2-stroke engine runinng on turpentine? 1

[m899nyc]

Someone told me you could run 2-stroke outdoor power equipment on straight turpentine and that Honda originaly did the same thing with their original motorbike engines. Is this true? I can't see how turpentine could lubricate and fuel at the same time.

 

[SuperSalad]

Turpentine carbon chain length is roughly in between gasoline and diesel. It would likely burn very incompletely in a 2-stroke gas engine leaving enough unburnt fuel that could then provide some degree of lubrication. It probably would smoke like crazy, which is why the Honda you are referencing was nicknamed "the Chimney". And I would guess the engines would wear out very quickly by today's standards because it probably isn't all that impressive of a lubricant.

Here is a short article/paper about the history of turpentine for burning & the Honda experiment: Honda's "Pulpahol Experiment"

Andrew H.

http://www.MotoTribology.com

 

[m899nyc]

Thank you!

When you say wear quickly by today's standards, do you mean immediately or just faster than normally expected? If you run it in, say, a modern chainsaw, would the saw run or would it be destroyed?

 

[Compositepro]

Turpentine is distilled from wood and contains a wide range of components. Some are probably fairly good lubricants. Lubricants are hydrocarbons that have polar groups so that they are attracted to metal surfaces. Modern engines are so highly engineered for specific lubricants that it is not generally wise to not use the exact specified fuel. But tupentine and motor oil can be added to diesel fuel with no immediate ill effects.

 

[SuperSalad]

Destroyed? I doubt it; probably just faster than expected. Like Compositepro mentioned, some of its components might actually make good lubricants kind of similar to how plain castor oil actually makes for a pretty decent 2-stroke lubricant, but I doubt it is quite as good as castor oil tends to be in that application.

If you've got enough compression, I'm sure the saw would run. It may grenade, but that can happen even with regular 2-stroke oils if they're run poorly. If you can figure out some decent settings to run the saw at with turpentine, I bet you could get some time out of it before needing a rebuild.

That all being said, there are better options for both fuel and oil for pretty much every consideration where turpentine might enter the discussion. I would consider this a desperation move or for experimental purposes only.

Andrew H.

http://www.MotoTribology.com

 

[Pud]

Many years ago in the 1960's, one of the guys I was apprentice with, parents owned a auto painting company. He used to run his motorcycle (2 stroke) on waste cellulose thinners. Worked ok. Smelled awful.


Politicians like to panic, they need activity. It is their substitute for achievement.

 

[LittleInch]

There was a big push a few years ago for people to use old vegetable oils from chip shops etc in their diesel cars. Start on diesel then use warmed up vegetable oil. Worked OK apparently, but the impact was that a mobile chip shop had just driven past you...

Not sure what the US equivalent of a chip shop is, but lets say a fish version of Macdonalds...

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[dgallup]

https://youtu.be/ypaJGyFAb5c?t=51

----------------------------------------

The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which depends on a feature that isn't included in this version of Windows.

 

[drwebb]

The Pulpahol article is an interesting read, but surprising an article in a papermaking publication seems to confuse wood alcohol (methanol), grain alcohol (ethanol) and turpentine (a hydrocarbon mixture). Also, it's not clear whether the Honda Type-A used the turpentine fuel itself as total loss lubricant or it was premixed with a vegetable- or mineral oil. Troll local neighborhoods on bulk trash day and pick up 2-3 decent looking 2-strokes, find one that just needs a carburetor cleaning to get it running on gasoline premix, fuel it up with straight turpentine from the paint store and let us know how the experiment comes out.