Can you light diesel fuel with a match?

[Briman]

Strange question I know. I filled up with fuel friday night and drove 43 miles and parked my truck. Monday morning it started and idled fine. I went to head down the road and it sputtered, backfired, and lots of smoke. It would still idle fine. I checked the oil and not overfull. I drained both the airdog and factory water drain and could not see water. I poured some on the driveway and could not light it with a match. I went to the station and got a little bit of fuel in a gas can and it won't light either. I think there's something wrong with the fuel but not sure what. It does not have the strong diesel smell it should have. It doesn't smell like gas either. I know that would burn if they mixed gas with it. I'm going to another station for another sample of fuel. I don't have any codes. Any ideas?

 

[JRD]

You could fill a 5 gallon bucket up with diesel fuel, throw a match in it and the flame will go out. Diesel is a completely different animal than gasoline.

 

[JApol]

Gasoline will also put out the flame. But gas fumes are MUCH more flamable. At least you know you didn't put supreme unleaded in your truck on the last stop.

 

[rbattelle]

Diesel fuel (or any fuel, for that matter) will not ignite without a oxidizer. And more to the point, the proper fuel/oxidizer mixture is required for ignition.



Ryan

 

[DieselFiend]

I think diesel has a much higher flashpoint than gas too.

 

[azpete]

In Vietnam there never seemed to be a shortage of volunteers for latreen duty. They pulled the drums out from under the latreen, poured diesel fuel in them and then gaseoline so as to be able to ignite it. Then everyone would stand around in the billowing smoke- smell and would light up cigarettes which apparently where bought from the local population. Could never understand why this was so popular.

 

[chrleb1]

Raw diesel will not burn with a match. Now if you atomize it, look out! Typical diesel has a flash point of 146* or so.

 

[skipro3]

As a kid we used to take coffee cans and fill with diesel fuel, warm them in a camp fire, then light them off and set them on our frozen pond to light it up so we could ice skate after dark.

If you heat diesel, it will start to fume and you can light the fumes with a flame, as it burns, it will begin to boil and the flame will no longer smoke either.

 

[steved]

If you put it on something like paper/cloth that will sustain a flame, it will burn once it reaches it's ignition point...



Also, a poor or old batch of diesel won't burn as the volatiles have long since evaporated...



steved

 

[Bernie]

In the summer

Sometimes. As a firefighter we need to be concerned with diesel at accidents because there are always hot ignition sources that could be a problem (such as brakes, exhaust).



On a hot summer day we need to be VERY concerned about diesel. Warm diesel on a hot road surface can be a recipie for a flash.

 

[Briman]

Go ahead and laugh, I did

Well, thanks for the informative replies. I figured out my problem, thanks to the search engine here at TDR. I was convinced I had a fuel problem and had done a search on "fuel control actuator". In one of the threads a person mentioned that the dealer had trouble diagnosing a problem and it ended up being the truck had sucked its air cleaner element down the intake tube. I read that and about fell over. You see, this weekend I did change the air filter. One of my standard habits is to stuff a towel in the intake tube while I use an air duster to blow the crap out of the bottom of the air filter housing. I put the new filter in and the housing back together without pulling out the towel. I may be stupid but at least now I'm stupid and happy. I just mailed my subscription renewal to TDR today. :-laf

 

[Nate]

Lucky that it didn't get sucked into the turbo!

 

[JThiessen]

This brings up an example of misinformed public. About a week ago the DW and I were watching a re-run of CSI LasVegas. They were investigating a person that burned a body in a barrel, and they were trying to match the diesel to certain in ground fuel tanks. I, of course, had to point out that it was impossible for the scenario they were portraying to occur. My DW, of course, just groaned and rolled her eyes at me.

 

[mlewis73]

Yes.



You know how I know? Because I live on a farm and I burn debris fairly often. What do I use to help get a fire going? Not gasoline...



Diesel on tree cuttings helps get them going, and once it catches it is fairly persistent (unlike gasoline which burns quickly. ) What do I use to light it? You guessed it... a match or an already-lit twig.

 

[DZink24]

Got "bored" one day, took a rag and dipped it half way into the tank of off road #2 in the bed of the old '90, lit the dry portion of the rag, it choked and burned slowly... until it hit the pink stuff, then wham! a nice, slow, hot burn with lots of black smoke, a beautiful thing! Not a flash in the pan, like the nasty gas stuff. BTU's rule!!

 

[Briman]

I dipped a rolled up paper towel in some fuel and it lit and burned like a torch. This, the debris, and other stuff (bodies?) that will burn with diesel on it must be the oxidizer that Ryan was refering to. I could not make it burn with a lighter after pouring some on a cold concrete driveway though.

 

[PWelsh]

When I change my fuel filter I always drin it inot a coffee can. To dispose of the drined fuel I pour it into an old can of charcole ligher fluid, then use it to start camp fires, it works perfect.

Paul Welsh

 

[gtobey]

Greetings! When I used to teach technicians how to work on pumps and injectors in the Bosch and Stanadyne programs, one of the most fun demonstrations was to have a tech light a match and drop it into a 5 gallon can of diesel fuel. Of course, the match would go out, but that was because the fuel did not properly mix with the air molecules above the liquid. Not enough hydrocarbon molecules were able to leave the surface of the liquid and remain properly mixed with enough air to sustain comustion. Gasoline vaporizes much more quickly and thus the "flash point" is lower.



Part 2 of the demonstration was to take a nozzle tester, hook up an injector and have the student hold the match to the side and under the injector spray pattern. As soon as I hit the handle of the nozzle tester, there was a big flash and ball of flame of the atomized fuel being burned. That was always a fun and exciting demonstration. It was to advise them not to smoke in the pump and injector test room. It got the point across... .

 

[GHarman]

In Vietnam there never seemed to be a shortage of volunteers for latreen duty. They pulled the drums out from under the latreen, poured diesel fuel in them and then gaseoline so as to be able to ignite it. Then everyone would stand around in the billowing smoke- smell and would light up cigarettes which apparently where bought from the local population. Could never understand why this was so popular.

Dont forget to stir it. It burns up better that way=) I still remember the smell! There were no volunteers in my outfit, you were volunteered, unless you were out in the bush. GregH.

 

[Bob Cochran]

I liken diesel to JP4. You cannot light a puddle of it on concrete but if you cause a spark in it with a wrench by hitting it on the concrete you can. I would guess the spark is hot enough to cause ignition.