Car expert warns millions of drivers risk 'melting their engine' unless step is followed
Motorists could do serious damage to their vehicles by following an old common myth, according to a leading car expert.
Top car mechanic Scotty Kilmer has warned petrol and diesel owners could “melt their engine” by making a simple mistake this autumn.
Scotty stressed that listening to an old motoring myth and putting mothballs in a fuel tank could dramatically backfire.
Almost 100 years ago, 99.9 percent of a mothball's properties were made up of a chemical known as Naphthalene.
In old pre-war machinery, sometimes Naphthalene was used as an octane enhancer and helped to reduce spark knock, which is a metallic pinging or rattling sound
However, since around the 1950s adding Naphthalene to mothballs was no longer necessary and using them - or indeed the chemical itself - in your fuel tank could lead to serious consequences.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Scotty said: “Well if you’ve heard the myth about people putting mothballs in their gas tank to make their cars run better listen to this.
“Now mothballs do contain Naphthalene but they contain other things. If you pour it in your gas tank it will mess up your fuel pump, your fuel filter, fuel injectors, it can even melt stuff inside the engine. Don’t do it.
“So if you’ve got mothballs, put them in your drawers to keep moss away from your clothes. Do not stick them in the gas tank of your car.”
According to MotorTrend, Naphthalene can now “clog up jets or fuel injectors”.
This can cause the engine to “carbon-up” and may also have an impact on a vehicle's rubber seals.
YouTube viewer @MrSolara7 said: “Seems like people will believe anything, just don't get why some are soooo gullible.”
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@georgerhone4106 added: “Heard of it, never did it, thought it sounded stupid.”
However, some viewers claimed they had achieved some results by following the myth and using mothballs in their vehicles.
@masterlee1372 said: “I used to put mothballs in my 1985 Honda Accord gas tank and it ran much better afterwards.
“Probably they did better and worked on older vehicles. (Mine had a carburettor also).”
@garygrotz9793 stressed: “I've used them on older cars for better octane sometimes, worked pretty well, probably not on newer fuel injection vehicles though!”
