Ethanol

[Brad H.]

Now that were all dealing with this stuff in all our cars, what should we be treating our c1s with to keep them from from eating up parts and or running bad, should we use reg, mid grade or super? Thanks. Brad. 54,58.

[Bruce B.]

Re: Ethanol

Brad,
I have a 62 340 HP 11.25 compression and I use 93 octane Shell gas and have never had a problem.
I also have a 65 coupe 300HP and I use cheap regular gas, any brand. No problems.
In my 57 250 HP FI car I use Shell 93 octane and have never had a problem. Excellent in hot weather runs and starts fine.
Granted ethanol can soften or destroy rubber so I just check the fuel lines and look for leaks frequently but have never found any problems.
There are no treatments that will do anything to the ethanol which will do any good.
This has been covered many times before on this forum.

[Jerry B.]

Re: Ethanol

Here in Flordia, there is a independent station that sells no Ethanol 90 octane gas. I am trying to determine if this would be a better choice than 93 with 10% corn oil?

[Frederick W.]

Re: Ethanol

On my 68 the accelerator pump kept going bad on my quadrajet. I rebuilt it twice with "ethanol resistant" pumps. It would work fine for a couple of short trips and then begin the dreaded hesitation on acceleration again.
Finally sent it for a professional rebuild by Lars Grimsrud. Once again it ran fine for about 30 minutes, followed by accel pump problems again. Lars assured me that the replacement pump was ethanol compatible, but gladly accepted the carb back to check. He found another complete failure of the pump.
He then went on to testing of multiple pumps labelled to be alcohol resistant, only to find that almost all were not. This included the kits from NAPA/Echlin.
He wrote to the company about the issue and the serious safety issues associated (eg. hit the gas to merge into traffic and stall, etc.).
He had to soak multiple pumps on fuel overnight, eventually finding one that held up to the gasahol, but it was an old pump from his stock not one of the several new pumps sold as compatible.
Cliff at Cliffs High Performance sells his own ethanol compatible pumps for those in need.
However, it makes me wonder how many other problems may be related to ethanol in our old cars. I certainly think there are a lot of people running quadrajets that are having these problems but have no idea about the false labelling of their new rebuild kits.

[Bill I.]

Re: Ethanol

Just noticed the other day while filling the wife's DD, at a station that changed to Marathon, there was no stickers on the pumps re: up to 10 ethanol. Will have to ask next time.

Maybe I'll get lucky with an answer rather than "eh, I dunno, maybe they fell off"

[Clem Z.]

Re: Ethanol

On my 68 the accelerator pump kept going bad on my quadrajet. I rebuilt it twice with "ethanol resistant" pumps. It would work fine for a couple of short trips and then begin the dreaded hesitation on acceleration again.
Finally sent it for a professional rebuild by Lars Grimsrud. Once again it ran fine for about 30 minutes, followed by accel pump problems again. Lars assured me that the replacement pump was ethanol compatible, but gladly accepted the carb back to check. He found another complete failure of the pump.
He then went on to testing of multiple pumps labelled to be alcohol resistant, only to find that almost all were not. This included the kits from NAPA/Echlin.
He wrote to the company about the issue and the serious safety issues associated (eg. hit the gas to merge into traffic and stall, etc.).
He had to soak multiple pumps on fuel overnight, eventually finding one that held up to the gasahol, but it was an old pump from his stock not one of the several new pumps sold as compatible.
Cliff at Cliffs High Performance sells his own ethanol compatible pumps for those in need.
However, it makes me wonder how many other problems may be related to ethanol in our old cars. I certainly think there are a lot of people running quadrajets that are having these problems but have no idea about the false labelling of their new rebuild kits.

we have had 10% in the summer months here in Pa for years and i have had no problems with pumps as long as i used the dark blue ones from hygrade when i rebuild the carbs. also used the green ones from holley on holleys with no comebacks

[William P.]

Re: Ethanol

In Ontario Canada Shell 91 has no Ethanol , I use it in my 66 and all my small engines . Lawn mower, gererator, snow blower.
Regards

[Frederick W.]

Re: Ethanol

For those who haven't read about the issue with ethanol and Qjet accelerator pumps:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...t-quality.html

[Patrick N.]

Re: Ethanol

Please forgive my lack of knowledge, but is the primary tri-power carb effected the same way as the Qjet? This is my first tri power car and I have not fired the motor yet since the rebuild.
Thanks
Pat
68 427 / 400
88

[Michael J.]

Re: Ethanol

Please forgive my lack of knowledge, but is the primary tri-power carb effected the same way as the Qjet? This is my first tri power car and I have not fired the motor yet since the rebuild.
Thanks
Pat
68 427 / 400
88

The Holleys on my L71 have used 91 octane ethanol laced fuel for several years, and I have had no problems.

[Frederick W.]

Re: Ethanol

Please be aware that the specific problem I mentioned is very real and well researched and documented. It was acknowledged by NAPA/Echlin but they were unwilling to address it. The NAPA/Echlin pumps are not there own, but manufactured by a larger factory that supplies many/most retailers.

For those not experiencing the problem, it could be due to different fuel blends in different regions, different carbs/pumps (eg. the leather pumps are not affected in the same way), or perhaps they have some of the pumps that randomly are resistant to the fuel blends, where most are not.

If you are having problems with hesitation on acceleration or hard starting (the accelerator pump "squirt" is necessary to prime the carb) then it is a little tricky to check. Basically the pump becomes quite soft and comes off the pump shaft. It may seem like this is normal (it did to me at first) but the soft pliable cup does not function.
Look in the carb when you open the throttle and you should see a good strong "squirt" of fuel. If it is not good and strong you have a problem.

[Stuart F.]

Re: Ethanol

I'm not certain how the law reads here in Florida, but I assumed that all commercially available pump gas was to have up to 10% ethenol. Now maybe it is in regards to the labeling only(?).

Stu Fox

[Brad H.]

Re: Ethanol

What about the lead substitutes in the gas, yes or no? Thanks, brad.

[Bruce B.]

Re: Ethanol

NO lead substitutes.
A waste of money.
20,000 miles on my 62 340 HP with no lead substitutes and no problems.

[John H.]

Re: Ethanol

I'm not certain how the law reads here in Florida, but I assumed that all commercially available pump gas was to have up to 10% ethenol. Now maybe it is in regards to the labeling only(?).

Stu Fox

Stu -

The pump labeling thing ("This fuel may contain up to 10% Ethanol", etc.) varies by state; some states require it, some don't - there's no federal requirement.