ethanol......is it bad?

[elvis3006]

ok so lead was bad,but it helped lubricate the engine. we no longer use lead,so what can we do or use to protect and lubricate engines when using ethanol fuel, besides a lead additive? a mixture of stabil and automatic transmission fluid?

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by elvis3006

ok so lead was bad,but it helped lubricate the engine. we no longer use lead,so what can we do or use to protect and lubricate engines when using ethanol fuel, besides a lead additive? a mixture of stabil and automatic transmission fluid?

I would not use auto transmission fluid, the burning of it could cause plug fouling, even in small amounts, best to use a lead replacement additive. These additives not only contain a chemical that coats the valve seat, as lead did, but also have anti-corrosion, upper cylinder lubricant and other features.

[Ron Pier]

Richard Like you, I went for Superblend Zero 2000. Mainly because it was the one recommended for our low compression low rev MV's. By now most (but not all) of my vehicles have hardened seats fitted. But I have not been able to find it since my initial 5 litre purchase, which is now very low. I have found also that I can't buy STA-BIL at the moment in the UK. Any information by anyone on these products would be gratefully received. Ron

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Ron Pier

Richard Like you, I went for Superblend Zero 2000. Mainly because it was the one recommended for our low compression low rev MV's. By now most (but not all) of my vehicles have hardened seats fitted. But I have not been able to find it since my initial 5 litre purchase, which is now very low. I have found also that I can't buy STA-BIL at the moment in the UK. Any information by anyone on these products would be gratefully received. Ron

Hello Ron,
I always bought Superblend in the dispenser bottles from Morris Lubricants. Had enough to cover me up until now. I see it is still on Morris stock list, see their website, but name changed slightly, not sure of the significance it that, might be worth talking to their Tech Dept. As for STA-BIL, not used it, but did find one made by Briggs & Stratton, supposed to keep petrol for up to 2 years.
I don't know if you suffer from stale petrol problems, but I have had vehicles standing for some months, then go to start them and they will not fire up, only way is to drain the carb and fill float bowl with fresh petrol, once they are hot, they will stop and start without problems, go back the next day and same again. But, I have noticed one thing, a lot of this depends on the type of carburettor fitted. My own Bedford and a friends Ford WOT6, both have the same type Solex military carb, no problems, leave it for a good few months and fire straight up.

[Alan Nicholas]

Gents, if replacing fuel lines or rubber parts needed to run ethanol blended fuels you have to ask for nitrile base rubber. Nitrile is chemical resistant rubber and is reasonably common. Beware though that if nitrile is burnt, one of the by products produced is hydrofluoric acid, which is one of the nastiest acids around. It banned or in very limited use in alot countries around the world because it is so nasty.

Regards
Alan Nicholas

[Little Jo]

Hi All

I asked a question from one of our elder club members regarding changes to fuel as we can only get unleaded fuel now which burns at 90 octane, our older vehicled like my 1942 MB Jeep burns around 72 octane, I asked what I could do and he replied, "Oh just throw a cup full of diesel fuel in the tank when you fill up and she will be sweet." That may be an answer.

Little Jo

[elvis3006]

i run my MV's regularly,should i still add STA-BIL despite the fact they are not sitting idle for long periods of time? i wonder if a cup of diesel in the tank would work ?

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally Posted by elvis3006

ok so lead was bad,but it helped lubricate the engine. we no longer use lead,so what can we do or use to protect and lubricate engines when using ethanol fuel, besides a lead additive? a mixture of stabil and automatic transmission fluid?

If you really want to see some of the differences,study up on Formula 1 racing(Europe) and IRL(Indy Racing League)..United States and study the performance of both cars and fuels..
The IRL runs on Methanol...the Formula 1 cars run on Petrol,with some ethanol..
Here are some of the HP developed by methanol fuel on IRL cars..

http://members.fortunecity.com/1acci...eld_guide.html

An interesting fact is that the teams can not open up the engines or repair or tinker with them at all..strange as it seems but the engine manufacturer is the only one that can play with the engines..I ,as an old school mechanic ,asked my son in law about tinkering with the engines and he said that they are factory sealed and you would only break the seal if you had a death wish..they can pull them out and change the engine complete but not open them at all..(He is a a Racing car engineer in Indianapolis,who is on a team there and lives there and is starting to teach a course to other mechanical engineers at the University there ,on a part time basis)so knows his stuff..
I was surprised to learn that they actually have university courses to teach mechanical engineers how to be Racing car engineers in Indianapolis...


Specifications:
Engine: 3.5 L V8 Normally Aspirated
Horsepower: 650+
Wheelbase: 122in. / 309.9cm
Overall Length: 193.74in. / 492.1cm
Overall Width: 79.55in. / 202.1cm
Overall Height: 37.3in. / 94.7cm
Minimum Weight: 1585lb / 719kg
Habitat: Seen only on Oval courses in the United States. Their main roosting place is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Feeding: Methanol

[Dave Page]

Hi Guys,
As was mentioned, if the engine is operating over 3,000 rpm for - extended periods - then some wear would occur, this would still happen even if you were running with a period fuel mix. Modern engines have been designed to withstand running with throttles wide open at highway speeds for extended periods, they also have much higher compression ratios.
The very high temperatures are only generated at the wide open throttle settings. This does not mean you cannot operate your WW2 vehicle above 3,000 rpm for short or reasonable periods, after all, different engine designs ( porting for instance) tuning and etc will produce differences in internal temperature. Just don't try and drive as if it were a modern vehicle capable of modern road speeds, they were not designed for it and cannot stop as do modern vehicles. We have seen the ugly results of that.
If you want to witness the heat generated even by a low compression engine, drive a cmp up a long steep climb at night with the engine cover off. At full throttle under load the exhaust manifold will start to glow red, then orange, then yellow. Not sure those in Holland have access to hills for this test.
Enjoy them while in your care,
Dave

[Skoda boy]

I work for a very large namelss company whose main buisness is repairing petrol bowsers here in Australia. Having seen the damage E10 does to pumps, lines and tanks I would not use the stuff even if it was free!