Pouring vodka into a gas tank – what will come of it?

It is no secret that some gasoline manufacturers add alcohol to the fuel, usually obtained from processing plant materials (bioethanol). Fuel with a high alcohol content has recently become particularly popular in Europe. For example, at gas stations you can find E85 gasoline, where the alcohol percentage is 85%. Moreover, even racing cars run on alcohol-containing fuel. For example, fuel for Formula 1 cars contains 10% alcohol. But will a gasoline engine work if you fill the gas tank not with gasoline with alcohol, but just with vodka?

Pour vodka into the gas tank — what will come of it. Some car enthusiasts sometimes recommend pouring vodka into the gas tank. Photo source: quto.ru. Photo.

Some car enthusiasts recommend occasionally pouring vodka into the gas tank. Photo source: quto.ru

Why pour vodka into the gas tank

Earlier we told you that internal combustion engines can sometimes run on various alternative types of fuel that are not provided by the manufacturer. For example, some diesel engines work well on vegetable oil, such as sunflower.

Gasoline engines can generally be “refueled” with firewood, as is done by the owner of the Volga, which we talked about earlier. True, the fuel for the engine is, of course, not the wood itself, but the gas that is released during its slow combustion. That is, in fact, the car runs on gas.

As for vodka, unlike oil and firewood, it is not added to the gas tank as an alternative to fuel. You can find a life hack on the Internet according to which vodka allows you to remove accumulated condensation, that is, water, from the gas tank. The fact is that water does not mix with gasoline and settles at the bottom of the gas tank. But alcohol dissolves well in gasoline and can at the same time retain a certain amount of water.

Why pour vodka into the gas tank. Gasoline does not dissolve in water, so condensation accumulates in the gas tank. Photo source: dzen.ru. Photo.

Gasoline does not dissolve in water, so condensation accumulates in the gas tank. Photo source: dzen.ru

In fact, the idea is not a very good one, since vodka itself contains 60% water, so it can lead to corrosion of parts and components of the fuel system. In addition, it will cause interruptions in engine operation. But adding alcohol can actually be an effective way to get rid of water in the gas tank. However, alcohol has a strong cleaning effect. That is, when alcohol is added to fuel, dirt will begin to be actively washed off from the walls of the gas tank, which can result in clogging of the fuel system. In addition, alcohol is a solvent, as a result of which it corrodes rubber and plastic parts that it comes across on the way to the engine.

Can a car run on vodka

So, adding vodka to the gas tank, as we found out, is not the best idea. But if you add a small amount of strong drink, the engine will run. The only thing is that the more vodka there is in gasoline, the more “gaps” there will be in engine operation, that is, strokes during which the fuel will not ignite. Accordingly, the engine will work intermittently.

But will the car work without gasoline at all on only a strong drink? Vodka is a much less flammable material than gasoline — setting it on fire is not such an easy task, and in order for it to burn, certain conditions are needed. From this we can conclude that even in theory, in order for an engine to run on vodka, the air-fuel mixture must have different proportions.

Can a car run on vodka? Alcohol is added to the gas tank to get rid of water. Photo.

Alcohol is added to the gas tank to get rid of water

Therefore, there is no chance of starting an old carburetor engine on vodka, where the fuel mixture settings are made manually. In modern cars with an injector, the ECU is responsible for the settings, that is, the car's electronics themselves “adjust” to the characteristics of the fuel. But even in this case, you should not expect the car to start and drive as on regular fuel.

Pour vodka into the gas tank — what will come of it. Can a car run on vodka. Photo.

Many auto bloggers have conducted similar experiments, and they almost always ended in failure – the engine stalled even when adding a large amount of vodka to gasoline. However, in one of the experiments, the blogger still managed to start the engine and even drive a little on pure vodka without gasoline. And although in the end the car still stalled and could not go further, we can say that overall the experiment was a success. The gasoline engine was still able to run on a liquid that is not at all intended for use as fuel.

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Finally, we note that alcohol fuel is very promising. As we have previously said, the exhaust of a methanol engine does not contain harmful substances. In addition, methanol can be obtained from a variety of organic and inorganic raw materials. For example, Russian scientists have developed a method for producing industrial alcohol by recycling old car tires. True, car engines that run on such fuel must be initially designed for this.


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