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SALT LAKE CITY — No motorist wants to get stuck on the side of the road because he or she ran out of gas. A new product called Magic Tank might prevent that.
It's billed as an emergency fuel that's supposed to get a vehicle's engine running again after running out of gas.
Hillside Tire and Service manager Mark Robison wondered about the label.
"Non-flammable. How's it going to work? How's it going to ignite?" he asked.
His crew wanted to help us find out.
"We'll pull the car in. We'll take all the gas out of it. Bill's going to drive the car around until it runs out of gas, and then we're going to put it in to see if this really works," Robison said. "We're going to have a tow truck on speed dial, so he can come and get you if it doesn't work."
The crew started to drain the gas tank. Meanwhile, mechanic Cameron Gordon wanted to check to see if the stuff truly is non-flammable. He poured a bit of Magic Tank onto an old wheel cap and lit a match to it.
After several tries, he could not get it to ignite.
It's a 'what if?' It's an insurance policy if a super storm hits, crazy snowstorm, wherever you might be
–Steve Bistrizky
"In liquid form, it's non-flammable," Gordon said.
"We've actually taken out the highly flammable components that are in gasoline," Steve Bistritzky of Magic Tank said.
Bistritzky said his product works just like gasoline, minus spark-sensitive ingredients like butane. He said Magic Tank pushes whatever gas is left in the fuel line into the engine.
Once Magic Tank ignites that gas, it keeps the engine running.
"If your car gets 20 miles to the gallon, this will give you 10, because it's a half-gallon," Bistritzky said.
When we ran out of gas, we cranked the engine a couple of times to make sure it wouldn't fire, then we poured a half-gallon of Magic Tank into the gas tank.
We turned the key, and the engine started right up. No tow truck necessary.
"It's a 'what if?' It's an insurance policy if a super storm hits, crazy snowstorm, wherever you might be," Bistritzky said.
The manufacturer says it's safe to store in a car year-round.
It has a shelf-life of 10 years, so it holds up a lot longer than regular gasoline. It's meant only as emergency fuel, enough to get the car to a gas station.
