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Comment by Ralo | Hacker News Reader

1994 Toyota pickup with a Om617 swap. I bought a kit for the engine swap then did all the work to swap it.

I did nothing to handle the oil. It just works. You pour it in the tank and go. However, it doesn't work in the winter without a heater or additives.

It's not more common because a) mechanic diesels are old technology and means you'll be driving an old vehicle. b) WVO is a hit or miss in your area. Lots of restaurants will get paid for their old oil by recycling centers so most wont give it away. c) processing it is tough until you get a system in place

As well you can run on so many different fluids. Waste motor oil, waste transmission fluid, brake fluid, etc.

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Can you just pour used motor oil into the tank of such an engine? It's always a hassle to dispose of at home.

It will happily burn in the cilinder, however catalytic converters and other parts will not be so happy. And of course, its awfully contaminant.

Motor oil burns more rapidly than diesel. You'll get more "power" but also less durability.

Burning motor oil happens when your turbo breaks down and puts all your oil via the air inlet to your engine. It's hard to stop that engine until all the oil is used.

Didn't find an article in English, so here's a random one in Polish: https://www.autobaza.pl/page/news/choroba-szalonych-diesli-c...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_engine_runaway

You need a multi-fuel engine for that to work without special care.

But yes, you can pour motor oil into the tank of your Deuce and a Half and let it rip.

The Caterpillar diesel engine manual says you can burn up to 5% used motor oil without affecting the warrantee. It does say to make sure you filter the used oil so as not to gunk up your fuel system.

For a large engine that produces many buckets of oil at each change, this is a good way to get rid of the stuff.

You absolutely can and I have before. However, I blended it 70% WMO and 30% diesel. Used motor oil WILL carbon up everything. It's so full of ash that it'll pool up internally.

You need to used a centrifuge to pull out the carbon. Sounds intense but it's not.

You can pour it entirely in your tank without any filters but your fuel filters only go to about 10-30 which will not pull out the tar. Small amounts like that won't do any damage really.

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