Petrol Diesel mix

It will probably run but the experience is likely to be less than exhilarating.

I'd suggest diluting it 1:1 with pure petrol which will give you 1:5 diesel:petrol mix. That should be better.

Try a small volume test first in case you decide that a greater proportion of petrol is needed.

Whatever ratio you end up with expect quite a bit of white smoke especially when the engine is cold.

You're right though, it's too good an offer to ignore.

Keep an eye on the oil level as un burnt diesel will tend to run past the rings and dilute the oil raising the level on the dip stick. Oil diesel mix has a viscosity like water and is not a great lubricant. steve the grease

Thanks for the replies.

After doing a bit of googling it would appear that the best idea is not to try. So it looks like I have lots of cleaning and fire lighting mixture.

Nigel

Assuming your proportions are accurate I think it would be better to add this lot to 230 litres derv and use it in a diesel. The reason being the mix will not burn well in the petrol, giving carboning up problems and you risk pinking/knocking damaging the rings and lands.

OTOH diluted to below 10% the petrol will not harm diesel performance or cause the injector pump problems.

Treat the mix as dangerous as neat petrol, so don't do this all at once, add 5 litres of the mix into a diesel with at least 30 litres in the tank already.

AJH

I'd agree about the extra dilution. If you have an ex-military vehicle, take advantage of the two fuel tanks, and keep pure petrol in one. Start on that, get the engine warmed up, and switch over.

Ignition timing might need slight adjustment. Lower octane rating.

(My original sending of this has 'disappeared' - I'll risk sending it again)

You're being over-cautious.

If your engine was one of these new-fangled things with catalysts, injection and all the electronic wizardry, I might understand.

The Land Rover 2.25 is not in that category and will 'run' on almost anything that has some petrol content.

If you keep the proportion of petrol high you will not have a problem. Provided that you are not planning to indulge in a lot of cold running, even the oil dilution potential that Steve mentions will not be an issue.

Now, where are the usual doom-mongers warning you about storing more than a thimble-full of petrol?

Dougal

I agree so I tried it :)

I have twin tanks so thought it would be OK Mixed it down to 15% diesel and 85% petrol.

There is a bit of smoke and a bit of pinging when you pull but not too bad. I will mix it again to get the diesel % even lower.

I have a long run to do next weekend so will burn it all off then.

Nigel

On or around Sat, 23 Apr 2005 18:22:25 +0100, Dougal enlightened us thusly:

Sister's BF ran a series III around the farm on TVO for quite a while, in order to use up some which was lying around in a tank from when they had TVO tractors, some considerable while ago.

umm, what's TVO?

Regards. Mark.

Youngster?

29...

Regards. Mark.

On or around Sat, 23 Apr 2005 19:53:14 +0100, MVP enlightened us thusly:

Tractor Vapourising Oil, IIRC. slightly more potent than paraffin - we used to reckon on mixing paraffin:petrol 5:1 to run in the old TVO tractors, when we had some.

I think you have to time it to something like 6 degrees after TDC...

Kiddie !! Makes me feel very old (and I'm not telling).

A bit more of the ins and outs here:

Yes, I think esso were the last to market it, since then the old engine enthusiasts have dreamt up loads of recipes as replacements. The thing is it was a one of those fractions that were condensed out in the refinery so, like petrol or gas oil, it had a range of hydrocarbons in it somewhere between kerosene and gasoline. Thus if you make it by mixing lighter fractions, like gasoline, with heavier fractions like kerosene, the mixture is different yet the vapour pressure of the gasoline is still there, making it flammable like petrol.

Which sort of points to how it derates an engine.

AJH

Thanks old man ;-)

It's the first time I've seen an acknowledgement that the mixture is more hazardous than the individual components, I found out a different way ;-)

AJH

Also known as "Power Kerosene" in this part of the world.

(snip)

JD

[waves hand]

It's likely illegal, but "illegal" doesn't correspond entirely to "unsafe". I wouldn't classify as 20l jerrycan as unsafe, even though the law sets a 10l limit on container size, and requires a screw cap.

10l for metal 5l for plastic but the cap just needs to be liquid and vapour proof, so a jerry can with a proper rubber seal is fine. The storage regulations are not simple, you can store up to 275l in one place, without a licence, provided you meet certain conditions: