The V8 Owners Forum -

With EU plans to increase ethanol content in standard fuel, what experience/effect has anyone noticed in the Rover V8 engine.
I have read various articles about this stuff, with dire warnings about what damage it can do to a variety of materials, many of which are in common use in many of our cars I suspect. I do a couple of touring trips to France/Italy most years and this stuff is everywhere, and I see it more and more in the UK as well.

My feeling is it's vastly over-hyped. Ethanol is just alcohol - and that will only really attack certain types of 'rubber' and plastic.

Take a look here for some info...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_fuel

I know it "attracts" water and the associated hassles due to the low combustibility of water, and that it will turn some plastics to mush as well as corrosion issues.

Years ago out in Zimbabwe they introduced blend fuel.

At the time I was driving a Morris Minor.

Su fuel pump diaphram perished

Su carb needed reset and re jetted

Su fuel float needle was a plastic covered unit and it failed when the plastic went soft.

Hot start problems as ethanol evaporates quick

Fuel pipe pump to carb went rock hard and brittle.

Rubber on tank filler connection perished

Worst was that out there the blend was not consistent. Some times you got what smelled like 4 star the next you got soooooo much alcohol your car ran like a bag of nails. Some said it the two fuels separated in the storage tanks others said the blending process was run by monkeys - who knows

Ian

Oh yes I forgot

Also had to add upper cylinder lubricant as it washed the oil off the bores too causing wear.

Perhaps it was a good sales pitch for redex or just to ease people into rebores and rebuilds

Ian

Years ago, there was petrol on sale which made a virtue of having added alcohol. Called Cleveland Discol. Current with Minor production. I don't remember any reports of it causing problems. Of course there wasn't the same range of plastics in those days.

DaveEFI wrote:Years ago, there was petrol on sale which made a virtue of having added alcohol. Called Cleveland Discol. Current with Minor production. I don't remember any reports of it causing problems. Of course there wasn't the same range of plastics in those days.

It was only their 5* that had the alcohol. I used it in my 13:1 cr mini cooper S and I found it the best for that motor. Never had any problems with seals or SU pump diaphram rotting.

Indeed. I've read reports claiming ethanol is responsible for corroding all sorts of metals and even eating away solder. Which is strange given alcohol is one of the safest general purpose solvents. So wonder if there is something else in the petrol which does the attacking. Of course if used in an old car it could just be blamed for something which was going to fail anyway.

As regards it absorbing water, so does brake fluid. Yet you get the same materials used on that as in a fuel system. Which do corrode - eventually.

Interesting stuff about this fuel on Federation of Historic Vehicles site, and seems reasonably up to date as 20/02/2012.

http://fbhvc.co.uk/bio-fuels/