| Author | Message | ||
     David Hall New User Username: daveh Post Number: 8 Registered: 02-2021 |
In September UK is switching to E10 fuel(Lead free petrol with 10% ethanol). R/R Say cars post 2003 are ok but pre 2003 will have problems. Has anyone experienced ethanol problems? | ||
| Patrick Lockyer. Grand Master Username: pat_lockyer Post Number: 2447 Registered: 09-2004 |
Plenty of problems with 5% ethanol fuel in vehicles etc that are not used much in the UK. IMO go with a LPG conversion now or maybe go for a all electric conversion in the not to distant future. | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 3946 Registered: 04-2003 |
David, Contact Burlen who have ethanol [E10] conversion kits for SU carburettors and fuel pumps - essential if your wish to avoid "failures to proceed" from fuel system problems associated with E10 fuel. http://burlen.co.uk/  | ||
| felipe heuser Experienced User Username: felipe Post Number: 136 Registered: 07-2017 |
Hello, Any thoughts or comments on the "fuel diamond" offered by FS for limited driving and/or winter storage…? The fuel diamond is an amalgam of heavy metals with a military history which prevents the petrol in your car, motorbike, boat, lawnmower, lorry, etc. from going stale and losing its octane and creates corrosion in metallic components and can lead to the breakdown of rubber and plastic components. Modern Petrol tends to start to deteriorate after only 2 months Alternatively have read recommendations for two more options, Millers EPS ethanol protection additive and Millers VSPe Power Plus multi-shot fuel additive. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 3166 Registered: 06-2009 |
My opinion is these additives are snake oil. In my now 15 years with owning RRs, as well as a number of other vehicles that do not get anything near daily use, I have never had a fuel or fuel system issue after sitting, and with no additives. Brian | ||
| Mark Aldridge Frequent User Username: mark_aldridge Post Number: 740 Registered: 10-2008 |
Brian, how often do you change the rubber fuel hoses on your Shadows ? We are finding Sae J30 R6 rated fuel hose is deteriorating after about 5 years in the UK. Mark | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 3167 Registered: 06-2009 |
I have literally never changed most of the fuel hoses on either of my cars, and at least most of the flex hoses in both has to be original. The last time I did any hose replacement was around 10 years ago now, when I spliced in cut-off valves in the hose that exits the fuel tanks. There's no evidence of any issue yet. I cannot speak to what may be going on with hose manufacturers in other parts of the world, but E10 fuel has been ubiquitous in the USA since the 1980s, and was available, but on a more limited scale, in the latter half of the 1970s. All fuel hose sold here is designed to work with E10, and a great deal of it now would have to work with E85 (even though that hasn't taken off) for long periods of time. If folks were having to routinely replace fuel hosing every 5 years here the outcry would be deafening. And in reading the SAE J30 (covering many R numbers) spec, R6 is designed for long term use with ethanol. And, obviously, I've been driving with nothing but E10 since I first purchased SRH33576 in 2006 (or was it 2005). It's the only fuel commonly available in the USA, and I haven't had any of the issues that keep being reported as common. Nor, I can add, have most of the classic car owners I know, whether RR or not. Brian | ||
| Mark Aldridge Frequent User Username: mark_aldridge Post Number: 741 Registered: 10-2008 |
Changed some last week on my Austin Healey Sprite which had gone very hard and changed the pipes on my S1 Bentley when I had to change the fuel pump (Facet which burnt out and ended up on the recovery truck) and these had gone hard and were cracking around the jubilee clips. Will change the ones on my Shadow as a precaution. Mark | ||
| michael vass Frequent User Username: mikebentleyturbo2 Post Number: 720 Registered: 07-2015 |
Thanks Brian, I'm not worried about my 89 turbo R now,my only concern was the rubber diaphragm in the c.i.s injection. Cheers Mike | ||
| Patrick Lockyer. Grand Master Username: pat_lockyer Post Number: 2452 Registered: 09-2004 |
E10 can be a big problem if the vehicle is not used much and suffer with a climate with low temperature variations UK!, fuel phase separation will occur with all its problems. Will put a fuel rubber hose picture up to-morrow with it starting to fail. Insurance company's will have a field day when a car garaged catches fire and burns the house down | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 3168 Registered: 06-2009 |
Water Phase Separation in Oxygenated Gasoline Contents here: Articles on Ethanol in Fuels Then draw your own conclusions. | ||
| Patrick Lockyer. Grand Master Username: pat_lockyer Post Number: 2453 Registered: 09-2004 |
Brian, Would like to know your conclusions on what has been stated in the article just to be clear for all the readers. | ||
| Cliff Biggs New User Username: cliffy Post Number: 6 Registered: 09-2021 |
Would a fuel stabilizer like Stabil that we have in the colonies be of any use on cars not run through the winter? Most boat owners over here us it religiously every winter during their boat storage times so the fuel doesn't go bad just sitting there all winter | ||
| Mark Aldridge Frequent User Username: mark_aldridge Post Number: 750 Registered: 10-2008 |
Cliff, use it in my lawnmowers, have not tried it in a car. Might be worth considering Mark | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 3217 Registered: 06-2009 |
Just remember that marine fuel contains no ethanol (or at least it doesn't in the USA, nor does aircraft fuel). Ethanol based fuels can pick up water and handle that very gracefully, whereas straight petrol formulations can't. Also, most boats are stored in conditions less than kind to many things, including fuel. Garaged cars, not so much. Fuel stabilizer is another of those things that I've never used in anything, but others swear by. I've never had any difficulty starting my cars after a winter's nap and, as far as my lawn mower goes, I'm generally filling it up from the gas can that stayed in the garage (unheated) over the winter right next to it, and it consistently fires up when I do. Do whatever makes you comfortable. Brian | ||
| Cliff Biggs New User Username: cliffy Post Number: 8 Registered: 09-2021 |
Most boat owners here in the USA just fill up at the local gas station using ethanol fuel (up to 10%) This is the vast majority of boats in the USA. Most boating areas sell a lot of Stabil at the end of the year. Most marine gas sold at marine docks in the USA actually have E10 gas just like the regular gas stations. You can find some docks that have maybe one pump without ethanol gas but it is rare. (BTW I hold a USCG Ship's Master's License and used to drive boats for a living) Aircraft fuel (avgas)of which I am intimately familiar does NOT have E10. (I also hold an Airline Transport Pilot License) Aircraft gas can be stored in closed containers (gas tanks)for a very long time without deterioration but E10 car gas can not. It goes bad in a short time. If you store your RR over the winter with E10 gas you might/will have problems come springtime with bad gas unless you treat it before storage (and that means not just pouring it in the tank but mixing it in all the gas and lines). Be sure its a stabilizing treatment and not just a water treatment that just adds more alcohol to the gas. | ||
| Patrick Lockyer. Grand Master Username: pat_lockyer Post Number: 2471 Registered: 09-2004 |
Sense at last! It makes you most comfortable! | ||
| Cliff Biggs New User Username: cliffy Post Number: 9 Registered: 09-2021 |
Luckily I can and will drive mine all winter and with its low MPG gas mileage a tank full does not last long so I "refresh" the gas in the tank every couple of weeks :-) :-) | ||
| Patrick Lockyer. Grand Master Username: pat_lockyer Post Number: 2472 Registered: 09-2004 |
Yes and bet you don't have a mower left over the winter months with no use. | ||
| Cliff Biggs New User Username: cliffy Post Number: 10 Registered: 09-2021 |
I have nothing "green" growing in my yard that needs mowing, I live in the desert. Grass is not indigenous to the desert. I sold my last lawn mower 25 years ago Saturdays are for driving the Rolls NOT mowing grass in the desert :-) | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 3221 Registered: 06-2009 |
Patrick Lockyer wrote: bet you don't have a mower left over the winter months with no use. But I do, and have been using the same mower for over a decade. It, and whatever gas is left in its tank, and the gas can, stay just as they are from around the beginning of November to the beginning of April. Have had one spring where it wouldn't easily start, but it hadn't been serviced for years, either. The Demon Ethanol is grossly overstated. And those of us who've been using nothing but E10 for over 30 years at this point speak from experience. It's just not all that different from classic petrol in any characteristic, and that includes storage. Cliff, it's been about 20 years since I was last actively dealing with boats on a regular basis, and at that time marine gas was still pretty much ethanol free. Older boats had issues, not with the engines, but with the sealants that had been used on their fuel tanks. I imagine that over the years, as more and more of these went out of service, the move toward E10 began. And any that remained in service had their fuel tanks redone if that was necessary. With the very rarest of exceptions, I've never used additives of any sort for fuel, oil, transmission, etc. That includes Stabil or its competitors. And I've never had issues starting my cars or power equipment after a "seasonal hibernation." And bless you for not trying to create a lawn in the desert! Heaven knows if I lived where xeriscaping were possible, I'd be doing it. I had a friend who lived in Palm Springs, CA, who had a yard without a single blade of grass in it and it was lovely. These images are representative of what can be done. Using "what works naturally" in a given climate and area is the only way to go! Brian | ||
| Cliff Biggs New User Username: cliffy Post Number: 12 Registered: 09-2021 |
My yard is crushed red sandstone and the 14 plants in the front yard only have drip irrigators "-) I agree that decades ago boats had problems with ethanol in many systems of the time. Today its not such an issue BUT Stabil is used a lot and I mean a lot in the western USA for over winter storage that many times becomes over a year or two with out boat use. I can smell the difference in stored fuel over 6 or 8 months. Something is changing while it sits. | ||
| Geoff Wootton Grand Master Username: dounraey Post Number: 2280 Registered: 05-2012 |
Re: And bless you for not trying to create a lawn in the desert! Agreed. When I lived in Las Vegas most houses had lawns. Such an unnecessary use of water in a desert city. |
