Moth Balls in your Gas Tank

[lanikai]

No I haven't lost it..

Heard it on a Radio show that features one of Hawaii's leading authorities on Cars.. actually was "The Man" back in the day's of funny Cars in Hawaii.. at Hawaii Raceway Track..

The chemical used in the moth balls .. extracts the water from the ethanol and boosts the octane level in the petrol... I have always seen water dripping from my exhaust pipe due to the ethanol now in the fuel..

A couple of friends have tried it and claimed good results..

and although the drug stores don't advertise moth balls as a gas additive.. they have not been able to keep it on the shelves..

it is advised that for every 10 gallons of fuel 3 or 4 balls be added..

so I tried it for the first time this morning..

The results were obvious ... more Power going over the mountain (Pali) .. and it appears that I used less fuel on the trip home.. the engine was idling smoother..

But the biggest tell.. was my exhaust pipe no longer was dripping water.. and the colour of the emission was gun metal grey... where before it was blacker, like soot.. meaning the fuel wasn't burning efficiently..

I know it sounds bizarre .. but hey.. it works... You need the old fashion Moth Ball .. the one with all the poison warnings on the side .. it is the main chemical (99.95%) .. that extracts the H2O from the ethanol ergo boosting the octane..

[phaedo]

Hmmm, what happens when there is no longer space in the tank for fuel because it is full of mothballs though?

[lanikai]

Hmmm, what happens when there is no longer space in the tank for fuel because it is full of mothballs though?

it dissolves

[phaedo]

it dissolves

My concern would be does it desolve enough to not cause engine problems or clog up the fuel filter within a week, things like that. And if the disolve, where does the water go that they have collected

[Chicken Manny]

This 'tip' has been around for some time.

The kind of mothball you mention is made of "naphthalene" which is a hydrocarbon, like gasoline. It's C10H8, and it looks like two benzene rings fused together. Benzene makes a very smoky fire when burned, so my guess is that naphthalene would make a lousy gasoline. On the other hand since it's just carbon and hydrogen (like gasoline) naphthalene probably wouldn't do any harm to the engine either.

Another type of mothball which COULD potentially hurt things is made of dichlorobenzene. That won't improve your car's performance either, but since it throws chlorine into the mix, it can produce HCl as a byproduct when burned. For those of you who don't remember your high school chemistry, HCl is hydrochloric acid, the stuff that burns through almost anything it touches. And pumping HCl through your engine and exhaust system is probably not very good for its longevity.

One of the other key things to remember is that octane has no affect on the amount of power released from gasoline. It only determines how stable it is under pressure.

[lanikai]

This 'tip' has been around for some time.

The kind of mothball you mention is made of "naphthalene" which is a hydrocarbon, like gasoline. It's C10H8, and it looks like two benzene rings fused together. Benzene makes a very smoky fire when burned, so my guess is that naphthalene would make a lousy gasoline. On the other hand since it's just carbon and hydrogen (like gasoline) naphthalene probably wouldn't do any harm to the engine either.

Another type of mothball which COULD potentially hurt things is made of dichlorobenzene. That won't improve your car's performance either, but since it throws chlorine into the mix, it can produce HCl as a byproduct when burned. For those of you who don't remember your high school chemistry, HCl is hydrochloric acid, the stuff that burns through almost anything it touches. And pumping HCl through your engine and exhaust system is probably not very good for its longevity.

One of the other key things to remember is that octane has no affect on the amount of power released from gasoline. It only determines how stable it is under pressure.

Thanks for the clarification..... you are spot on .. I was told to use the one with the 'naphthalene'.. and NOT the one with dichlorbenzene .. I'll let you know in a week or two how it's going..

[chronoluvvv]

if ya wanna save ga$, ride a bike

[Martyd3]

No I haven't lost it..

Heard it on a Radio show that features one of Hawaii's leading authorities on Cars.. actually was "The Man" back in the day's of funny Cars in Hawaii.. at Hawaii Raceway Track..

The chemical used in the moth balls .. extracts the water from the ethanol and boosts the octane level in the petrol... I have always seen water dripping from my exhaust pipe due to the ethanol now in the fuel..

A couple of friends have tried it and claimed good results..

and although the drug stores don't advertise moth balls as a gas additive.. they have not been able to keep it on the shelves..

it is advised that for every 10 gallons of fuel 3 or 4 balls be added..

so I tried it for the first time this morning..

The results were obvious ... more Power going over the mountain (Pali) .. and it appears that I used less fuel on the trip home.. the engine was idling smoother..

But the biggest tell.. was my exhaust pipe no longer was dripping water.. and the colour of the emission was gun metal grey... where before it was blacker, like soot.. meaning the fuel wasn't burning efficiently..

I know it sounds bizarre .. but hey.. it works... You need the old fashion Moth Ball .. the one with all the poison warnings on the side .. it is the main chemical (99.95%) .. that extracts the H2O from the ethanol ergo boosting the octane..

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/...ing_hits_myths/

[fakemaster]

I knew people who put mothballs in people's gas tanks. And it wasn't to improve performance.

[trailboss99]

Just read the linkege above and it reminded me how lucky we are in Oz when it comes to octane. 93 = high octane? LOL. Our unleaded is 91, E10 is 95 and premiem is 98 with 100 available at some Shell outlets. Which explains why our models come with more power than the US version of the same car. My Subi won't even run on anything under 95 without pinging even in standered form.

The water you see after startup is quite normal and has little to do with ethonol in fuel and more to do with water in the atmosphere. A tank of E10 is a good idea every now and again to remove water from your tank otherwise it just builds up untill pure H2O hits the injection system with nasty results. E10 and other ethonol fuels should be bought from a servo (gas station) that sells a fair quantity of the stuff however to prevent it absorbing too much water while in their tanks.

Col.

[cornerstone]

Just read the linkege above and it reminded me how lucky we are in Oz when it comes to octane. 93 = high octane? LOL. Our unleaded is 91, E10 is 95 and premiem is 98 with 100 available at some Shell outlets. Which explains why our models come with more power than the US version of the same car. My Subi won't even run on anything under 95 without pinging even in standered form.

As with gallons there are different 'octane' measurements. US octane isn't the same as AU octane, which accounts for the difference. US 93 Octane = 98 in AU I believe.

I was interested in that link above about the detergents since we have to put premium fuel in our car; it would be interesting if it was just for the detergents.