Kerosene placed in oil- good idea or bad? Was told by someone.... ???

[93 Camry LE V6]

I have been looking for another 92-94 Camry to buy. I called about a local 92' Camry LE the other evening and the owner told me something that concerns me. He said when he changes the oil, that he puts a "dimes worth" of kerosene in the oil when he changes it. He said it keeps the engine clean. He also said that he always puts in a good additive in the oil. I may be wrong- he may have said he puts in the kerosene, then drains it, then new oil. I was a bit confused, because he kept rambling about it. I have not looked at the car, but as he describes it, it is a good car. He is the 2nd owner and he claims that the car has ALL of the service/maintainence records since new. It has 203K now, but miles on these cars do not concern me, because ALL of my Camrys have had well over 200K miles.

I just want to be sure that engine damage is not occuring if he is running this kerosene in the engine. Should I steer clear of that car, just for this reason?

I am also puzzled about the color. He said the title states that the car is "silver taupe", but he said it is a plum color. When he said that, I was thinking of the wretched dark purple color, but now I am thinking he is talking about that lighter rose/beige looking color that I have seen on a lot of these Camrys of this vintage. Interior is that 2-tone I think this color has- darker dash, carpet and door panels, but lighter colored seats and door panel inserts.

The car has never been in a bad crash, but he said a few years ago, just before the 1st owner sold it, that the driver door was hit and was replaced with another door from another Camry which was the same color. He is asking $2500 OBO for it, so I guess I can get it cheaper.

Someone local with a 92' Camry LE (white) also e-mailed me tonight saying they want to sell it, so I want to check this one out as well.

Thanks for any input- especially about the kerosene in oil question on the taupe 92'. I have never heard tell of this- I am clueless.

[ag6286]

stay clear....last time i checked...one kerosene was flammable and will only cause an unwanted ignition at one point or another and two, he probably cleaned out the engine with kerosene for some reason...given it will remove some of the oil deposits and dirt cuz it dries quick and such but theres still always oil in ur engine when u drain it normally...y he would do this is beyond me..maybe im missing sumtin obvious but i would just stay away...dont add kerosene to ur existing oil too, it will only thin the oil?

[warlock]

i dont know but i do know that kerosne work like paint thinner on oil so id say it will harm the motor.

[93 Camry LE V6]

Thanks. I asked my dad and he said: "putting kerosene in the oil is one of the dumbest thing I have ever heard of". I just wanted to get other opinions. Too bad he did this to a 1-owner car with ALL of the records. I think he has only owned the car for about a year/20K miles. It is actually his mothers car.

Hopefully I can get the other white 92 LE.

Thanks again.

[ag6286]

lol, i talked to my friend about it a few minutes ago....almost exact same thing i said

[OEMonkey]

use BG MOA

[Toysrme]

Very bad idea. This guy is a nut. Don't get near the car.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/images/lucas/lucas.htm

[amerikim]

I remember that...
Very old school way of cleaning out a dirty engine. I remember hearing about it from the local car nuts that would pour a little kerosene in just before oil change time. They don't drive around with it, just changed oil immediately after. I also remember they didn't do it all the time, just once in a blue moon thing.
I personally wouldn't do it because I don't know what it would do with the makeup of today's oils. Same reason I don't use any additives in the oil.

[skewe]

kerosine would work like a degreaser except it does not evaporate.

i know of some mechanics using kerosine to clean out the engine when rebuilding it. apparently, it seems to work for them to remove the dirt/sludge.
NOTE: that is during rebuilding only but they do wash it down with something else before putting it back together.

kerosine is flamable but at that small amount, it will not burn as it is mixed with motor oil.

[Knailgun]

Kerosene is oil is about as good an idea as sugar in the gas to "sweeten the ride"

[kenny1773]

I am not old enough to know for certain, but I can remember my dad telling me stories about the 1950's and 60's when oil did not have many cleaning agents (if any at all) and engines ran very dirty.

They would mix kerosene and straight 30 weight oil together to make a "flush" inbetween changes. The process was like, drain the old oil out, put in straight 30 weight mixed with a certain amount of kerosene, run the car for 10-15 minutes, drain, then fill with fresh oil and wait until the next oil change.

The problem is that process was meant for an old design engine with old school oils. I have no idea if that would hurt a modern engine, and I really don't think just leaving the kerosene in for the entire oil change interval is an issue.

You could always do a compression test and see how bad it is. It may have been such a small amount of kerosene that it doesn't even matter. That would put up a big caution flag for me.

[skewe]

i would assume that a dime's worth should not be a lot of kerosine, doubt that it will hurt the engine @ all.

[triniphen]

gasoline/kerosene/diesel are also good for freeing up a slightly roasted block too. stay away from it. any used car whose oil smells of those are disasters waiting to happen.

[Pineapple]

Kerosene will thin out the oil. All new car have PCV system to remove fuel fume from crank case. It help oil to last long and reduce acid in oil. Putting kerosene in oil is totaly againist it.

[Jeeves]

Originally Posted by skewe

i would assume that a dime's worth should not be a lot of kerosine, doubt that it will hurt the engine @ all.

+1, a dime sized amount isn't jack.

And, for the record, kerosene is also widely used in oils to thin them up during winter in very cold climates.