2017 at 13:28, STARS: 1
As others have said, it’s way too think and not combustible enough. Some kinds of fuel stabilizer, on the other hand... yes. Also known to work for very brief periods of time, many aerosol sprays. But you’d have to have a caburetor and have someone sitting on top of the engine spraying constantly down the throat of the engine. This would not last long for several reasons.
"benjrblant" (benjblant)
09/06/2017 at 13:29, STARS: 0
I think you might be better off with ethanol, particularly on some of the newer E85 engines, but I’d imagine it’s not as good of a lubricant as gasoline and would cause excessive wear on some components.
Just a hunch/thought, don’t test it. I don’t fully know what I’m talking about.
"For Sweden" (rallybeetle)
09/06/2017 at 13:33, STARS: 2
Not in a road car engine. However, some are speculating that Mercedes-Benz F1 engines burn oil for extra power. https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/tech-analysis-mercedes-oil-burn-spa-946864/
"jimz" (jimz)
09/06/2017 at 13:35, STARS: 5
no. fuel needs to be in vapor form before a spark can ignite it, and there’s no way motor oil will vaporize at the typical temperatures in a gas engine’s intake ports. With fuel injection, the injector begins spraying gasoline at the (hot) intake valve head while it’s still closed; the heat from the valve causes it to vaporize almost instantly and when the valve opens, the turbulence of the air being pulled into the cylinder thoroughly mixes the fuel with the air. oil would just sit in a puddle on the valve, and eventually enough would collect in the cylinder to hydrostatically lock the engine.
"RutRut" (RDR)
09/06/2017 at 13:36, STARS: 1
One other thing no one has mentioned, some vehicles may not even attempt to run it. Depends on ethanol detection in the fuel tank among other things.
"DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time" (dc3ls-)
09/06/2017 at 13:38, STARS: 1
So everclear would be a better bet? :)
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
09/06/2017 at 13:39, STARS: 3
It would have to be a diesel, it would have to be lighter weight ordinary dino oil, and you’d have to be other than totally out. A 50:50 or better mix of diesel to light motor oil would possibly go, 75:25 more likely. So, if you had a final half gallon in your tank that the drogue couldn’t get, stopped at 3/4 gallon, and added a quart, you’d get an extra quart of distance. Which, if it’s an ‘80s VW diesel, might be as much as like 8 miles.
The additional trouble is, if you run out of diesel, you have to prime it back up, and to know exactly when you’d be able to mix oil to extend range vs. not needing to do so would require much more precise tank measuring than is realistic.
Even more, an oil light enough to burn readily in admixture would not really have much business being in a diesel car in the first place.
If you had a couple of gallons left, two quarts of oil might push you along, but the whole act of stopping to refill combined with efficiency loss and difficulty of getting back up to speed would likely backfire. And, you would never, ever want to put in the oil unless you had the absolute certainty you wouldn’t make it otherwise.
It’s an academic question, really. Not even remotely feasible to come up with a good answer in the real world, or a circumstance in which an answer of any kind is realistic.
"promoted by the color red" (whenindoubtflatout)
09/06/2017 at 13:39, STARS: 0
Not if it’s a modern fuel-injected car. Could probably force it through a carb’d engine.
"LongbowMkII" (longbowmkii)
09/06/2017 at 13:41, STARS: 0
no.
"Shift24" (the-nope)
09/06/2017 at 13:45, STARS: 0
Diesel yes, gas no. Look up any runaway diesel video and you can see the motor basically running away as it keeps increasing RPM until it blows up or suffocated from its air source. In diesels normally the fuel is the limiting agent and RPM is controlled by it. When oil gets past air is now the limiting factor and most diesels run open intakes so it then “runs away”. Now Gas is limited by air (throttle bodies) and for gas, oil is not volatile enough for a spark to ignite it. Now since Oil and diesel have very similar combustion properties, they need that higher compression to ignite.
"benjrblant" (benjblant)
09/06/2017 at 13:46, STARS: 0
Maybe? There’s some key differences in vaporization temp and pure gasoline (oil based) offers better lubrication of wearing components such as pumps and moving parts.
See disclaimer in first comment!
"Dave the car guy , still here" (a3dave)
09/06/2017 at 13:46, STARS: 1
I have a feeling it would foul plugs quickly if it got into the cylinders in quantity. Look at any engine thats using excess oil. I also think it would quickly kill a catalyst. Now I do know that 2 cycle oil/gas mix for a snowblower, leaf blower, etc will run in most vehicles with little issues but needs some regular fuel as soon as possible to dilute it. If you search Chevy LS1/LT1 forums and Audi/VW forums some people occasionally add 2 cycle oil mix to the car fuel tank at a 500:1 gas to oil blend. Have had friends in the boonies dump 2-3 gallons of pre-mixed chainsaw blend into the gas tank to get home or to the nearest gas station. It does a real nice job of cleaning out combustion chambers but in some more recent vehicles I’ve heard it can ruin a converter.
"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
09/06/2017 at 13:47, STARS: 0
If it were a diesel, maybe
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
09/06/2017 at 13:51, STARS: 0
No, not at all.
"StndIbnz, Drives a MSRT8" (stndibnz1)
09/06/2017 at 13:52, STARS: 1
The injector has to vaporize the fuel, so the oil will probably be too thick for that to work. Though, I have seen an engine run (although very slowly) on only oil vapor left over in the cylinders as a diesel. Coils and injectors were unplugged.
"Dave the car guy , still here" (a3dave)
09/06/2017 at 13:54, STARS: 3
Speaking of spraying into an engine I had a friend/technician do this hack. They were in some Southern Ohio woods running quads and the truck they drove there in had the fuel pump die. To get out of the woods they poked some small holes in a plastic liter bottle cap. Filled with gas they stuck it in the top of the old Silverado throttle body and it dribbled enough fuel to drive home with the hood tied down with a bungee cord holding the bottle in place. They had to play with the pedal a lot and it took a couple of refills to make it to the main road. They got a ride then to a parts store and fixed the truck in a parking lot. The funny part when they were telling the story was the speed where the truck ran best was anywhere from 20-30 mph and actually got up to 35 on pavement. I’ve tried to imagine them bombing through the woods between trees trying to keep the engine from bogging down.
"Echo51" (echo2047)
09/06/2017 at 13:55, STARS: 0
That won’t be normal oil, but with a bunch of added special additives to make it help combustion.
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
09/06/2017 at 13:57, STARS: 1
I’ve never heard of that. That’s clever and simple. And only a moderate-to-high fire risk.
"Dave the car guy , still here" (a3dave)
09/06/2017 at 14:03, STARS: 1
It definitely wasn’t safe but it was better than being stuck miles deep in the woods overnight. If you knew my friends you’d would know this one of the safer things they’ve done. They are part of the hold my beer and watch this crowd.
"Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street." (demon-xanth)
09/06/2017 at 14:21, STARS: 2
No, the vapor points are too far off. A diesel on the otherhand? It’s a problem when they run off their own oil. A big problem.
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"miadaman? yes please" (wanjoe)
09/06/2017 at 14:36, STARS: 1
Sure you can, just ask anyone who’s ever owned a 90s Honda.
"fintail" (fintail)
09/06/2017 at 14:50, STARS: 1
You’ll need to mix it with water to thin it out a little.
"Dave the car guy , still here" (a3dave)
09/06/2017 at 15:04, STARS: 2
On another subject. I hate making a typo and not being able to edit the post because it been “Kinja’d”. IE “If you knew my friends you would know this is one...” would have been the correction.
"Klaus Schmoll" (klausschmoll)
09/06/2017 at 15:08, STARS: 1
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Diesel engines CAN run on engine oil (turbo leak sucking it into the combustion chamber for example), but it’s not something you want to happen.
"The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock" (jukesjukesjukes)
09/06/2017 at 16:17, STARS: 1
The only way to find out is too get a car from the scrap yard, & try it out.
"BlueMazda2 - Blesses the rains down in Africa, Purveyor of BMW Individual Arctic Metallic, Merci Twingo" (bluemazda2)
09/06/2017 at 16:55, STARS: 0
“runaway diesel engine”
Three words nobody ever wants to hear in their life.
"unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins)" (unclevanos)
09/06/2017 at 17:11, STARS: 2
The most terrifying sounds and smoke show.
"gmporschenut also a fan of hondas" (gmporschenut)
09/06/2017 at 20:31, STARS: 0
interesting
"coqui70" (coqui70)
09/06/2017 at 23:07, STARS: 0
The answer is yes if your car is an old Army 2 and a half ton truck.