I've read that the ethanol they put in modern gasolines can have a negative effect on some rubber parts of older fuel systems, like in this old 120 I now have.

Are there any fuel additive products which will offset those negative effects? Perhaps a BG product of some flavor?

Thanks very much.

 

I dabble in old motorcycles, outboards, snowmobiles and cars so this topic is always on the table for debate on the other forums I frequent.

It is true that some types of rubber as used on older vehicles can be negatively affected by E10 fuel. It was not till the late '80s, early '90s that ethanol proof materials became universal.

I have no evidence indicating that any of the miracle juice products presently on the market do much to avoid the effects of ethanol.

My viewpoint is that any original components have long since outlived their design life, so this is an ideal opportunity to have them overhauled with modern materials.

It frightens me every time I look at a 40-50-60 year old car with rubber fuel lines of the same age..........

 

Ha! I was working on an Xk120 just recently. Had to replace a carb float. Darned old thing was plum full of gas!

Anyhow, I'm on the same page as Mikey but this thread might interest you:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...bad-gas-92427/


A few posts in a disccusion of 2-stroke oil with TCW3 comes up.

Cheers
DD

 

Mikey - thanks, your points are well taken. I should be ok, then, as carbs have recently been rebuilt. Fuel pump might need rebuilding, and I think most of the fuel lines are hard, not rubber (but would have to look more into that...). That said, Dad has been putting "normal" gas in it anyway (though the last fill-up was from an ethanol-free station, and we think he got water in with the gas instead of ethanol!).

Thanks again!

 

Sounds like you may already be doing this, but there is no reason to put up with ethanol if one of these no-ethanol gas stops are near by:
pure-gas.org : ethanol-free gas stations

Looks like Kalifornia and Newada are mostly SOL...

 

Complain to your Congressman, Let's get rid of ethanol laced gasoline.

 

think the corn oil is here to stay..but keep trying ..write to at least also have "clear"..ethanol free fuel. The ethanol does more than eat rubber...worse almost is that it turns to gook in a rather short time, a problem on classics that are not driven to use the fuel up, then more ethanol fuel (ethanol when fresh is a solvent) frees up some but not all of the gook..so it gets in your fuel system. AND..ethanol attracts water but does not mix well with it..
Try to find no ethanol fuel..some states do have it..but there are now several products to "treat" ethanol fuel and minimize some of the enzymes and bad effects. Read up on them..on the net..Startron is one, STP and Stabil also have similar products..at first they called them "Marine"..as the ethanol attracting water is not good in a marine damp environment, and it also eats at the fiberglass fuel tanks.
in short DO add the ethanol treatment, perhaps with a little Techron or Lucas fuel system cleaner, occasional Heat yellow to burn off the water. Jag XKs already have iron valve seates (hardened) so the no lead is not an issue..but a touch of the lead substitutes won't harm your engine and kinda return the fuel to what it used to be in the day. I add some off road racing use octane boost as well, tho 90-92 octane should be ok.,

 

Nick-

Do you have any first-handed experience with any of this to share with us?

I think if we used all the additives you've suggested there wouldn't be much room left in the tank for any gasoline.

 

Do NOT put ethanol in any airplane. The sound you no longer hear just before you hit the ground was the engine stopping for being clogged by ethanol. Ethanol free gas is available most anywhere, so your older car should never see the stuff either. Hammer your Congress Cretan abut abolishing mandatory ethanol.

 

Hi..for Mikey..yes I do make a cocktail for my XK120 fuel..but when you think of it, that is what the fuel manufacturers do..along with the govt mandates for ethanol, in their own fuel blends, (gas at the pump is not just gas), but the "witches brew" that they make is for current cars, sort of made to run on it. So, my mix is no ethanol gas when I can..it is available here, and often I have 15 gals or so of it in my fuel shed, which is separate from the garage..40 ft away. To ethanol free, with the slightly lower octane of 90, I add a bit of Techron to keep things clean (my entire fuel system, tank to carbs was completely redone), a bit of Lucas fuel top oil - stabilizer,and a bit of off road NOS octane boost..MMMT. If an ethanol fuel is used,then add the Startron or Stabil ethanol treatment..and a bit of Heet Yellow to rid fuel of water that is absorped into the ethanol laced fuel. This has been my fuel mix for quite a few years of happy motoring in the XK which is timed, gapped, etc exactly to factory specs, for this March 53 car, 7 deg BTDC, .016 contacts, NGKBP5ES plugs at .025, Lucas Sport Coil, a see thru very low restriction in line fuel filter, Mobil 1 20-50 engine oil WITH zddp added in the right amount per the zddp mfg spec (Edelbrock, Lucas, Joe Gibbs and others make zddp additive..or one can obtain hot rod, older car oil that already has zddp in the correct amount for flat tapped cams..the XK engine..has those pesky flat tappets. Cam wear without zddp in oil can be quite quick. Oils lost the zddp around 2000 when oil companies deleted it as modern engines do not need it, and it does burn out a catalytic converter. I crawed under my xk..guess what..no catalytic converter !! The oils back in the 50s were not so bad..the XK120 went 7 days, 7 nights at over 100 mph AVERAGE..(incl stops)..with Shell oil. On tear down all parts were found to be within new engine tolerances!! BTW modern oils are very good at staying clean, resisting sludge formation,and modern oil filters are better,thus the extended oil change periods..but we would not run oil in our XKs that long anyway...right?
Nick

 

I see we've now drifted into the engine oil topic. Nothing controversial about that one.........

 

drifting..good word to use in an XK thread..
from engine oil, much discussed, we can go to gear box oil ! tho that one is a little bit easier..some things are completely wrong..and Jaguar told us exactly what to use..trouble is..that was then,this is now..and while the Moss box and it's contents are the same..the oil on the shelf is not the same..
any takers??

 

Hello I’m new the forum and I note the original thread is not from the UK, however I was at the Rolls Royce Club HQ in the UK doing a course on how to maintain my 20/25 and one of the specialists was a carb chap and the same question was asked about ethanol.
He did confirm that unless your car has been updated, with new fuel lines and floats etc , ethanol will corroded the rubbers and even the solder on the floats in carbs, his advice was simply when filling up only use the super plus unleaded, not the standard stuff, this in Europe has no ethanol , I can’t confirm this in the US .
This is what I have been putting in my cars and have had no issues to date.

 

in the US of A, the fuel most everywhere of all grades has the 10% or 15% ethanol added, usually a sticker on the pump to that effect, there may be a few exceptions, and the no-ethanol, if it can be found, should be signed to indicate no-ethanol, or ethanol free, or "Clear..no ethanol". Some US states have no ethanol fuel at only some stations. Some states do not have it at all. There is a website to find no ethanol fuel. Ethanol does eat the older rubber and it does eat some metals, and it does deteriorate, and it does attract water from the atmosphere. Use of the addtives to counter these effects "might" help.