So my roommates and I bought an old jeep to screw around with in november, we have been driving it off and on ever since and it has given us no problems. Yesterday it was time to fill her up with gas, so we found a red gas can filled with keroseine, we poured all the keroseine out and then put 5 gal of gas in, then poured that into the tank. We started the jeep and it ran for about 20 sec and then died, and now will no longer start. Can the amount of kerosiene left on the walls of the tank possibly make our car not start? and if so what can be done to get her going again? Thanks.

Jacob

Trace amounts of kerosene shouldn't cause it to die. You mentioned this was the first time filling it up. It would more likely be moisture in the gas, or some other issue caused by the gas sitting stale for a while. I recommend putting a bottle of HEAT in the gas tank (or a similar product to remove water in the fuel). If it's below freezing, it's better to keep the tank full to minimize moisture in the tank. Adding more fuel would also dilute any further traces of kerosene.

Let us know what happens with more clean fuel.

(As a precaution, never mix the use of blue kerosene cans and red gas cans. it could be deadly if the wrong fuel is used!)

So we went back and tried to start her up yesterday, and she ran fine. So I have no idea what was wrong, but its fixed. Yay.

I'd guess it just ran out of gas and after it died it took a bit more pumping to get the new gas flowing through. I had that happen once when I parked on a slope. Gas flowed away from the fuel line and engine wouldn't start, even though it worked fine when I parked. I added a few gallons of gas, cranked for a bit, and it was fine. Glad to hear it's working!