Thread: Kerosene

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How do you set up a gasoline engine to run on kerosene?

if you want a diesel go buy one.

I don't think gas engines can run on kero.. a diesel can run kero, but thats it

Originally Posted by Matt167

I don't think gas engines can run on kero.. a diesel can run kero, but thats it

They had spark ignition tractors that ran on gasoline, but I don't know how it was done.

My old man told me when he was a young man driving tractors mid to late 40's
they would run on gas and there was a radiator shade they would close to build heat, then they would switch over to kerosene.Also said the tractors had 2 tanks. But thats all I know about it,maybe check the tractor forums.

They have to warm up on gas, all right, and the compression ratio can't be very high. I doubt that a modern high-comp engine would run very long on it. Isn't kerosene more expensive than gas, as well as being illegal to run on the road? (No road tax)

Originally Posted by R Pope

They have to warm up on gas, all right, and the compression ratio can't be very high. I doubt that a modern high-comp engine would run very long on it. Isn't kerosene more expensive than gas, as well as being illegal to run on the road? (No road tax)

How could it run in a diesel engine if it couldn't run on a high compression?

Kerosene is essentially a rebrand of Diesel and Heating oil #1, and very close in molecular weight to turbine fuel. All have similar distillation ranges.

Max... diesels are made to run with what would be pre-ignition in a carburetted engine. The fuel is injected at the moment of firing, there is no possibility of pre-ignition.

Kero will run in Gas engine. You have to sheild the intake and carb to hold heat fairly hot so it can run.

As stated, both kero & diesel are more expensive. That wasn't the case back in the old days. They usta' say diesel was cheaper because it didn't take as much distilling to make it compared to gas. I guess supply & demand took care of that?

Originally Posted by pro70z28

I guess supply & demand took care of that?

Worse Gary, the refining process is not as simple as it used to was, the long fingers of Uncle Sam in the form of controlling sulphur and particulate emissions...........it's "for the children" you know........

True enough you cannot run a 'fuel' on the road, if it has not been taxed.

however, you can run any 'anit- corrosion additive' you like.

The Tax thing may not apply. Look at all of the diesels now using cooking oil straight from the deep fryers, this is not subject to a road tax. YET!!

Roland

Interesting thread-
We had a guy locally that was collecting the used grease and oils from local restaurants and running such in his Volkswagen diesel. He'd built a fairly elaborate strainer and was able to all but eliminate pump purchases (which in his case was about 10 or 12 gallons a week). Car smelled a bit like Chinese take out, but I certainly admired his ingenuity.

Well, after a nice writeup in the local newspaper, the fine folks in Salem (Oregon) fined him for running "non-taxed fuel" and shut his in-home refinery down until such time as he could meet the States requirements for a petroleum distribution facility including fire control and suppression systems.

How ironic - in a "Green State" to penalize an individuals creativity for a lousy 50 gallons of recycled French fry grease every month. I guess they'd prefer to have the grease in the landfill.