Stopping fuel theft...

[AlaskaJack]

Keeping one's car in the garage (... instead of all the worthless junk ) is probably the best deterrent!

..... assuming you have a garage!

.... and you don't have a teardrop project taking up all the space!!

[caseydog]

I keep my car in the garage. And, when I go out, I'm careful where I park.

I have Xenon healdlights on my car, so I already have a nice theft target. They pry them right off of the car with a pry-bar, and take the guts out to put on their ricer-mobiles. It is not that prevalent here, but I understand it happens a lot on the East coast in in California. It does a lot of damage to a car.

I imagine gasoline theft will rise with the prices -- they did back during the 1970s and 1980s fuel price rises. I had a locking cap in the early-to-mid 80s.

As for the new "puncture and drain" methods of gasoline theft, some cars and trucks will probably get hit on more than others. My gas tank is in the center of the car, and there is hard to see or reach. I assume the thieves will go for the easiest targets -- cars and trucks with gas tanks just in front of the back bumper. Pickup trucks with big tanks are probably easy scores, too.

Like AJ said, if your garage is full of junk, and your car is outside all night, it may be time to re-think that arrangement.

CD

[angib]

...a month ago I put diesel fuel in my gas tank by mistake. I had pumped 2.5 gallons before I realized what I was doing. Thankfully, I was nearly empty at the time.

A British car TV programme tried out both this and its more usual reverse, putting petrol/gas in a diesel car. They demonstrated that both vehicles worked perfectly well when the 'pollutant' was less than a 1/4 of the tank and it was topped up (ie, diluted) with the right fuel.

They were using old vehicles whose engines they didn't mind destroying, but they didn't find that any damage was done. The one caveat is that the diesel was an old injector unit, not a modern common rail diesel, but they didn't see how that would make a big difference.

With the recent increased take-up of diesel cars in Britain, this wrong fuel mistake has become more common and some garages are taking advantage of the unsuspecting by claiming that much of the fuel system needs to be replaced as a repair.

Andrew

[Lynn Coleman]

With the recent increased take-up of diesel cars in Britain, this wrong fuel mistake has become more common and some garages are taking advantage of the unsuspecting by claiming that much of the fuel system needs to be replaced as a repair.
Andrew

Hi Andrew,

The thing that made me want every ounce of diesel out of my tank was that one of the men at the gas station that witnessed my faux pas had worked for a car rental place. He said they had to regularly deal with folks who put in the wrong fuel. Apparently the diesel gums up the injectors on the gasoline powered cars. And since I was about to embark on a 6.5 hour trip, one way, I didn't want to risk having my truck stall on the highway and spend a day of our vacation at a car repair shop. So, I had it all pumped out.

Lynn

[angib]

Yeah, Lynn, I know what you mean. If it was an old banger (oops, that may not translate well into American...) that I was driving locally, I would try diluting it with petrol/gas and see if that worked. But if it was a new/expensive car and/or I was driving a long way, I'd join you in getting it sorted out properly.

Andrew

[Dee Bee]

Golly, it'd be a shame if someone doctored up a 5 gallon can of fuel and left it out, it got stolen and someone lunched an engine because of it huh? Just thinking about poetic justice, I've got about that much stale gas in a boat...I doubt I'd do it, revenge etc...but it's got it's possibilities... Doug

simple pour some hydrogen peroxide in with the fuel,.,, they wont smell the difference

What does hydrogen peroxide do to gasoline?

[caseydog]

Golly, it'd be a shame if someone doctored up a 5 gallon can of fuel and left it out, it got stolen and someone lunched an engine because of it huh? Just thinking about poetic justice, I've got about that much stale gas in a boat...I doubt I'd do it, revenge etc...but it's got it's possibilities... Doug

simple pour some hydrogen peroxide in with the fuel,.,, they wont smell the difference

What does hydrogen peroxide do to gasoline?

Pretty much the same as water, I would think.

Hydrogen Peroxide is H2O2. If you were to mist it into the intake system of a car, there is, theoretically, some release of oxygen during compression combustion -- I think some hot-rodders have toyed with that idea, sort of like water injection with an extra oxygen molecule. Hot-rodders are always tinkering with stuff like that.

Poured into gasoline, I expect it would sink to the bottom of the gas tank, and get picked up by the fuel pump and stop the car.

[pete.wilson]

Hey

Doug Hodder wrote: "Golly, it'd be a shame if someone doctored up a 5 gallon can of fuel and left it out, it got stolen and someone lunched an engine because of it huh? Just thinking about poetic justice, I've got about that much stale gas in a boat...I doubt I'd do it, revenge etc...but it's got it's possibilities..."
&
"figure if they're stupid enough to steal it, they're not smart enough to sniff it and check out what's in there. Sorry, like Bigwoods, I have no sympathy for a vandal/ thief/ or whatever label you want to put on them". ...Doug


I agree completely; maybe it's time to load up some rock salt also!!!!!

Pete Wilson

[James & Avisia Flohr]

Must be why they call Placerville 'HANGTOWN', huh? I'm with you Doug, but with our luck you would have developed a fuel with high mileage and low emission and they would make a MILLIOM $ off of it ! Damn, I hate that, Jim

[doug hodder]

James...it might have been called "hangtown" at one time, but nowadays probably better known by "slap on the wrist town" Either way, I'm sure that a lot of solvents in a can are going to be a little "hot" for just about any valve train....Doug