engine and drivetrain Bizarre fuel additive?

[Guest Anonymous]

I watched an old geezer in overalls topping up the master cylinder in his 60's vintage Ford pickup. It was a large container of brake fluid and he didn't use all of it. He apparently lost the cap and after looking for it a while, he went over to the gas tank filler neck and poured the rest of it in the tank. I asked him what that does for his engine and he said that it picks up the water in the bottom of the tank and cleans the crud out of the fuel. "Been doin it since she was new."

This one is news to me. A search on the net doesn't indicate this is a trend with many followers. Anyone aware of any scientific (legitimate) reason for adding this to fuel? I can think of many corrosive reasons against the practice, but is there any legitimate "known" benefit?

[nbcbird]

It is well known that brake fluid is hydroscopic (adsorbs water), so his reasoning is not without merit.--Jim

[Guest Anonymous]

It is well known that brake fluid is hydroscopic (adsorbs water), so his reasoning is not without merit.--Jim

Kitty litter (clay) and silicates adsorb H20 too, but that doesn't mean I will add it to my tank. Even alcohol in high enough concentrations can attack certain metals which is why certain vehicles need conversions to use ethanol.

Speaking of that, forgetting about why, does anyone run E85 in their 02? I am not advocating it.

[ArdenK]

With todays gas being 10% ethanol, small amounts of water are not a problem. That dry gas stuff is mostly ethanol. I can't imagine burning brake fluid is a good thing to do. Anyone know what is in that stuff?

[72Golf]

I guess I wouldn't lend a lot of credence to an old geezer who is "topping off" his MC instead of fixing the damn fluid leak.

[02for2]

Well, the geezer topping off the MC doesn't bother me at all. It's common to top off the MC as your pads wear.

What does bother me is burning all that glycol-based fluid and releasing it to atmosphere.

Also hope the geezer doesn't have an O² sensor, because he won't have for long...

Cheers!

[Duncan2Turbo]

Rather expensive fuel...seriously though why would you even consider this?

Also hope the geezer doesn't have an O² sensor, because he won't have for long...

60s vintage ford and an old geezer dumping brake fluid into his tank, really doubt he added an O2 sensor

[c.d.iesel]

p.s. - Do Not Breath While Driving Behind That Car !!!

[ricortes]

There isn't just one formulation for brake fluid. That being said he was probably using a type made with ethylene glycol as the building block. Same starting point as antifreeze.

It's closest relative chemically that people would recognize would be glycerin used in hand creams and such. Some may even use glycerin as a starting point.

The glycols in brake fluid is probably an ether or ester i.e. hooked to other hydrocarbon chain. This dramatically changes its properties. Remember the ether in your starting fuild could have started off as user friendly ethyl alcohol.

The derivitives are toxic but not that bad. Took a quick peek at Wiki and they listed aliphatic amine as another possible ingredient. FWIW: I'm pretty sure this is what most 'injector cleaners' formulations use.

Rick