# Kerosene in the car?

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/kerosene-in-the-car/68534>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Created:** [October 10, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/kerosene-in-the-car/68534 "2011-10-10T22:12:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![TwinTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@TwinTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/TwinTurbo)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 10:54am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/kerosene-in-the-car/68534/21 "2011-10-13T10:54:59Z")

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I’ve been around long enough to have used portable stoves and lanterns that were designed to run on first kerosene, then white gas and finally propane. My current backpacking burner can run anything liquid that is combustable.

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**Author:** ![doubleclutch](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/doubleclutch/32/1281_2.png) [@doubleclutch](https://community.cartalk.com/u/doubleclutch)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/kerosene-in-the-car/68534/22 "2011-10-13T16:50:02Z")

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Coleman fuel is in the naptha end of the hydrocarbon spectrum.

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**Author:** ![Caddyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/caddyman/32/23_2.png) [@Caddyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caddyman)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:23am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/kerosene-in-the-car/68534/23 "2011-10-14T05:23:05Z")

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In third world countries, Yamaha has sold small outboard motors that start on gasoline then after a few minutes can be switched over to kerosene…They run fine…

A friend of mine who had access to free diesel fuel installed a second fuel system (tank and fuel lines) in his 1964 260 V8 Ford Fairlane…He installed an electrically operated change-over valve just before the fuel pump. Once running and warmed up on gasoline, he switched over to #2 diesel and drove on…True, acceleration was limited and care had to be taken to avoid detonation, but he commuted many miles on diesel fuel…before reaching his destination, he would switch back to gasoline so the carb was full of gas on the next re-start…At a steady 50 mph, that 260 Ford ran quite nicely on diesel fuel…

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**Author:** ![Rod-Knox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Rod-Knox](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Rod-Knox)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/kerosene-in-the-car/68534/24 "2011-10-16T03:40:49Z")

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During WW II my grandfather installed 2 copper head gaskets on many Fords, allowing them to run on kerosene. They often required manually priming with gasoline, but once started ran well enough. He worked at a munitions plant and many of the executives there had their cars modified because gasoline rationing was very restrictive while they could somehow get kerosene easily.

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**Author:** ![dagosa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/dagosa/32/9837_2.png) [@dagosa](https://community.cartalk.com/u/dagosa)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 1:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/kerosene-in-the-car/68534/25 "2011-10-16T13:26:06Z")

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Great examples on the capabilities of the internal combustion motor; with a simple, pre environmental concern carburetor. I wouldn’t try this in today’s cars until they are citified to run on a particular fuel with matching warranty coverage.

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