Basically, this guy makes a video of himself rigging a gas can into his engine compartment, the theory being that the fumes from the gas can will run the engine:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.ph...718343&fref=nf

It appears to work, but my first thought when the truck turned over was that the engine already had fuel in it. Were the cylinders empty? Then, the engine runs for a minute or so until the guy shuts it down. I'm a bit skeptical on this. If it was this easy or effective, wouldn't a lot of people be doing it?

 

Internal combustion engines are already doing this, but in a much safer way.

Gasoline is not flammable. Gas vapors are. Gasoline is atomized right before combustion, creating a massive increase in surface area, which allows the gas to vaporize very quickly. This sets up the unstable atmosphere that is prime for combustion.

Would you rather do that inside the intake manifold, or in a plastic can sitting unsecured inside your engine compartment? This guy didn't build a more fuel efficient engine, he build a bomb.

 

I replied on the facebook post that all internal combustion engines run on fumes. Gas is a liquid and liquids cannot be compressed, therefore the gas has to be atomized... basically, I said what you said here.

I ended my facebook post with something along the lines of 'the 100 mile carburetor is a myth.' What the guy posted did nothing to disprove what we pretty much know, right?

 

Didn't he say he heard of people doing this and getting 200 mpg?

A friend of a friend has a brother who ...

 

Not only is it dangerous done that way, there isn't really a way to have fine control of fuel mixture. Gasoline engines will run anywhere from 10:1 to 20:1 depending on load and conditions, but the best balance of power and emissions is at what is known as the stoichiometric ratio of 14.7:1. The computer, oxygen sensor, map and mass air sensor, temperature sensor, etc are all there to keep the fuel ratio as close as possible to this point.
Not to mention that if his engine backfires when it goes lean, it'll blow up that can.
If you want to play around with a vapor sucking engine, go with something like this:

 

I do appreciate the inputs. That engine is pretty cool to watch. However, the bottom line is that the facebook guy seems to have finally figured out that the gas is turned into a, uhhh, gas, so that the engine can properly burn it. What he discovered through his observations, is that the engine does what it is supposed to. What someone else needs to tell him is that the carb already does what he was doing with the gas can, but does so in a much safer manner.

Well I know a guy who said he saw a guy's brother, who was using his boss's son's garage (who works for Exxon)... but the technology was "lost."