10% ethanol in gas

[Steve Wood]

this is the reason that I hate it...about 15 miles on this sending unit and gas tank.....tank looks worse on the inside than the sending unit does

[good2win22]

Damn Steve!  That looks like it was on the bottom of the Atlantic with the titanic

[Steve Wood]

7 years in my shop with a new tank and sending unit. Getting new again

[motorhead]

Technically that was water, alcohol doesn't oxidize... get with it, Steve.

Maybe I should reconsider switching the wagon to E85?

[Steve Wood]

Once, again, Mike...you are the one that needs to get with it.  Your reading skills are severely lacking.

First, the subject was ethanol in gas.  Second, nowhere did I use the word oxidize.   Third, this is your typical bait and switch technique and once again, you come up short.

Let me walk you thru the subject as your chemistry skills appear to be as lacking as your reading skills.

First, the subject was 10% ethanol in gas.  That is what is available in my area so that is what I pump into the fuel tank.  Now, that is all well and fine except after about 30 days, phase separation occurs.  As you are clearly the non-technical type, that means the ethanol separates from the gasoline.  When this happens, the hygroscopic nature of alcohol takes over and it absorbs all the water vapor out of the air inside the tank that it can hold.

When this occurs, it forms an environment that is perfect for the growth of a bacteria that is called Acetobacter.  It just so happens that one of the by products of the Acetobacter growth is acetic acid.  Acid is the key word here.   It begins to eat away at the metal it comes in contact with and the result is what most of us would refer to as corrosion or rust.

If we don't look in the fuel tank, we see evidence of it in carburetors in the form of a hard, white powdery substance that slowly, but surely, screws up the passages.

If we routinely use our vehicles and keep the fuel fresh, the side affects are minimal.  If we don't, as in the case of the Camaro in this case, it screws things up royally.

[Forzfed]

That is crazy!  I've never experienced anything even remotely close using Ethanol gas but that being said you probably live in a very humid climate.  What I have found is stations that don't move much product or don't remove the water from the bottom of their tanks can encounter some major problems.

[Steve Wood]

No, I live in a very hot and arid climate.  That is what happens when a little gas sits for several years in the tank without being replenished.  It is quite common.  On the other hand, you can go out in the pasture to an old car that has not moved in 40 years, and it will still fire up and run with a little encouragement and the tank will have very little signs of corrosion on the inside.

If you remove the tank cap and smell the fumes, if it smells like turpentine, you might as well order a new tank because it will probably be cheaper than trying to have the current one cleaned out.

One on the way from Summit right now lol

[motorhead]

Once, again, Mike...you are the one that needs to get with it.  Your reading skills are severely lacking.

First, the subject was ethanol in gas.  Second, nowhere did I use the word oxidize.   Third, this is your typical bait and switch technique and once again, you come up short.

Let me walk you thru the subject as your chemistry skills appear to be as lacking as your reading skills.

First, the subject was 10% ethanol in gas.  That is what is available in my area so that is what I pump into the fuel tank.  Now, that is all well and fine except after about 30 days, phase separation occurs.  As you are clearly the non-technical type, that means the ethanol separates from the gasoline.  When this happens, the hygroscopic nature of alcohol takes over and it absorbs all the water vapor out of the air inside the tank that it can hold.

When this occurs, it forms an environment that is perfect for the growth of a bacteria that is called Acetobacter.  It just so happens that one of the by products of the Acetobacter growth is acetic acid.  Acid is the key word here.   It begins to eat away at the metal it comes in contact with and the result is what most of us would refer to as corrosion or rust.

If we don't look in the fuel tank, we see evidence of it in carburetors in the form of a hard, white powdery substance that slowly, but surely, screws up the passages.

If we routinely use our vehicles and keep the fuel fresh, the side affects are minimal.  If we don't, as in the case of the Camaro in this case, it screws things up royally.

Whoa!  Steve, please relax.  No harm intended - yet I can see where the wires got crossed (not to mention you were already cheesed) with respect to what I wrote.

Forgot the winky face.

[Forzfed]

No, I live in a very hot and arid climate.  That is what happens when a little gas sits for several years in the tank without being replenished.  It is quite common.  On the other hand, you can go out in the pasture to an old car that has not moved in 40 years, and it will still fire up and run with a little encouragement and the tank will have very little signs of corrosion on the inside.

If you remove the tank cap and smell the fumes, if it smells like turpentine, you might as well order a new tank because it will probably be cheaper than trying to have the current one cleaned out.

One on the way from Summit right now lol

No doubt you can't beat the old gasoline!  All the new stuff has long branch chain molecules that break down over time.  That is why guys with cars parked in the field can go and fire them up after 40 years of sitting in the field.

My buddy had a gas station and I remember talking to his rep and him mentioning how methanol got put into the gas instead of ethanol which caused lots of damage to cars.

[Steve Wood]

I am sure you know about running methanol in old race cars.  Every week end, after the racing was done, we flushed all the residual methanol out of the system because it did not like what it came into contact with.  It was a great fuel, but, it was a real pain in the rear.  Pretty flames and a sweet smell-probably the reason my brain is getting mushy

[Pyro6]

So are there additives to eliminate this, like Startron? Or is it  just snake oil? I run 110 in the GN and 442, but my 72 GMC, Rebel, and Eagle are a huge concern.

[Scoobum]

Do a Google search for ethanol free gas stations in your area.

[Be4u]

Do a Google search for ethanol free gas stations in your area.

*like

[good2win22]

So are there additives to eliminate this, like Startron? Or is it  just snake oil? I run 110 in the GN and 442, but my 72 GMC, Rebel, and Eagle are a huge concern.

I use stabil in all my vehicles and lawn equipment because Paul Harvey said so

[Steve Wood]

Do a Google search for ethanol free gas stations in your area.

There was one in Abilene which is 95 miles north of me...not sure if it is still there, or not.