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Ethanol Question

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Tinster

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This gasahol seems to be a big problem but
I'm wondering about it.

My boat engine uses two fuel/water seperators due to
ethanol and the water attraction problem.

I have not found a fuel/water seperator on either of
my new Jeeps. They both run on regular grade gasahol.

My 69 TR6 has had many fuel related problems of late.
I have replaced the entire fuel delivery system twice
now in the past two months.

Will a fuel/water seperator filter like a Racor help these older cars?

thanks,

dale
 
I haven't read all the data on ethanol, but it seems to me the best method to keep condensation at bay, especially for cars that sit a while, is to keep the tank full.

That's my plan, anyway...
 
This will be just my opinion, Dale...

The Raycor filter would be complete overkill on the TR.

~IF~ you've evidence the ethanol is attacking bits of the system, IOW you see dark gas (rubber dissolved in the fuel, result of decomposing or melting hoses) or lumps in the fuel the Raycor won't do much to change that. Ethanol resistant hoses/parts WILL.

If the "Island Blend" is so water avid as to be hauling moisture out of the atmosphere in QUANTITIES, it could be of some small help... BUT: your issue with fuel contamination has certainly been the result of pumping water from the station tank INTO yours. Not from the minute amounts of condensate in your tank. One in-line filter of the Purolator METAL variety, someplace on/near the firewall before the carbs is ALL you need.
 
For SNG's take a small piece of the same type hose you have in the car's fuel system and put it in a (lidded) jar with some gasohol for a few days or weeks. See if the stuff attacks the material. That should result in solid data for ya.
 
Dale, there are a whole lot of TR's running on the ethanol blend in the States. Even in areas of high humidity like on the island. As stated in other posts, as long as your 'rubber' hoses are immune to ethanol, one filter and drive.

You also worry to much about the condition of your fuel tank. You have already knocked off the loose stuff and cleaned it well, so it is probably in better shape then many on the road. I had a boat with a 500 gallon steel tank, you could hear the rust sloshing around in the bottom. I just changed filters frequently, never a problem. Just try to keep the tank topped off and check the filter every once a year.
 
I always drive across the border to the adjacent "rural" county to buy no-ethanol gas. But now all but one of those stations have switched voluntarily to ethanol (probably just easier for the distributor. If the last one switches, too; I'll either have to drive deeper in to the rural county, or take my chances with the ethanol I suppose.
 
Beats what happened when California introduced MBTE to the gas. After one tank full I let the car sit for a couple of weeks, the went to drive it. Gas was gushing from the bottom of the carps, that junk dissolved every gasket. Parked it until I could make repairs, then the transmission sounded like a cement mixed, so I parked it. A few years later, I am in a full off body restore.
 
I've said this before and I will say it again.
In the Midwest we have had this stuff forced upon us since the early eighties and thats all we can get in the city.
You are making this out to be a big problem when it is not.
I have had all sorts of cars from the sixties and seventies and I ran them on 10% ethanol blended fuel and I never had an unusual problem that was related to the gas. I also never replaced any of the stock rubber components in the fuel system, everything survived just fine.
The only difference with ethanol in the fuel instead of pure gas is that you use more to go the same distance. Thats due to the lower energy content of alcohol as compared to gasoline.
Also since alcohol is hydrophilic I have never had to add a fuel system deicer in the winter and I never iced up. The bit of condensation mixes with the alcohol and gets burned off during normal use. I also have never seen any water droplets accumulated on the bottom of my fuel tank since running 10% ethanol.
As for the merits of using food for fuel, that is a whole other topic.
 
RomanH said:
I also have never seen any water droplets accumulated on the bottom of my fuel tank since running 10% ethanol.
Click to expand...

<span style="color: #990000">Maybe it's just that this ethanol blend stuff is so
strange looking when compared to gasoline. My engine runs poorly on this blend.

d</span>

:sick:
badgas.jpg
 
Dale - that old picture from April is gettin' a lot of use ...
 
Dale I thought that it has already been determined that the crud in the picture was contaminated in the holding tank at the gas station. THATS NOT GAS! I have never had any gas look like that.
Your new Jeep could not run on that stuff let alone your Triumph.
Just be mindful of where you buy your gas.
 
NutmegCT said:
Dale - that old picture from April is gettin' a lot of use ...
Click to expand...

<span style="color: #990000">Yupper, tis true. The photo of that ethanol crap
is getting a whole lot more use than my Triumph is. Here it is going
on three months later and I'm still trying to get my car fully
functional again, due to that funky ethanol fuel. I lost the
entire spring driving season and now it's too hot to drive, without A/C.

Yes, I hand filter my TR6 fuel now and use new gas stations with new
tanks for my Jeeps.

later gator, I'll be in the garage working on getting the Beast
streetable again.

d</span>
 
I've been running 5-10% ethanol mixed fuel since it hit the markets - whenever that was. I've almost <span style="font-style: italic">always</span> run it in my '77 MGB and '60s-vintage VW engine. I've never had a problem, not one.

I admit I haven't been following the saga of the unknown liquid in that jar - but a normal 10% ethanol mix of gasoline <span style="font-style: italic">that is not</span>.

Are you sure you didn't top-off with E85, or worse yet maybe the fuel dealer bought (or sold) E85 instead of gasoline?
 
TR6oldtimer said:
Beats what happened when California introduced MBTE to the gas. After one tank full I let the car sit for a couple of weeks, the went to drive it. Gas was gushing from the bottom of the carps, that junk dissolved every gasket. Parked it until I could make repairs, then the transmission sounded like a cement mixed, so I parked it. A few years later, I am in a full off body restore.
Click to expand...
you make it sound like that was a recent event... MTBE was in use ~long~ before ethanol was introduced in Cali. Now it's nearly impossible to find MTBE gas in Cali. All the stations I go to only have Ethanol now. My MGB with it's single ZS carb ran great on MTBE, and then performance became craptastic when my only MTBE source switched to Ethanol. Then I switched the ZS to a single SU HS-6 and it ran great again...
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]you make it sound like that was a recent event... [/QUOTE]

Now you know how long my six sat in the back yard absorbing Monterey Bay salt air and filled with water in the winter, which is why it is now being restored.
 
I suppose time is all relative... :laugh:
 
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