Alternative fuels?

Question

Can I run a car on homemade alcohol (moonshine) and would producing it be illegal? Also would I need to modify the engine of a stasndard car ( Timing, e-points and ignition and spark plugs)?

Answer 1

although diesels can and do run on vegetable oil, it needs to be treated as it acidic, and it eats your diesel distributor pump innards..i know i bought a volvo that had been run on it for 5 months.. it cost 300 quid to put right.

saying that, for four years since it hasnt missed a beat. so, instead of being greedy and wanting free fuel..get the old oil, treat it, and filter it, and use it 50/50 or 60/40, straight oil is no good if you live in a region where it gets cold..the oil waxes up, clogs everything, so, you fit an auxilliary pump..which blows the seals in the distributor pump...again i know... so mixing 50/50 gives you some protection, against the cold and against the corrsive acid fat... dont believe me, type BIODIESEL into google and read a bit...

we worked it out, from dirty dans burger van, to you tank takes around a month.. if you run 2 or 3 45 gallon oil drums, you never run out of cheaper diesel. and if i remember benz designed his original engine to run on coconut oil...and land rover have a military engine that will run on anything with an octane rating, parrafin, kerosene, pain thinner, white spirit..even dirty petrol and diesel mixed.. any alcohol base fluid..including potchine, and moonshine... land rover fit them in to tanks, personell carriers and of course land rovers...

Answer 2

Yes you can run a car on moonshine, however you have to qualify the alcohol as fuel (licensing).

Using it is another matter, you have to check if your vehicle is resistant to corn liquor.....If it isn't, it can eat up the rubber, the plastic, and a few other things that make the hoses and gaskets of your engine...

You would also have to change the timing.

I know there are websites relating to this but I can't find any right now.

Easier to do is to make a diesel run on cooking oil, the process is simple, and doesn't necessarily require an overhaul of the engine.

Answer 3

Those ideas need modification on most cars. You can quickly run a check on the internet for which cars those are. If you have a standard diesel car, you can take filtered restaurant vegie oils and put it straight into your car according to myth busters on tlc. Free fuel! Or maybe 10 cents per gallon with 90 percent efficiency of reg diesel. You cannot produce moonshine. It is illegal.

Answer 4

There is no financial point in using alternative fuels most car engines will run on paraffin(kerosene) with modifications but as soon as you do that the tax people will be after their pound of flesh. Petrol and paraffin cost about the same to produce, it's only the tax that makes the price exorbitant.

Answer 5

If you want to run on vegetable oil (as several have suggested),
best buy a french or german vehicle.

If you want to run on alcohol, you will need to modify or change the carburetta and timing, possibly uprate the cooling system, and may need a bigger fuel tank.
Alcohol gives more power for the same size engine, but uses a lot more fuel. (though CO2 emmissions are similar)

If you are producing any form of biofuel, you will need to register with HM revenue & customs if you want to be legal.

Answer 6

Yes, you can. Yes, it would be. Yes, you would.

The Wankel rotary engine could burn the alcohol unmodified except for a carburetor adjustment.

The are several internal combustion engines which have been modified to run on 85% ethanol, which is sold at some gas stations (at least here in the Midwest).

Answer 7

Do you really think you can produce moonshine at a cheaper price than you can buy gas?