# Moth Balls In your Gas tank
**URL:** https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324
**Category:** NYSpeed Off Topic
**Created:** [April 5, 2006, 9:21am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324 "2006-04-05T09:21:17Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@NYSFF](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/NYSFF)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 9:21am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/1 "2006-04-05T09:21:17Z")
Anyone else see the program “Myth Busters” when they put Moth balls into a Gas tank to see what it would do to the Engine? It gave it a rocket boost from hell! I wonder if it does any damage to your engine though to actually test this for yourself.
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### Author:  [@Adictd2b00st](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Adictd2b00st)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 9:28am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/2 "2006-04-05T09:28:27Z")
didn’t the old school guys used to do this all the time? the cheap way to get higher octane lol
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### Author:  [@Clean\_Baldy](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Clean_Baldy)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 9:40am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/3 "2006-04-05T09:40:22Z")
We should incorporate our buddy FuzzyFish into this test… I know hes looking for any reason at all to do damage to his car…
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### Author:  [@Bacon](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Bacon)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 9:43am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/4 "2006-04-05T09:43:42Z")
:snky:
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### Author:  [@articzap](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/articzap)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 9:59am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/5 "2006-04-05T09:59:26Z")
moth balls only have an octane rating of 90, impartical.
[http://www.elektro.com/~audi/audi/toluene.html](http://www.elektro.com/~audi/audi/toluene.html)
toluene has an octane rating of 114!!! You can make cheaper race gas wtih this stuff.
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### Author:  [@Tunerfreak](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Tunerfreak)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 12:43pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/6 "2006-04-05T12:43:03Z")
thats an old old episode
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### Author:  [@wetwork](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/wetwork)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 1:42pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/7 "2006-04-05T13:42:35Z")
so then adding mothballs to your unleaded fuel will give you what?, 93 grade gas?
in between 87 and 96?
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### Author:  [@articzap](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/articzap)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 1:45pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/8 "2006-04-05T13:45:12Z")
you couldnt even achieve 93 grade gas…since moth balls are 90 octane, you could never achieve more then 90 grade and ud be running 100% mothballs :-/
toluene is much mroe worth it, someone shoudl look into it mroe and try it
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### Author:  [@wetwork](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/wetwork)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 1:47pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/9 "2006-04-05T13:47:39Z")
im not that big into cars yet… so i was wondering what toluene is?
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### Author:  [@articzap](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/articzap)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 2:16pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/10 "2006-04-05T14:16:13Z")
its a chemical, used as a paint stripper/remover if i remember correctly
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### Author:  [@wetwork](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/wetwork)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 2:37pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/11 "2006-04-05T14:37:00Z")
so if this is the case why do people not try to use this more as a means to save on gas money? i sure this stuff is cheaper to come by as there is not a large market for it?
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### Author:  [@Bucker](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Bucker)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/12 "2006-04-05T14:39:02Z")
Or we could just use gasoline? Apparently extended use of toluene can break down fuel lines. It really doesnt save you THAT much money, and I wouldn’t really trust mixing my own “high octane” fuel.
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### Author:  [@wetwork](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/wetwork)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/13 "2006-04-05T14:43:02Z")
well as i said im not big into cars… but i see all kinds of commercials for new econic engines using waste and grease i think? i forget something with saving the economy and not running on gasoline.
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### Author:  [@Bucker](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Bucker)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/14 "2006-04-05T14:44:35Z")
Yes, e85 is an ethanol-gas blend that is 85% ethanol. Some people are also converting their cars to biodiesel. Cheap, clean, and efficient.
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### Author:  [@articzap](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/articzap)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 2:51pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/15 "2006-04-05T14:51:55Z")
toluene is apprxmtly 3$ a gallon in 55 gallon drum. not to bad on the price for 114. but u need to mix it with something because it doesnt burn at low temps that well.
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### Author:  [@wetwork](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/wetwork)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/16 "2006-04-05T15:12:08Z")
what low temps would you burn it at? assuming where in new york you live.
during the summer here chicago gets hot really hot. especially for us whom are at o’hare constantly testing things…
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### Author:  [@ezfd](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ezfd)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 3:42pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/17 "2006-04-05T15:42:32Z")
**Can mothballs increase octane?**
The legend of mothballs as an octane enhancer arose well before WWII when naphthalene was used as the active ingredient. Today, the majority of mothballs use para-dichlorobenzene in place of naphthalene, so choose carefully if you wish to experiment :-). There have been some concerns about the toxicity of para-dichlorobenzene, and naphthalene mothballs have again become popular. In the 1920s, typical gasoline octane ratings were 40-60 [11], and during the 1930s and 40s, the ratings increased by approximately 20 units as alkyl leads and improved refining processes became widespread [12].
Naphthalene has a blending motor octane number of 90 [52], so the addition of a significant amount of mothballs could increase the octane, and they were soluble in gasoline. The amount usually required to appreciably increase the octane also had some adverse effects. The most obvious was due to the high melting point, (80C), when the fuel evaporated the naphthalene would precipitate out, blocking jets and filters. With modern gasolines, naphthalene is more likely to reduce the octane rating, and the amount required for low octane fuels will also create operational and emissions problems.
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### Author:  [@RedGoober4Life](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/RedGoober4Life)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/18 "2006-04-05T15:51:09Z")
Which? napthalene or para dichlorobenzene?
edit: already posted. my concern is that napthalene is known to be not so peachy.
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### Author:  [@RedGoober4Life](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/RedGoober4Life)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/19 "2006-04-05T15:58:49Z")
I think it’s important that people understand that the octane rating system is completely arbitrary. 100 being “pure isoctane.” That’s 2,2,4 - trimethylpentane. That doesn’t mean something with a 93 rating contains 93% isoctane, but rather it _performs_ like a mixture of 93% isoctane and 7% heptane (which is not very good at resisting knocking, as it combusts very easily). Gas actually contains a bunch of shit that’s probably not very great for you or me. Very sad.
Hm. I’ve read on the internet at the “add acetone” websites that propane is 100 on the octane scale, but they apparently aren’t chemists.
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### Author:  [@JEG](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JEG)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/moth-balls-in-your-gas-tank/10324/20 "2006-04-05T16:32:00Z")
what about Acetone? lol