Possible alternative fuel?

[J.J. Jefferson]

Hello all,

My name is JJ and I must admit I am a newbie. I recently bough a Yaris and I can't get over how sweet these vehicles are!! One of the things I love is the fact that the distance from the steering wheel to the accelerator seems to keep my bursitis (which I suffer horribly from) from flaring.

I had an idea for alternative fuel, with the tragic oil spill in the gulf (and please send your prayers to for those folks, I had a good friend named (Kimmo) who was injured in that debacle) I am sure that alternative fuel will once again be a hot button issue. Would it be possible to run a vehicle on kerosene? I ran across a great deal and bought about 300 gallons of kerosene (at only $90 why the hell not?). Any thoughts? Thanks in advance guys.
Jeff

[CTScott]

Kerosene is chemically closer to diesel than it is to gasoline. It will work in a diesel, but will not in your engine.

[TLyttle]

Gasoline, kerosene, diesel, it all comes from the same hole in the ground; consequently, kero is not an alternative.

Electrons, sail power, pedals, lots of true alternatives, but we spent 100+ years developing oil as motive fuel. Had we spent that time on electrics instead, we wouldn't have anywhere near the problems we have now!

[Yaris Hilton]

Kerosene is less volatile than gasoline, and it has terrible sensitivity to detonation. Its octane would generally be a negative number, below the n-heptane used as a zero octane reference. Many old time stationary engines and tractors were made to run on kerosene. Generally they had a compression ratio of about 4:1. They were started on gasoline, run till they were quite warm, and then switched over to kerosene. Some used exhaust heat to warm up the intake air and/or the fuel to help evaporation. Some used an uncooled head to achieve the same purpose. Even with the very low compression ratios and low spark advance used in these engines, they usually had water injection turned on when the engine was running under load on kerosene, to prevent the engine from knocking itself to pieces. Your Yaris will not run on kerosene, and you will damage the engine if you try.

[DevilGirl]

Originally Posted by CTScott

Kerosene is chemically closer to diesel than it is to gasoline. It will work in a diesel, but will not in your engine.

My fiance has a 2002 diesel and a 2009 diesel. The 2009 diesel is the "clean diesel." According to him, he can run kero in his 2002, but not in his 2009. Something about how they changed the engine to make it run cleaner doesn't work well with the kero. I think he even does add a lil kero to the 2002 when he fills it up.

[Yaris Hilton]

I don't know how the "clean diesel" mods may have changed the situation, but in older Diesels the only concern is whether the injector system needs more lubrication from the fuel than kerosene can provide. Some do, and scored injector pump pistons aren't a good thing. I expect one could add a little bit of outboard motor oil, or some heavy nondetergent oil, as compensation.

Old GMC "Jimmy Diesels" were recommended to run on #1 Diesel fuel, which is another name for kerosene. My Dad's Diesel Chevette, which I had for 7 years or so, recommended using kerosene or #2 Diesel diluted with 10% unleaded gasoline when the temp went below 20°F in the winter. I knew an airline mechanic who drove his Diesel Chevette free for years on the Jet A fuel they had to drain from the sumps under the jet engines in routine maintenance. Jet A is what's normally sold as kerosene now. Not as highly refined or as narrow in distillation range as high quality lamp kerosene, but it works.

To the original poster, you got a heck of a deal on 300 gallons of kero for $90! But don't try it in your Yaris. Someone who uses kerosene to heat their home would love to have that. Old engine and tractor hobbyists would, too, among others. (I've got a couple of those antique kerosene burning engines and a diesel, myself. 300 gallons would be pretty near a lifetime supply.) Put it on Craigslist or something.

(BTW, in my avatar pic, the green thing you can see to the left of me is half of the Diesel, running.)

[J.J. Jefferson]

Originally Posted by Yaris Hilton

To the original poster, you got a heck of a deal on 300 gallons of kero for $90! But don't try it in your Yaris. Someone who uses kerosene to heat their home would love to have that. Old engine and tractor hobbyists would, too, among others. (I've got a couple of those antique kerosene burning engines and a diesel, myself. 300 gallons would be pretty near a lifetime supply.) Put it on Craigslist or something.

(BTW, in my avatar pic, the green thing you can see to the left of me is half of the Diesel, running.)

Thanks for your help. The kerosene was actually a gift to my friend (believe it or not) from a Turkish family. Kind of a lengthy story but an interesting one. Here is the Reader's Digest version: The new family moves onto the block. They are Turkish and my friend (an ex Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent) happens to befriend them. They have trouble with some bureaucratic b.s., my friend helps them and, as a token of their appreciation, they give him the kerosene. He said they would not take no for an answer. On an even funnier side note it turned out that the Turkish man owned a butcher's shop in Adana, Turkey and offered my friend free meat for life!! I told my friend that he should have taken the meat but he declined due to health reasons and the fact that he felt as though the equivalent of unlimited hot dogs was not commiserate with what he had done for them.

Not trying to sidetrack anyone but I felt it necessary to give the interesting back story of the cheap kerosene.

[H3LlIoN]

E85 conversion is feasible. So is propane.

[Yaris Hilton]

Cool story about the kerosene!