Xylene lesson

[gn1220]

Friday the weather forcast called for 1" of ice and later 15" of snow for sat. and sun. Mix that with the single digit temps and I decided it was time to park the wagon in the garage. My plan was to take the GN to my friends new garage (40' x 60' building! ) to make this happen.
The last time I drove the GN it was low on gas so I picked up 2 gal. of xylene on the way home friday. I usually put the xylene and MMO in then go get gas. So I get home, dump in the xylene, the mystery oil and then try to start the car. No start. After a few minutes I pulled a plug and it was soaked! After new plugs, 2 1/2 gallons of gas and purging the fuel line it finally started.
I learned the hard way that the xylene can dilute gas enough to where it won't burn and cause a big pain in the butt. Just figured I share a little misfortune on a cold winter day.
BTW, it's warmer today (32) than it has been for a while and still no sign of snow. Figures.

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

yeah that sucks-

i did the same thing with 110 turbo blue, added xylene to it and ran fast, let the car sit for about a week or so and went to start-

that was the only time the car never started on me, new plugs and 02 and she was running fine again..

my theory is the xylene sinks to the bottom and once you prime the pump you get nothing but xylene to the injectors and it doesnt start... thats my story and im sticking to it

still waiting for that snow
BW

 

[scottyb]

That doesn't make sense. My wife decided to surprise me and cut the yard while I was out. She unknowingly put 100% Xylene in the empty mower and went to town ( had it in a regular gas can). I pull in literally as she is finishing, mower running normal. I drained the tank, topped it off with gas and ran it for 1 minute. All is fine. I was under the impression that zylene burned basically the same as gas.

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

i dunno scott maybe its our gas here in KC?

BW

 

[Buick Beginner]

2 more cents

One of the things I noticed with Xylene was that my car was a little harder to start when it was cold. That being said it doesn't get very cold in Tampa. But that was just with about 10% Xylene in the tank. On a side note, in Corky Bells book, "Maximum Boost" he mentions the Indy cars of the 80's were running enormous amounts of Toluene, (Xylenes evil twin). They had to have fuel heaters to pre-heat the fuel before it entered into the combustion chamber, otherwise it wouldn't burn. The result, over 70 lbs of boost, and over 1000 HP! This coming from a 4 cylinder! Chemistry is wonderful isn't it. On the lawnmower thing I've a got a comment or two, first - Florida is typically warm, second - if the mower was already hot it would burn fine, third - if the Xylene sat it the garage it was probably already warm. Just thought I'd chime in. - BB

 

[scottyb]

There you have it!
The mower was cold, but since it was summer time in Florida, it was hot.

 

[n20junkie]

there is alot more to what will work in an engine other than the fact that it will burn, what is the vapor pressure of xylene, that is why winter gas is different than summer, and why cars vapor lock on a hot AZ day, if its too cold then the fuel will not turn to a vapor, and liquid doesn't burn, its possible to have an engine being fed twice the required fuel and still run lean if the fuel is in an enviroment which will not allow it to vaoprize, thats my take on this situation.
Grant