Dp351zcar Posted July 9, 2002 Share Posted July 9, 2002 I have always heard the sugar in the gas would ruin a engine but I have never heard how. Why I am bringing this up is I bought a 76 280 that wasn't running and it had old gas in it. It had a 1/4 tank and I add 5 gals if gas. It does start and runs until it gets hot, I shut it off. Go to start it the next day and I can bearly get it running. I take off the valve cover and find three rocker arms are off, reinstall the three and adjust all the rest. Runs great, they said that the engine had just been rebuilt but it had problems (loose cam bolt). Meanwhile I had drained off as much gas as I could and poured five gals in my toyota tacoma that had a quarter tank already in it. When I drove the tacoma to the gas station it ran great on the old gas so I thought the gas was dulited enough that I wouldn't have a problem when I filled up the tank. Parked the truck at home and did start it for a week (I drive a service truck home every night). When I tried to start it the starter motor would run but I had no compression until one after another the valves freed up and it started to fire then more and more cylinders would kick in. I ran that tank out and refilled it and problem is gone. That is what is happining to the Z, only its valves are really stuck. Runs great when their not. I really don't know what is in the gas but there is something that when mixed 4 or 5 to one it still messed up my toyota. At least I know my pistons and valves have enough clearence. Sorry it so long but I am wondering. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 9, 2002 Share Posted July 9, 2002 I bought a car with a sugared gas tank that plugged the fuel lines, carb and everything ELSE and progessively got worse to the point of severe oil burning. I always thought the sugar presence that spread thru out the engine prevented proper oil lubrication resulting in severe wear.Sugar placed some hard miles on that engine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 9, 2002 Share Posted July 9, 2002 I believe it has to do with the sugar melting and turning into a burnt crystal that screws things up. As well as that works, in the oil is even better... Nothing like a little toffee to give your bearings a 'sweet' disposition. A bottle of like Karo syrup would probably do quite a number on things too. Another favorite dish cooked in your car? A little uncle ben's in the radiator, warm, boil and serve... Regards, Lone Ps: No I've never done any of those things, but some squids I used to know claimed they worked quite well.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dp351zcar Posted July 9, 2002 Author Share Posted July 9, 2002 I have always thought it was the burnt crystals that screwed things up by scratching the cylinder wall. When I think about it I think that metal would be stronger than the sugar crystals so I don't know. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted July 9, 2002 Share Posted July 9, 2002 What I have "heard" is that sugar in the gas doesn't hurt anything until you turn the engine off. Then the heated sugar cools and turns into a gooey sludge that gums up everything. Try heating sugar in a spoon and see what it looks like. As for your Tacoma, how did you determine there was no compression or that the "valves freed up one by one"? With an old car that has been sitting the big worry is water in the gas. Letting the truck sit allows the heavier water to collect in the bottom of the tank and can make starting difficult. Did the engine cough and studder when starting, or did it just spin at a high RPM until it suddenly fired? Uncle Ben's in the radiator. I'll have to remember that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 9, 2002 Share Posted July 9, 2002 Don, yeah your right, metal is stronger, but like piston rings are very very brittle and it doesn't take much for them running across something in the bore to mangle them. Same with the valves, hanging a valve open only a few thousands is as with some lumpy crap on the seat pretty much turns compression into only a fond memory of compression. Burn sugar turns to carbon, carbon can be very hard (well compress it enough and you have a diamond). It may do the damage as it cools as was stated, never really considered it, but that sounds logical if you heat a pan real hot and dump sugar in and let it cool, it will caramelize into a blackish/brown sort of carbon. Nasty business that engines just don't like, sorry to hear that happened. Regards, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsommer Posted July 10, 2002 Share Posted July 10, 2002 A bit off the topic but talk about ruining someone's day (Lone I like the Uncle Bens trick BTW ) put a good size chunk of Limburger cheese on the exhaust manifold and sheeeezzzzz the smell will just creep into the passenger compartment not going away for a while. Makes me wanna Guten nacht David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dp351zcar Posted July 10, 2002 Author Share Posted July 10, 2002 Jim on my tacoma the first time it did it I hit the starter it didn't even sound like it was connected to the engine. I mean it just ran smooth with no effort, it was so bad I lifted the hood to see if the engine was turning. As the valves would return to their seats it would fire up through the intake manifold and I would hear a change in the tapping of the cams on the buckets (or shims) whatever it has riding on the cam. You could really hear it on the last one, the tapping went away when you picked up that cylinder. It kind of scared me, I had visions of a shim being kicked out my valve cover or a piston meeting a valve. That truck has been dead reliable until then. Run great now but I have a "check engine" light on that I'll have to figure out. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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