Oops, wrong fuel in cars

**scarry** · 2nd August 2023, 12:18 PM

Originally Posted by V8Ian

In days of yore, some agricultural machines once started, were switched to run on kerosene. Early Holden grey motors would run reasonably on kero..

There is an old Tractor under a tree on the property,starts on petrol,once warm,then runs on kero,well it did in its day.Hasn’t run for many decades.

Made by Fordson in England from memory.

**1950landy** · 2nd August 2023, 01:24 PM

Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

I'm quite surprised diesel mixed into petrol would do harm. I thought the car would just run like crap (or not run). However petrol into diesel ....... Big problems!

seeya
shane L.

Booth vehicles were almost empty when they were filled & yes, they did run like crap & rattle extremely loud buy they just kept driving them.

**Hogarthde** · 2nd August 2023, 04:34 PM

Disposal of excess fuel?
Come on Ian, your secret is safe with us.....celebrate a SoO?..set fire to a pilly nightclub?, sold it to Breakfast Creek?

**Tins** · 2nd August 2023, 06:02 PM

Old petrol engines are pretty forgiving. Mum told me how her dad had a burner on the back of his car that turned charcoal into gas to run it on before “the war”, as she always called WWII.

Once , in Collins Street in Melbourne I saw a huge old Plymouth Belvedere fire up. Took a bit of cranking but eventually she went. Very distinctive smell, kerosene.

**BradC** · 2nd August 2023, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by Tins

Very distinctive smell, kerosene.

It's interesting because when the Webasto heater in the D3 fires up even though its burning Diesel the exhaust smells exactly like burning Kero.

**V8Ian** · 2nd August 2023, 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by Hogarthde

Disposal of excess fuel?
Come on Ian, your secret is safe with us.....celebrate a SoO?..set fire to a pilly nightclub?, sold it to Breakfast Creek?

Is there a statute of limitations on disposal of 1270?

**scarry** · 2nd August 2023, 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by Tins

Old petrol engines are pretty forgiving. Mum told me how her dad had a burner on the back of his car that turned charcoal into gas to run it on before “the war”, as she always called WWII.

I worked for an old Fridgie many years ago and he would talk about those gas burners.I am sure it was during the war,but my memory on the subject is fading.

He also said that fuel,petrol and diesel was rationed during the war,they could only fill up on certain days.

**Tins** · 2nd August 2023, 08:33 PM

Originally Posted by scarry

I worked for an old Fridgie many years ago and he would talk about those gas burners.I am sure it was during the war,but my memory on the subject is fading.

He also said that fuel,petrol and diesel was rationed during the war,they could only fill up on certain days.

It may well have been during.

**DoubleChevron** · 2nd August 2023, 08:57 PM

I think gas converters must have been quite common in wartime in france.

Traction Avant Gazogene Coal Gas Burners Storm Pebble Beach - Citroenvie!

**JDNSW** · 3rd August 2023, 06:42 AM

Originally Posted by Tins

It may well have been during.

Petrol was rationed during World War Two (The War), but it was rationed by coupons, not day of the week. Although in many areas petrol stations were not usually open on weekends - but that had nothing to do with the war.

The number of ration coupons you could get was dependent on the type of vehicle and what it was used for. For example, up to 1942, my father got adequate coupons for his Ford T truck as a poultry farmer, but these dried up almost entirely when the far went bust, and the Ford was laid up until rationing eased after the war ended (petrol rationing remained until the election of 1949, and played a large part in Labor's loss then).

In 1946 my father put the Ford back on the road - but this was mainly to get enough coupons that he could ride his motorbike to work.

Note that I talk about petrol - not petrol and diesel. At this time diesel was hardly used on the road, and was very rarely if ever sold at petrol stations. And by and large, private cars were regarded as luxuries, used only by the wealthy, and to be taxed as much as possible. (This had not been strictly the case since the 1920s, and was rapidly becoming less realistic in the post-war boom.)

During the war, most petrol was reserved for military purposes. A number of fuel depots were built inland (out of reach of naval gunfire) on main rail lines, two that I know of are Cootamundra and Roma, but there were others.

Producer gas devices were developed in the 1930s, and pushed by the government during the war, although I do not remember them being at all common. They used a charcoal fuel, that was heated in a limited supply of air to give producer gas, which the petrol engine would run on, albeit with reduced power. The devices were bulky, some to the extent of being mounted on a small trailer, but typically attached to the rear bumper of the car. They were also finicky to operate and took a while to warm up.

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