There is talk of raising the % of ethanol in our gasoline above the current 10%. Anyone have some thoughts on how this might effect our cars? Beyond performance, I'm thinking about fuel lines, gaskets and the like.

 

Yup, the EPA at it again. I'm not sure about our cars but I can tell you what it does to marine engines, at least mine. The 10% version will destabilize the structure of the composite fuel tanks causing "gunk" to accumulate in the bottom of the tank, the fuel lines, carbs, and everywhere else the fuel goes. Biggest culprit is time. If the gas is allowed to sit for any length of time it does its "magic". So far fuel stabilizers don't seem to help and marine engine mechanics are pulling their hair out but making money. Let's see if the EPA will pick up the repair bills.

 

I think the wife's 2000 S Type 3.0 is gagging on ethanol, no mis fires or problems other than eng light intermitant !!
I changed fuel filter (thanks to Vance Y tube) but lite flickers
Shell has a v power fuel without ethanol (I think) $4.49 gal, any other places ,marina,airport,etc
Will seafoam,lucas, or stabil clear this gagging problem??
I realy get PO about OUR Gov trying to kill my wife's Cat !!
I also have 1963 Avanti that hates this stuff the old girl snorts and sputers until I boost oct, any help welcomed Please advise SEAYA !!

 

I've been using E10 (10% ethanol) for over 20 years and never had a single problem with it. All modern cars were designed and built to run on E10, so if a car is not running well, don't blame the fuel. Seafoam etc. were developed to deal with post-war 2 stroke engines running on gas oil mix that would get clogged over the winter. These products have no place in a modern EFI car.

As to E15, the fuel system is resistant to any % of ethanol I am told.

What happens in boats that have vented fuel storage systems is irrelevant to cars that have sealed systems.

 

I know you mean well BUTT, corn to alcohol,which absorbs water and forms gunk can't be good for any motor!! Why must a Gov tell me what to burn in my own cars, just up the price for good fuel !!

 

You can thank a very small handful of very large corporate corn farmers with effective lobbyists for that.

 

It costs more to produce a gallon of E10 than a gallon of pure gas- without federal subsidies the E10 would be much more expensive. Ethanol fuels are one of the biggest scams ever.

 

bingo!

 

... and makes corn unaffordable for human consumption in some parts of the world where it is a food staple.

For other more affluent countries, it also drives up other food costs because it is part of the food chain for other foods. Not to mention the price of all cooking oils. So, any food involving grains becomes much more expensive. That includes french fries, baked goods of all kinds, and the list goes on.

 

Don't forget beer! Malted barley is up almost 50% since the ethanol stupidity started.

 

Well after 3hrs research the only place to find non ethanol gas is at a boat marina!! I just got rid of 24'Fourwinns gas gussler 460 cobra OH WELL it's a way out!! I have not checked avgas yet Man I hope people clean house next election I'm tired of things being crammed down my throat!! SEAYA!!

 

I know Jaguar engineers hate it. it DOES cause issues with engine smoothness. Most notably cold starts. We test fuel occassionally and have found much higher than 10% amounts. Yes it absorbs water and I know that the guys at injectorrx.com say half of their business is from boat owners and ethanols attack on fiberglass fuel tanks and systems. The rebuild pumps and clean injectors all from issues resulting from ethanol use. Yes is supplements our use of fossil fuel, but you get less power and less mpg with its use. I get 1 more mpg when I am out in rural areas outside Houston that dont have ethanol blends and gas stations. So how to you calibrate ecus programming that were designed by engineers to run on no more than 10% and vehicles like my 79 El Camino or 87 Suburban. I just replaced the fuel tank, intank pump and level sender due to rust. And on the race car that uses pump gas, the lines are attacked(braided stainless) and leaking fuel from them. I am looking to replace with the same lines that OEMS use, crosslinked polypropalene(sp)? But the costs and having to change the lines and the fittings is 3-4times the cost of going back to the same braided hose
Maybe I should just fit electric motors and lithium cells in both of them since will be there before too much longer and the current level of changein technology and fuel costs. Damn I remember when I could buy 7-10 ears of corn for a buck when BBQing

 

If you think your S-type has problems now, just try using some Avgas. The repairs will cost more than the car is worth.

 

Well, given the history of ethanol, it didn't happen overnight, you cannot blame it on the current administration.

And since you are so down on the current administration, you are probably a supporter of the other faction. You helped vote them in, and with them, their friends the corn lobbyists.

 

The rough idle in two of my cars was solved by running a can of BG-44K in the gas tank. I usually do it on a road trip to really clean everything up well. Once a year. Worked for me!!

 

Don't use avgas! It still has lead in it. Modern avgas is "low lead", but there's still enough lead there to destroy your catalytic converters.

On the other hand, it's 100 octane, so if you've removed your cats and upped the boost on your XKR, you might find it pleasing.

 

Like Newton's law for every action there is a reaction, Al gore is the genuis that's starving the third world with corn being burned as fuel
It's not I'm so down with current administration (which I am ) I'm 66 years old & I like things the way they were, but time marches on sometimes for good sometimes NOT (this is one) What ever happened to freedom of choice ! I now have a choice to buy the same thing from different place??

 

Well then, let's look at the history of ethanol blended fuels...

In 1990 a democrat controlled congress passed amendments to the Clean Air Act which mandated oxygenated fuels.

In 1992 a democrat controlled congress passed the Energy Policy Act of 1992 which mandated the increased use of alternative fuels (ethanol).

In 1999 individual states began banning MTBE. With MTBE banned, ethanol had to be added to the fuel to meet the requirements of the Clean Air Act.

In 2004 California's democrat controlled legislature banned MTBE completely, requiring the use of ethanol to meet EPA regulations.

In 2007 the democrat controlled congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act which mandates the use of 15 billion gallons per year of ethanol by 2015.

In 2009 a lobbying group called American Coalition of Ethanol (ACE) was trying to get congress to mandate the use of E15 (15% ethanol blend, up from the E10 which is common). When the Republicans took control of the House of Reps in 2010 their efforts hit a brick wall in congress. They are now lobbying the EPA to make an end-run around congress to pass a non-legislative regulation to mandate E15.

Soooo... it appears as if the push for ethanol fuels has primarily come from the democrats. The Republicans have been saying "drill baby drill", while democrats have been saying "let's ban domestic drilling so we can import two gallons of gas to make one gallon of ethanol. That way we'll enrich our big donors, then they can give us more money to guarantee we'll get re-elected! WOOHOO!"

 

Al Gore is a convenient target, but he's hardly to blame for the ethanol mess. In the search for domestic villians, a good place to start would be the farm lobby and their minions in both parties. This ain't about air quality or dependence on foriegn oil; it's about corn growers.

Worldwide discoveries of oil peaked years ago so replacements will be needed, and renewables make sense. So-called cellulosic ethanol (from non-edible stuff) especially so; corn ethanol, not so much.

Or that's how it looks to me anyway.

 

And, if you think about it, how can you say that the Republicans are for both "big oil" and "big ethanol"? The oil companies want to sell us oil, not corn. There's a whole other lobbying group that is pushing ethanol. The two groups are diametrically opposed to one another. Farmers, by and large, have always been supporters of the democrats. The democrats have been throwing subsidies at farmers for the last century. Ethanol is just another subsidy. You and me and everyone else is paying higher prices for EVERYTHING just so the farmers make more money. Which they turn around and give to the democrats to insure that the subsidies continue to flow.