For Ethanol Lovers

[snasman]

Im in the auto game and deal a lot with gov vehicles,although they have the "go green" signs on them they have been told not to use ethanol blended fuels atm,personaly after seeing some engines pulled down that have run the stuff I will not ever be thinking about putting it in any motor that I own. At our local 7/11 there are signs on the pumps that say "NO ETHONAL ADDED BY 7/11" have asked the operator if it is already added b4 they put it in the ground always get ,dont know answer so now go down the rd to a different servo.Cheer Snas

[Eagle]

Methanol and alcohol fuels do give good performance when used with a HIGH compression ratio. This is not the case with marine engines. These "normal" engines simply dont have the higer compression ratio to get the best out of these fuels. Our marine engines are still 90% petrol powered. Only an engine designed to operate with these alternative fuels will really show a greater advantage. The E10 fuel is offered to motorists as an attempt to introduce a cheaper fuel that can be used in some cars. No matter what you do to any marine engine (or car) the E10 fuel blends will never produce the power you are accustomed to. Regardless of all else, I still wont use the stuff.

Eagle

[snelly1971]

That is a good point....it might not be advertised on the pump...but how do we really know if it wasnt added at the refinery...

Mick

[ozlongboarder]

Does anyone know what effect ethanol has on fibreglass tanks? I get the impression its not good, does anyone know the facts?

[Hagar]

For Spaniard King and other Tweed users.

I avoid it like the plague too . Heads up also that the rebuilt BP servo at Kennedy drive appears not to have a pump with regular unleaded now . Went there before an arvo run off Tweed and could only find premium , unleaded 95 and the dreaded E10 unleaded . Besides that it is now a bitch to refuel with the boat the way the pumps are layed out . Lost my business and I know a lot of boaties used it for fuel .

Chris

[Kerry]

Does anyone know what effect ethanol has on fibreglass tanks? I get the impression its not good, does anyone know the facts?

Definately MUST NOT be used in fibreglass tanks. There are some absolute horror stories with FG tanks. Basically strips the inards of the tanks and feeds the crap thru the engine, not nice!

[FNQCairns]

Longboarder, depends on which grade of polyester was used, basic resin may cause a problem in time, not that it will cause a problem but it needs to be cured very well, iso polyester resin is better and a person would need to be unlucky (bad workmanship in construction) and Vinyl ester which doesn't even know ethanol exists, it is the best fuel tank material on a boat.

Epoxy should never be used it will dissolve over time.

cheers fnq

[Spaniard_King]

For Spaniard King and other Tweed users.

I avoid it like the plague too . Heads up also that the rebuilt BP servo at Kennedy drive appears not to have a pump with regular unleaded now . Went there before an arvo run off Tweed and could only find premium , unleaded 95 and the dreaded E10 unleaded . Besides that it is now a bitch to refuel with the boat the way the pumps are layed out . Lost my business and I know a lot of boaties used it for fuel .

Chris

Hagar, they sure stuffed up that servo for the boaties . I was discussing it with heath the other day, both our fill points are on the wrong side for the new BP so we have decided to give it a wide berth also, concidering its location I recon they have lost a niche market there

Garry

[Chimo]

Was talking to a Shell rep at the gym this morning and he suggested no way would he use E10 in an outboard.

Also said they were all about to reduce S in diesel from 50 ppm to 10 ppm in the near future. Not great for injector pump rubber in old 4WDs like Patrols from what I understand.

Can anyone add any more re the above and particularly regarding additives to add to diesel in older motors like the 4.2 diesel Patrols to reduce the risk of damage and avoid rebuilds etc

Thanks in anticipation

Chimo

[wessel]

Chimo

He is referring to GTL. You basically take ordinary methane gas, play with it a bit and you end up with diesel containg less than than 5 ppm sulpher and virtually no aeromatics and other baddies.

The GTL is used as a blend stock in refinaries (There is currently only one refinary in the world that has stock of the stuff. Some small amounts are coming out of malaysia but that is a pilot plant from Shell and was only a proof of concept at 3000 bpd.)

The Audi R10 that won the Les Mans 24 hour race last year was running on GTL, which is basically super clean diesel with a cetane rating of 70. (The stuff looks like water)

Yes, the older style Bosch diesel pumps do not like this new fancy stuff but the world auto makers have been preparing for the arrival of this new type of diesel for the last two years or so. All BMW and Audi diesel vehicles will be able to run on it already while other car makers apparently are slowly introducing the required changes.)

Here is the sucker punch though. The major companies will never ever sell this GTL in pure form. There is just not enough of it being made right now. It will be used as a blend stock though and even just by mixing it in with standard diesel the quality of that product is improved dramatically. Less smoke from exhaust, less servicing required, cleaner engines etc.....

Regards

Wessel

[charleville]

Another good reason for driving an LPG car. I have just taken delivery of my second. I luv 'em!

[Chimo]

Hi Wessel

Thanks for that info................can you suggest what are the best additives that I can add to my fuel to limit the chances of damage to the injector pump?

Thanks again

Chimo

[Heath]

For Spaniard King and other Tweed users.

I avoid it like the plague too . Heads up also that the rebuilt BP servo at Kennedy drive appears not to have a pump with regular unleaded now . Went there before an arvo run off Tweed and could only find premium , unleaded 95 and the dreaded E10 unleaded . Besides that it is now a bitch to refuel with the boat the way the pumps are layed out . Lost my business and I know a lot of boaties used it for fuel .

Chris

Beat me to it Chris,
Was in there the other day & saw the ol' Ethernol sticker on the bowser. Toddled off the the nearest Shell.

Got to be REAL carefull which pump you use now days. No way I'll be putting ethanol in my boat or car.

They sure did stuff it up when they redid that servo.
Ok for the bath tub boys though.

[Dignity]

booty - it is now govt sanctioned so the fuel companies don't care. The spotlight is off the fuel companies at the moment due to the budget. Look at the fuel prices at the moment, shot up 15 cents a litre wednesday and is not really coming down. Even the ACCC seems to have lost interest and the govt wont do anything as they will get their excise whether it is oil or ethanol based. If they were sincere about the environment and thought that the ethanol was better they wouldn't claim any excise on the portiuon of ethanol in the fuel.

[wessel]

Chimo

No idea as to what aftermarket products can be used. The diesel pump manufacturers are aware of the problem and may have well come out with service kits for the older style pumps, but none that I am aware of.

Sorry,

Wessel