Hello all.

I'm getting a little concerned about the use of E10 in my car.  I live in the desert and some of you may know
that this time of year is our monsoon season.  Some time ago, I installed an ACDelco '85 higher pressure and volume fuel pump to my '82.  Everything is working fine and I'm very happy with the performance.  I'm also a pilot and have been reading about the use of Auto gas in normally aspirated aircraft engines.  Most folks do not use auto fuel in their certificated airplanes but, the experimental aircraft owners have embraced it's use.  The problem seems to be the absorption of water by the E10 then the alcohol boils off as the temperature spikes while the aircraft sits on the tarmac leaving water to sink to the bottom of the fuel tank.  Water is a real killer in aircraft fuel systems.

Normally, we drain the low points in the fuel systems of aircraft during the preflight inspection.  Not a solution in my garage. I have noticed a gurgling sound coming from my tank on more than one occasion.  It really gets hot in parking lots and I have noticed a great deal of venting when I remove the gas cap....  The temp in the garage rarely gets over 120* in the garage but, if I've been on a drive and parked in an open parking spot the pavement provides a lot of heat to the tank.  I've seen asphalt temps in excess of 180* at the airport and that is before we started paving.

Any thoughts?

Thanks
Keith


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Nobody ever waves when I'm driving the Explorer.
K Woody

Move 

I don't think E10 is a big an issue with cars as it is with small engines for lawnmowers, chainsaws, etc.

One of my friends sampled some fuel from my area and found it actually had 15% Ethanol instead of the advertised 10%. I guess the shelf life is very short for E10. I know my vette has never run the same as it did before the E10/E15 stuff came out, but it never has disabled the car. I don't think the carburetor can compensate for the Ethanol like fuel injection can.

Our weather conditions vary from -10 degrees in the winter all the way up into the mid 90's during the summer with high humidity and I know of no one having issues with E10. The local small engine repair shops around here are plenty busy fixing lawnmowers, snowblowers, weed wackers, chainsaws, rototillers, and anything with a small engine due to the Ethanol in our fuel. I use "Ethanol Shield" from Home Depot for my yard equipment. I have no issues. My snowblower fires up every time in the fall, and the lawnmower and weed wacker fire up ok in the spring. 


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GEN III 5.7L "LS6" Engine swap
TKO500 5 spd.

You might be surprised/shocked to find out what the actual ethanol content is in fuel these days. The Gov. is pressing to go to 15%....I think it's been over that for quite a while.
Not only do you have to worry aboot it absorbing moisture in YOUR tank, it also is absorbing moisture in the tanks at the gas station....so you're actually paying for some of the water...the rest is free.

Best thing is to get something like Sarge suggested to help break the water up, and run it thru the system, instead of just sitting in the bottom of the tank. On the older cars like my '74, you can look down in the tanks and see what's at the bottom. Later cars...not so much.
It's just gunna get worse, too, so all you can do is put something in with it to help, and drive it as much as you can.(says the guy that never drives either of his...)

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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


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"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

I do not know how they get around it, but here in Greenville, SC, there are a few stations that sell PURE gasoine (NO ETHANOL).  It is more expensive, but both my cars run better on it and I do get marginally better mileage.

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Warning: The surgeon general has declared that it is NOT unhealthy to smoke your competition AND I just discovered that my corvette is a hybred.  It burns gas and rubber! 

Hello all.

Good considerations all.  Yesterday was a typical day here during the monsoon.  We had partly cloudy skys with temps hovering around 100*.  The garage was 115*.  Our hottest month is normally June.  Although, the average temps keep moving up until mid Sept, it just gets warmer at night.  We may have a few more 105* plus days but, the worst part of the heat is past.

I'm told by the locals that the alcohol/gas mix changes twice a year here.  I really have not notices any change in performance though.  I'll have Baby out for a 40 mile romp today.  The lowest regular price I've seen lately is $3.23 for cash. I don't have any hesitation or drop in power during acceleration that you might expect with water getting to the the injectors.

Thanks for the responses.

Having fun in the desert.

Keith


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Nobody ever waves when I'm driving the Explorer.
K Woody

Not sure where you think he can go.  I live in Indy and we have had multiple days (I beleive the most in history) in the triple digits this year.  Last night, the news reported that the month of May was the warmest ever recorded in North America.

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I wanted a Corvette my whole life, but I never dreamed of all the wonderful people I would meet because of it!

Alcohol absorbing water in my tank? Isn't that like going to a bar and filling your gut with alcohol..................ebo made me say that!

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Stabil makes a fuel treatment for E10 gas.  Most of the places that I've found that still sell pure gas do so only on 91 octane.

All of my small engines now run like crap.  Going to switch to pure gas.




|UPDATED|7/20/2012 4:33:35 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|


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1973 L-82 4 spd

Thanks all.

We get some gully washers here.  It does not rain much but, when it does rain there is a lot of local
flooding.  I flew yesterday and of the folks I talked to at the airport only one had found water in his tanks.
I suspect a leaky gas cap on his high wing Cessna. They are vented to prevent  fuel starvation

Again, the monsoon will pass. 

I lived on the coast up in New England so, the problem of water in the fuel was much more of an issue. I always found it in my lawn tractor/snow plow.  It was easy enough to drain the tank.

Thanks for all the inputs.

Keith


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Nobody ever waves when I'm driving the Explorer.
K Woody