The newest type of hybrid.

[Brucer]

Who'd a thunk it. Combine diesel and gasoline technology and you get something that's better than either one by itself. Usually it's the other way around .

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/08/03/diesel-gas-hybrid.html

[fishpharmer]

Brucer, I read thru that link.  Your right "who da thunk it"

guess them engineers were thinking " outside the box"

If that makes it into production vehicles ,I am sure it wouldn't  be long before a hybrid "hybrid" engine is developed.  I mean a gas-diesel with electric.  Kind  like
prius.

A thing like that could cause some confusion at the refueling
stations. 

Might be a mechanics nightmare.

[LeeB]

Brucer, I read thru that link.  Your right "who da thunk it"

guess them engineers were thinking " outside the box"

If that makes it into production vehicles ,I am sure it wouldn't  be long before a hybrid "hybrid" engine is developed.  I mean a gas-diesel with electric.  Kind  like
prius.

A thing like that could cause some confusion at the refueling
stations. 

Might be a mechanics nightmare.

I was thinking it might be an owners nightmare just for that reason.

[Brucer]

A thing like that could cause some confusion at the refueling
stations. 

If I understand this correctly, you'll have two fuel tanks, one for diesel and one for gasoline. Now if it's a full serve station, you'll probably have the attendant thinking it's a regular vehicle with two tanks, so he/she will put the same kind of fuel in both thanks.

Might be a mechanics nightmare.

Do mechanics work on engines anymore? I thought it was only computer scientists these days .

[Coon]

You know that reminds me of one of my old half tons I have. The truck has a very bad starting problem once warmed up and you would have to let it completely cool off before it would start again.  One day while I was sitting at the gas pumps trying to get it going an old timer just happened to stop and see what the problem was.  After being told what the truck would do he reacted by going over to his diesel pick up and pulled out a small can of gas from the box.  He then went on and dumped in a couple of quarts of diesel into the tank and started to rock the truck back and forth to mix the diesel with the gasoline.  He then told me to try starting it. Now at this point in time under its normal condition there was no way it would start at the temperature it was.  But hey it was worth a try.  In total disbelief I turned the key only to have it start.  He said "Now boy just remember to add diesel to it every time you fill up.  You can add even more than I did for easier starting but don't over do it or it won't run." 

I had this truck started about a year or so ago after sitting for close to three years.  It started right up with a bit of fresh fuel but again once warmed up gave me the same symptoms until a small amount of diesel was added.  The compression in this engine is right up where it should be still to this day and the timing is correct..... don't really know much more than this  Just That it Works.    

[Ron Wenrich]

Our local gas station hauls gas and diesel in their big trucks.  One day I went and got a fill up and noticed that I could smell diesel.  My truck started hard, and didn't run good until it warmed up.  At lights, it would almost stall when you took off.

Turns out that the guy who delivered the gas didn't totally empty his truck before he filled it up.  The previous delivery was diesel.  I think they said there was a couple of hundred gallons of diesel to 5,000 gallons of gas. 

I got a couple of tanks of free gas out of the deal plus the aggravation.

[beenthere]

I had a similar experience as Ron.
A '64 v-8 Rambler wagon, and filled the tank. Car ran poorly on commute to work. Pinged, nocked, no power, among other symptoms, none of which added up to what the problem might be. On the way home, let off a passenger and had a good whiff of the exhaust fumes....diesel smell.

Learned that the local station had a mix-up with No 2 Fuel oil dumped into the regular leaded tank.

So, wrong mix for good performance. But was told that it would clean the engine.

But got 190,000 miles out of that engine, so no complaints.

[01crewcab]

Watched a show quite awhile back on sugar production. Back in the 80's Brazil set up ethanol plants next to their sugar factories. A majority of the cars produced in Brazil now run on ethanol. The interesting thing was they still started on gas then switched to ethanol. So they have like 1.5 gallon gas tanks in the cars for starting. They also showed a fuel station. They had 3 pumps. 1 diesel, 1 gas, and 1 ethanol. On a side note Brazil decided in the 80's that they would not be held captive by middle east oil, thus the switch to ethanol. I'll not make comments about the US and middle east oil

[Ron Wenrich]

Some of those old tractors used to use a dual fuel.  One to start and one to run.  I don't know the order, but one was kerosene and one was gasoline.  Maybe someone more familiar will chime in.

Governments don't like to push ethanol.  They like it mixed with gasoline.  If you run straight ethanol, you won't need as strong of a brew.  To mix with gasoline, you need a stronger brew with less water. 

If you run straight ethanol, then you can make it at home, and you would avoid the road tax.  If you make it, you can distill it with solar.  So, it can be energy positive. 

[beenthere]

Ron
Start on gas, and switch to kero or #1 fuel oil. Close the louvers on the radiator to get/keep the water hot.
I recall there was less power when switching to kero. And clean the plugs more often.

[Fla._Deadheader]

 My first UD-9 power unit was Gasoline-Diesel.