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This morning, I discovered someone had poured sugar into my gas tank. Tried to, anyway-- mostly they just got big piles of it around the filler.
Now I assume they don& #39;t follow me on Twitter, so I feel comfortable telling y& #39;all: that& #39;s an old myth, and won& #39;t harm an engine at all
Now I assume they don& #39;t follow me on Twitter, so I feel comfortable telling y& #39;all: that& #39;s an old myth, and won& #39;t harm an engine at all
Sugar isn& #39;t soluble in gasoline like it is in water. Maybe in the thin layer of water which separates out from ethanol when it& #39;s allowed to sit for months, but certainly not when the ethanol is fresh and in suspension with the petroleum gasoline. It just sinks.
Grains of sugar in a fuel system are caught harmlessly by the filters in vehicles, like any other particulate (sand, old paint, whatever) would be. The only exception would be a vehicle without any filter, like a custom race vehicle. You& #39;ll never see that from a factory.
Now sugar in ENGINE OIL is another matter entirely, and can cause serious damage. Corn syrup is probably the best form to use, since it flows easily and leaves no trace like spilled granules would.
You would need access to the oil filler port, which is under the hood of most cars and trucks. Motorcycles and some heavy equipment are more vulnerable. And you would need to put a fairly large quantity in-- think a couple of litres of syrup.
Sugar is basically harmless in oil when cool... but as the engine comes up to temperature, the sugar will melt and then quickly turn into caramel, coating every surface in a delicious candy coating. Once the engine is allowed to cool back down after that point, it& #39;s all over:
Every oil port will be clogged, every valve frozen shut, the links of every chain glued right where they are. Nightmare scenario. Such an engine would almost certainly be totalled, but even if it& #39;s able to be revived it would be a massive and expensive undertaking.
Here& #39;s a video of the aftermath of some Youtuber using maple syrup in a car: https://youtu.be/p6Tlk09hF3Q ">https://youtu.be/p6Tlk09hF...
