TOPIC:

www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles...oming-like-it-or-not

Obviously this only effects members in the USA for now. I did see E15 at a station near my house (North Texas) this last week. I know some of you hate Ethanol (and probably know I don't). Regardless of your view, all this change of the blends is just horrible for anything short of a vehicle designed as flex fuel. Part of my latest race car rebuild is converting it to flex fuel. It will show the Ethanol content on the dash and will alter fuel, timing and boost to fit the % of Ethanol. It should be able to run on 0-100% Ethanol.

But for everything from your bike to your lawnmower, watch out! In previous studies, the US decided 10% was OK for all those old vehicles. I won't be surprised if they decide the same for E15 and allow the retailers to not divulge the content up to 15% (other than the cursory notice we have now of "May contain up to 10% Ethanol).

For now, the station I saw advertises the E15 and charges a few cents less for it.

Interesting. If I pull into a station with E0 available, I'll fill up with it. Otherwise, I don't really seek it out.

That might change with E15 though.

I for one am glad that someone else has brought this up and not me. For a few years now I've been trying to raise the awareness of ethanol and the consequences if you don't take it in to account.
Ethanol has replaced the tetra ethyl lead in fuel to raise the "octane rating" and that's fine. Not throwing lead in to the air is fine by me. What we need to understand is that Ethanol was introduced in to fuel well after the last carburetor was used in 95% of most engines so the only consideration was a minor change to fuel lines. Since fuel injection was introduced, fuel lines were made with elastomers which could handle ethanol.
The problem we faced with our KZ1300 (Z1300's) predominantly relates to the carburetor bowl and the affinity of ethanol to absorb water. What happens is humidity in the air is absorbed by the ethanol and then sits in the carb bowl. Aluminum in the presence of water will oxidize and we see the evidence in the form of a white powdery like substance that builds up and blocks passages in the carb and it's troublesome to remove, especially in the idle circuit.
The other issue we have is primarily with the o-ring between the float needle seat and the carb body. The ethanol will shrink the o-ring and then allow gasoline to pass around the seal and flood the carbs.
I became very much aware of ethanol when I first picked up my Porsche 928. There was a known issue with engine fires caused by the small fuel line (about 4" long) that married the fuel injection pressure regulator to the fuel rail. It was a Porsche part that was made of Buna N on a fuel system pressurized at 30 PSI. When ethanol fuel came in to being, it rotted the Buna N and caused a leak that spewed fuel all over the engine and then the ignition system would light it up. Many 928's died a terrible death because of a $20 piece of hose.
For us, regarding the moisture problem- Using a fuel stabilizer specifically designed to work with ethanol enriched fuel will minimize the moisture content related issue. If you choose not to use this product, then just ensure the fuel in your tank is not more than 8 weeks old.
Change out all of your fuel lines to fuel injection rated fuel line. That is guaranteed to be ethanol rated fuel line.
Also ensure that you change out the o-ring on the needle seat to carb body. to a Viton o-ring.
The opportunities to buy ethanol free fuel are becoming very slim. We will have to embrace it eventually, so we may as well update our equipment to accept it.

Does anyone remember when they pulled out the tetra ethyl lead and then valve seats were burning out? Then we changed the valve seats to a different material and now we hardly remember the issue. Just do the simple changes and then you can forget all about the ethanol. Maybe one day Frank833 will be offering EFI injection kits with Megasquirt controllers. and you'll be able to run any fuel shy of Bunker "C".

Hi Kawboy

what product are you using ?

Thx

Holger

BigSix wrote: Hi Kawboy

what product are you using ?

Thx

Holger

I've been using 1:44 min intro to Sta-bil 360 Marine for 5 years now and I'm quite happy with it. For of of my small engines that I fill with a 5 gallon fuel can, I put 1/2 ounce of Sta-bil in the fuel can. That way, I never worry about storing the fuel in the can for the season. Since using this, I've not had to "fix" any of my engines with carburetors. It just works. Treatment is 1 ounce for 10 gallons. Prices can vary. I've found this at Walmart for around $23.00 for a 32 ounce bottle which treats 320 gallons of fuel.

Kawboy wrote: Maybe one day Frank833 will be offering EFI injection kits with Megasquirt controllers.

I expect I will do the Megasquirt project this coming winter. Don't look to me to sell "kits"! But I will document what I do and freely share my tune.

EFI is a fair amount of wiring, and a lot of fiddly tuning. But even us old carb guys can make the leap. When you put a system together from scratch you do understand how it all works! And no more worrying about altitude and weather adjustments!

Now if I could just figure out what all these fiddly parts on the Sprint Car's mechanical fuel injection actually do....