Fact or Fiction, moth balls Options

[TotalEclipse97]

i was talking to this guy that did drag racing in his younger years and he said that he use to cut a moth ball in half. fill up the tank with pump gas and put in a half ball per tank. he said it'd raise the octane from 90 whatever to well over 100.

anyone hear of that?

[natedogg]

[SCCA Stang]

sounds kinda fishy...... how credible is your sourse???

who wants to try it first???

[awd4kicks]

That vagely rings a bell from something I've heard in the past. I'll have to check with some of the old timers I know and see if they have heard of anything like that.

[The Iron Goat]

I've been told for years that if you really want to screw someone's car up, you put a couple of moth balls in the tank. Engine will auto-rev to redline and seize. More than likely urban myth since increasing octane decreases volatility. But at any rate, I've heard that the little grandma-smelling orbs will up your octane.

[xian 1g]

actually, I was watching a myth busters program a two months ago when I was in Michigan.


And... Although they couldn't prove that it 'raised' the octane level, they were able to prove that it didn't negatively affect the engine

I still wouldn't recommend it, how the hell do you intend to get them out? there are better methods that aren't that cheap to increase your octane.

[The Iron Goat]

And furthermore, I've never had problems with moths popping open my gas tank and siphoning gas off of me, so I really don't see it as a necessary measure Do not be a test pilot for that theory.

[Kazz5]

NOT - try toluene.

[grimy4]

No this is not a myth ! It does or at least it did use to work .
Back in the younger years the moth balls were made different,
they were white and stuck to high hell, when put in gas they would
desolve and due to the chemicals they used then , it would increase
the octane. Was it safe? NO!! This was known to melt piston .
Before I ever tried this, I put a moth ball in acan of gas to
see if it would work, sure enough the balls desolved , after that
test I put it to the test using a lil ol 1.9 4 popper. It actually made
a difference. Now days there is better alternatives to this. Back then
octane boosters were not readily available like now days.

[grimy4]

I personally never melted down any pistons using moth
balls , but i have seen a cycle engine that had a melted piston,
due to using to many moth balls. Big difference between a cycle
and a car . So my best guess the reason for the melt down of
the 75cc motor is it got to hot. My 4 popper ran about 200
degrees when running the moth balls and about 170-180 degrees
with out them. But I still would not recommend testing this on a
newer vehicle. I had nothing to loose back then, it was my spare car
to drive when the weather was bad. although it was a spare ,
I still went out and had some fun racing it !! What was the test car ?
79 Chevy Chevette w/ a 1.9 ltr , 4 gear ,and 4.11 rear gear.
As you can tell it was not much of a car to brag about ,but that little
shit box would scream. That is with alot of tweaking and few custom
orded parts. The use of the moth balls took place back in the mid 80's.
Yes you are right raising octain would help prevent melt down, but
using the moth balls or to many can have a bad effect on a engine.