Eli5: why is it bad to put sugar in the cars gas tank?

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Does it really mess up the engine?

In: Engineering

19 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

The worst thing that could really happen is that you’d clog up the fuel filter and the engine would run poorly from insufficient fuel.

Edit: Here’s a video where he tested what happens if sugar actually gets in the engine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DgzhVkAIuc

He showed it has a fuel filter, but I don’t imagine a lawnmower filter is as good as a car filter, plus with a car, there’s less chance of the sugar even making it to the filter due to the sugar settling to the bottom of the gas and the filter being higher up. With a lawnmower, the gas tank is actually sitting up higher.

tl;dr damage and residue, but no destruction (or not run long enough for destruction)

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