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Ethynol in Petrol? How do you cope?
Ethynol in Petrol? How do you cope?
Apart from probably spelling, here in the UK we appear to be getting lead free petrol with greater quantities of 'ethynol' in than in the past. I think at the moment in Europe there is a general limit of 5% ethynol but gather it's going to increase to 10% over the next few years.
In a number of 'historic' vehicle clubs there seems to be concerns or problems of the 5% type fuel (which I guess will increase as the fuel changes to 10%) with some running problems and ethynol affecting steel components - fuel tanks, fuel lines in metal/rubber/copper parts, float bowls and carb parts and in some vehicles 'sludge' or 'age old sediments' being loossened and then gumming up fuel lines; some reports of fuel and water problems with ethynol absorbing water that then rusts tanks etc --- all very gloomy stuff for those with a desire and love of 'older' vehicles.
Years ag we had the loss of 'lead' in fuel and the effects on valves and valve seats - that seems like 'small beer' to these problems - at least the valve seats and valves could be replaced.
I know some AMAL carbs have new 'resistent' float bowls....or these can be retro fitted - so thats one small part of the fuel chain - but not heard about suchlike for bings and beemers.....
I gather some riders of bikes like later Norton Commandos or Royal Enfield GT bikes that had original (and now some replacement-remanufactured) 'fibreglass tanks' have had problems with these disintegrating so throwing fuel all over a hot engine... Some clubs / specialists are concerned worse things, like 'fibreglass resin/bits' gumming up and even sticking open fuel flow which desn't bear thinking about
I am guessing that the older beemers - classic and vintage will not escape the affects of these 'fuel brews' so I wondered how are or do you cope with this away from the UK/Europe?
Cheers
Mark
- Darryl.Richman
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Here in California, we've
Ethanol can be bad for plastics and rubber, and that includes fiberglass. Bing makes ethanol-proof floats for the 1970-on 2 valve boxers, but I have read reports that they really aren't any better than the original foam floats.
Ethanol also is hydrophilic -- it will pull water out of the air. Ethanol and other alcohols are used in as fuel stabilizers, for use in stored vehicles, because they will mix with water and hold it in suspension with the gasoline. Although water and gas don't mix, ethanol will mix with either, and to a limited extent, both. So, you fill your tank, add the fuel stabilizer, run it just until it has passed into the entire fuel system, and then you store the vehicle for the winter.
The problem with ethanol in this regard is that it also evaporates out of the gasoline fairly quickly. So E10 gas can get "stale" in a matter of a few weeks. If the ethanol had pulled water out of the air and was holding it in solution with the gasoline, the water will then separate out and sink to the bottom, where it will go to work oxidizing the steel.
The trick to all this is preventing the ethanol from evaporating. The air space in the tank can breathe through the tank vent and any evaporated alcohol can escape into the atmosphere. But with a full tank, there's no air space over the fuel for the ethanol to evaporate into. If there's almost no air space, the rate at which the ethanol evaporates and breathes out is greatly reduced. Therefore, the way to do this is to keep the gas tank FULL when in storage.
- schrader7032
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I've not noticed any issues
But the ethanol doesn't seem to be a big concern to me.
'78 R100/7 '69 R69S '52 R25/2
Fast. Neat. Average. Friendly. Good. Good.
No problems w/ Ethanol
Ethanol doesn't seem to be a big concern to me, either.
My Rides: Present: 1971 R50/5 (30+years) + 2007 k1200LT (2+ years). 2011 Ural "Gear up 2WD" Past: 3 honda's, 3 Bmw's, and a Ural retro side-car.
[quote]Knowledge is funny, The more I learn, the more that I learn that I don't know[/quote].