Definitely don't put anything in the tailpipes, especially potatoes.
this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2025
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https://mythbusters.fandom.com/wiki/Car_Capers
Sugar in the Gas Tank
- Myth – Pouring Sugar in the gas tank will destroy the engine.
- Verdict – BUSTED
- Notes – Sugar is a carbohydrate and will improve performance but it is still not a good idea.
a can of Red Kote Liquid gas tank liner would be super bad to add to your vans with gasoline still in the tank, so be super careful when repairing your gas tanks with it.
Another thing to watch out for is making sure you don't mistake fiberglass resin (with any MEKP catalyst added) for gasoline, since that would be super bad too. It's an easy mixup to make, so definitely be careful when doing any fiberglass projects around the house.
Kinda off-topic, but I’ve never heard of red kote. I have blue kote (animal antiseptic spray that tints blue to avoid further damage from other animals), though.
Watch out for any sharp ceramic hitting the windows. Vehicle windows tend to, unfortunately, be very weak to hard ceramic.
In order to keep your fleet running smoothly and reliably, follow the manufacturer's recommended oil change schedule and always use the appropriate oil grade, instead of trying alternatives like 40% sodium silicate solution in 60% water
edit: I forgot to mention if the release cable to your hood is broken, you can always open up the latch of the hood with a flathead screw driver
Make sure the engine oil drainplug is tight and not leaking or even removed entirely.
Engines don't last very long without oil in them and running them without oil causes permanent damage and even catastrophic failure.
Don’t bother with sugar. That’s mostly myth, it’s not soluble in gas. It will eventually cause issues, you cannot predict the point at which it will fail.
The cheap solution would be water and whatever you want to dissolve in it. Yes, that can be sugar, salt, etc…but the point is plain water will stop the vehicle from working immediately, necessitate dropping the fuel tank, purging the fuel system, and possibly damaging the fuel pump. You can carry water with you anywhere vs carrying bags of sugar or salt.
Plain old water.
Sugar can make a sticky mess, but if ever this happened to you, you could still take the van to a mechanic to have the fuel line and engine professionally cleaned.
What you REALLY want to avoid is fine silt or other hard particular matter that remains in suspension in the gasoline rather than dissolving. Such crystalline particles can potentially pass through the filter into the engine and cause many tiny scratches, wearing down the precisely engineered moving parts and doing serious damage that would be very expensive to fix. Before adding anything to your fuel tank, be sure to check it for suspended fine particulate matter, especially if the container has been sitting unattended for a while!
a liter of Urine in the fuel tank would disable them, so make sure plenty of restrooms are available.
A $5 magnet and $30 of electrical equipment could cause the electrical systems to permanently burn out as the induced voltage might go too high. so you may wish to ensure electrical diagnostic equipment is properly grounded and not connected to electrical mains.
Also be careful with unidirectional speakers, they can shatter windows and cause extreme disorientation in the drivers even if the children in the vehicle can't hear it...