Found this while looking around for something else:

The Great Ethanol Scam - Businessweek

a couple of teasers:

If anyone wants to comment without first reading the linked article in it's entirety .... don't bother.

 

Read all that, scary stuff.

We have very little Ethanol down here.

I did get caught with some in the XJ-S V12, many years ago and it was 10% (well thats what the label said), and I noted a distinct loss of power, higher temp on the gauge, fuel gauge dropping seriously fast, all in all not happy, p&^^ed off more the truth.

We used 30ltrs for 130kms travelled.

At that time the fuel pump was seriously "screaming" in protest.

At that next town I drained the remaining fuel (60ltrs) and refilled with "normal" fuel, and continued the remaining 2000km trip home. The fuel pump shut up a tad, but I replaced it and filter once home.

Had no other issues with the car over the net 10 years, but I reckon that was just dumb Aussie luck.

 

Ok. I read the entire thing. It's an op-ed.

Now what?

To be honest I don't see anything there that I have seen elsewhere about a hundred times as written by any number of opinionators.

Mind you, I'm not trying to deny or argue every point Wallace makes. I'm sure there is at least some truth to it. Perhaps lots of truth. I dunno.

However, when his own webpage is subtitled "Automotive, Economic, and Political News".....well....you get the idea.

The subject is SO politically charged that I take in all information....pro or con... with a degree of skepticism.

I think everyone can agree that ethanol has become a favorite whipping post. How much of the whipping is deserved, though, is up for debate.



Cheers
DD

 

Nothing

I found the anecdotal incidents interesting in a smoking gun sort of way.

Having had a Jaguar document open just before that, the warranty denial is very real. To paraphrase, if the car had problems with ethanol fuel and you did not consult the dealer, it is "considered abuse" and warranty coverage is excluded. The maximum stipulation is ten percent. Right there in black and white.

 

From your description I suspect you got a load of fuel with wayyyyy more than the 10% ethanol. Or perhaps just an old fashioned tankful of "bad gas".

Cheers
DD

 

Absolutely. If we examine E10 from an economic/political standpoint, it's one of the biggest scams going. What a load of bollocks. E15 is 50% more bollocks that E10, which make E85 a complete fustercluck. I live not so far from our nation's capital and for whatever reason there's a disproportionate number of flex fuel vehicles that are foisted upon the local main dealers. Very strange thing to do as there are no filling stations anywhere around that sell E85 (?)

From a technical POV however, E10 is a big 'meh'.

As stated many times before, E10 is NOTHING NEW for much of North America. We've had it Canada for at least 20 years and the Pacific NW in the US has had it for at least 30. That's plenty of time for all these supposed problems to appear. All of my toys have been fed a steady diet of E10, even back before it was called E10 and Gasahol instead, and aside from the fuel line on one chainsaw, nothing. Zip. Nada. Rien.

I acknowledge that there's 3% less energy in E10 as compared to pure gas, but outside of laboratory conditions that's pretty hard to measure

 

So it is !

Having spent decades as a dealership service manager I can say that manufacturers are not at all adverse to blame shifting when it's appropriate to do so.....or ...ahem...when suits their needs.

Car builders often operate in a fashion very similar to government with an "official position" on a matter and an "off the record" position....the latter naturally varying quite a bit depending on who the source is and their own opinion on the matter. The difference between the two was pretty amusing at times and extremely frustrating at others.

Cheers
DD

 

But at least you can choose not to do business with a manufacturer.

Try that one on a IRS agent sometime. Not so amusing.

 

+1 on that. My back ground is with an aviation engine OEM in the engineering, customer support and reliability monitoring areas. Same story.

As for use of E15, I think there's grand total of less than 10 stations in North America that sell it. I believe almost all of the OEMs have issued warning not to use it which pretty much kills any plans to make it more widespread.

 

The main reason people have issues they blame on ethanol is water in their existing fuel systems. The ethanol combines with it and you get a nice low octane tank of fuel.
Personally, never seen a single problem with ethanol on any of my vehicles. I even modified my totally stock 1990 Volvo 740 turbo to run E85 by merely fitting larger injectors.
In two years of daily driving, absolutely none of the OEM fuel system failed in any way, shape or form....and I was rewarded with a fuel 25-40c cheaper than the premium unleaded the car required to run properly and had a much higher octane.

 

I used to drive with E85, 50% and 50% of SP 95 (normal gasoline).
My car is working very good. But one thing is sure, because in France the law says that you can't use E85 without telling it to your insurance and gouvernement services, i tryed to do it.
First of all i needed a JAGUAR FRANCE agreement.
I called them, to ask it.
They told me that they will never deliver it for a Jaguar x300 because the warranty is valid for 10% of E85 in the fuel tank. Not more.
This was the official version.
For information, i pay the SP 95 1,70 € and the E85 0,85 € ... It is a big différence.

The car is working .... But out of law in my country .....
Regards
Vince