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Can You Put Olive Oil in Your Car?

3 points by xrayarx 4y ago

h2odragon 4y ago
Synthetics are usually based on Castor oil, from Castor beans; presumably the same processes could take olive oil as a feed stock. Using it bare would probably gum up the engine once it got too hot. In a similarly silly vein: you can use Pepto-Bismol as brake fluid, and it can help show recent leaks with the color difference. It can even clog some pinhole leaks all on its own, it crusts as it dries. Its not a good idea, but it might be better than trying to drive a car with no brakes at all. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castor_oil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castor_oil
elmerfud 4y ago
Sure you can, but it won't last. Also I've read these types of articles before and they seem to focus on using some vegetable based oil for the engine while not realizing that oils are used in several components of a car to keep them running. Brakes, power steering, transmission, differentials, bearings, etc... The engine is the place least friendly to oil, that includes dino oil or even synthetics, which is why it's the commonly known oil in a car. Because it's constantly changed. Plant based oils probably wouldn't work well in a automatic transmission as those generally have friction modifiers added . Using something like olive oil in the power steering system or in hydraulic brakes would probably fare a bit better but again heat death would take its toll. While any oil is usually better than no oil for the short term, the big problem with these plant-based oils is the oxidation breakdown under higher temperatures. Many of these oils will go rancid over time and gum up into a polymer and that time gets shorter when they are exposed to heat.
LinuxBender 4y ago
I agree with elmerfud and h2odragon that things like this could be done in a pinch of nothing else was available and one had an urgent need to use the vehicle. Before making expensive mistakes I would first have someone like ProjectFarm [1] put different oils to the test, or alternatively do the same tests he does to rule out any bias. If doing the test then one would need to send off the oils to a lab after they are put to the test the same as ProjectFarm does. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectFarm/search?query=oil https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectFarm/search?query=oil

3 points by xrayarx 4y ago

Synthetics are usually based on Castor oil, from Castor beans; presumably the same processes could take olive oil as a feed stock. Using it bare would probably gum up the engine once it got too hot. In a similarly silly vein: you can use Pepto-Bismol as brake fluid, and it can help show recent leaks with the color difference. It can even clog some pinhole leaks all on its own, it crusts as it dries. Its not a good idea, but it might be better than trying to drive a car with no brakes at all. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castor_oil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castor_oil

elmerfud 4y ago

Sure you can, but it won't last. Also I've read these types of articles before and they seem to focus on using some vegetable based oil for the engine while not realizing that oils are used in several components of a car to keep them running. Brakes, power steering, transmission, differentials, bearings, etc... The engine is the place least friendly to oil, that includes dino oil or even synthetics, which is why it's the commonly known oil in a car. Because it's constantly changed. Plant based oils probably wouldn't work well in a automatic transmission as those generally have friction modifiers added . Using something like olive oil in the power steering system or in hydraulic brakes would probably fare a bit better but again heat death would take its toll. While any oil is usually better than no oil for the short term, the big problem with these plant-based oils is the oxidation breakdown under higher temperatures. Many of these oils will go rancid over time and gum up into a polymer and that time gets shorter when they are exposed to heat.

LinuxBender 4y ago

I agree with elmerfud and h2odragon that things like this could be done in a pinch of nothing else was available and one had an urgent need to use the vehicle. Before making expensive mistakes I would first have someone like ProjectFarm [1] put different oils to the test, or alternatively do the same tests he does to rule out any bias. If doing the test then one would need to send off the oils to a lab after they are put to the test the same as ProjectFarm does. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectFarm/search?query=oil https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectFarm/search?query=oil