Fact or Fiction

[Maverick_82]

I have look into several of the myths of cars. These myths have been tested several times and these are the results:

Shooting the gas tank of a car will not blow it up.

Mothballs added to your gas tank will produce the same results as high octane gas. (long term effects are unknown)

Sugar added to a gas tank will have no effect. (run it as long as you want, the sugar will settle at the bottom of the tank, become a glaze form, and eventually stalize.

Coca cola works as radiator fluid.

An egg put into your radiator will fill a 'small' leak.

A penny dropped into will not necessarily cause your engine to explode.

There is no complete defense from a police radar gun. A spinning pinwheel-like structure on your car, spinning at a lower speed than your car is traveling should lower the radar gun result a few miles per hour.


If you have anymore please feel free to post them.

[fastTa]

Are you kidding

[97LT1Z28]

Anyone have a buddy with a Mustang? We can try this stuff out!

[fastTa]

Ask Craig 94 GT about the whole "sugar in gas tank" theory.

[DeWynter]

I can attest to the shooting a gas tank on a car won’t make it explode. It just leaks gas. Damn was I disappointed...




PS What else is an old Chevrolet Celebrity for?



Oh and as to the legend that a Pinto is a bomb if hit from behind...Sadly I think it would take a Semi truck hitting it at 60mph to make it explode. We tried for hours one day to get it to even puncture the tank by backing it into a tree....Nada, another disappointing verdict.

[Blevyou know]

I have look into several of the myths of cars. These myths have been tested several times and these are the results:

Shooting the gas tank of a car will not blow it up.

Mothballs added to your gas tank will produce the same results as high octane gas. (long term effects are unknown)

Sugar added to a gas tank will have no effect. (run it as long as you want, the sugar will settle at the bottom of the tank, become a glaze form, and eventually stalize.

Coca cola works as radiator fluid.

An egg put into your radiator will fill a 'small' leak.

A penny dropped into will not necessarily cause your engine to explode.

There is no complete defense from a police radar gun. A spinning pinwheel-like structure on your car, spinning at a lower speed than your car is traveling should lower the radar gun result a few miles per hour.


If you have anymore please feel free to post them.

Sounds like a bunch of Myth Buster (Discovery Channel) myths. Thats a great show. Good Myths Maverick. Where in Illinois you from?

[PUREPWR]

I can assure u that the egg in the radiator is a fact. My buddy cracked a egg into the radiator of his 1991 Blazer and sure enough the whole about a little bigger than a penny sealed right up and he didnt have any leak for about 2 weeks but then he just cracked open another egg and sealed it right back up.
tom

[Craig 94 TA GT]

LOL Kevin, you took the words right out of my mouth.

I have substantial proof that sugar in the gas tank fouls up the fuel system. The motor itself is fine, but enough sugar will screw up:
fuel pump
fuel filter
fuel pressure regulator
fuel injectors

I had to replace ALL of them...cleaning the injectors didn't even work. A tear down and viewing of the components show how the sugar messed everything up.
The sugar clogged up the fuel pump sock and it eventually burned itself up. More of the suguar went through to the fuel filter, which ended up filtering some/most of the crap. The rest made its way to the regulator and injectors.

BTW, I am almost positive it's gang related...my neighbor was followed home by a gang around the same time. Turns out a couple guys saved him from getting beat up or killed. Well, they were pi$$ed they didn't get to him that day, and my car was parked in between the two houses that night .... well, we know what happened.

[wolfdogs]

all that stuff is from the old days..some of it worked too.........

back then, heck..you could get to the gas station by pouring your bottle of vodka and some distilled water........

ever pour coke on any metal? it might work as a coolant temp....but it will eat your pipeing..

[ryan34]

I heard coke(I'm assuming you meant coca-cola Ken ) works as a good chrome cleaner. I think that was on myth busters as well.

[Nightrage]

I can attest to the shooting a gas tank on a car won’t make it explode. It just leaks gas. Damn was I disappointed...

Wouldn't a metal bullet penetrating a metal gas tank cause a spark? Wouldn't a spark in that confined of an area cause an explosion? Oddly enough I was thinking about this not too long ago.

[Injuneer]

The "mothballs to increase octane" actually worked..... but only back in the 1930's when gasoline had an extremly low octane, and when mothballs were made from naphthalene - generally not the case any more. Here's the full explanation from the "Gasoline FAQ":

6.20 Can mothballs increase octane?

The legend of mothballs as an octane enhancer arose well before WWII when
naphthalene was used as the active ingredient. Today, the majority of
mothballs use para-dichlorobenzene in place of naphthalene, so choose
carefully if you wish to experiment :-)..... In the 1920s, typical gasoline octane ratings were 40-60 [11], and during the 1930s and 40s, the ratings increased by approximately 20 units as alkyl leads and improved refining processes became widespread [12].

Naphthalene has a blending motor octane number of 90 [52], so the addition of a significant amount of mothballs could increase the octane, and they were soluble in gasoline. The amount usually required to appreciably increase the octane also had some adverse effects. The most obvious was due to the high melting point ( 80C ), when the fuel evaporated the naphthalene would
precipitate out, blocking jets and filters. With modern gasolines,
naphthalene is more likely to reduce the octane rating, and the amount
required for low octane fuels will also create operational and emissions
problems.

[Maverick_82]

Anyone have a buddy with a Mustang? We can try this stuff out!

I'm pretty sure anyone with an 80's mustang would mind devoting it to science or just a hour or two of amusement,lol.

By the way, most of these myths were tested on a tempest, lol.

[Maverick_82]

Wouldn't a metal bullet penetrating a metal gas tank cause a spark? Wouldn't a spark in that confined of an area cause an explosion? Oddly enough I was thinking about this not too long ago.

I watched photoage of this test. Some people made sure that there was enough gas in the tank and then unload about a dozen rounds into the gas tank.

I would speculate that the bullet had such a velocity that it passed through the tank wall with enough ease that it didn't create a spark.

[Maverick_82]

Where in Illinois you from?

Quincy. north of St.Louis, at the point where the state curves west. i've heard us described as the nipple on the boob of illinois, lol.