Date: Thu, 6 Jun 1996 11:48:42 -0400 (EDT)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: sstones <sstones@io.org>
Subject: Re: more Q's on the TDI
On Thu, 6 Jun 1996, brian verbeek wrote:
> Hi Martha,
>
> > 1. If I run out of diesel, what happens if I get stuck and put
> > regular gas into the car? Explosion?
>
> You have to use diesel again and the air that entered the fuel system
> must be bled (sp?) out of it, just like a brake system, some cars
> have a handpump on the fuel filter to do that. Putting normal gas in a
> diesel will give a lot of power and will destroy the engine in a
> few minutes, the diesel has a very high compression ratio compared
> to a gas engine (2 to 3 times as high) it will constantltly detonate,
> pre-ignite etc, ytou may even find that the only thing that will stop
> a diesel running on gas is blocking the air inlet.
Do not use your bare hand for this job.
Smack the fuel pump with a ball peen hammer.
>
> > 2. And just for theoretical fun, what about the reverse - if my
> > regular gas cars runs out, and I put in diesel, what will happen?
>
> Heavy smoke, car drives like a drunken mule :) , that's what my mom said
> when it happened to her.
I'm personally amazed it ran at all, it must have still had a lot of
gasoline in the tank.
> > 3. Theoretically speaking, if I can't find a diesel station, and am
> > about to run out of fuel, what happens if I use home heating oil
> > in the car (apart from it being illegal). Is it EXACTLY the
> > same substance?
>
> >From what i know is that it's technically OK to do so, here in Holland
> both versions of the fuel have their own color, sometimes the douane
> takes samples of diesel from diesel powered cars and trucks to check
> if nobody is cheating. I know that some people use the home heating
> oil regularly in their cars, there seems to be no difference in performance.
Furnace oil isn't nearly as clean as "engine" diesel... When a friends
diesel rabbit went through it's third fuel filter in a year, I asked if
he was running furnace oil... I didn't get a straight answer, but he
quit going thru so many filters afterwards.
Cheers,
SStones, Toronto Ont.
<sstones@io.org>
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