[Healeys] Bad running due to ethanol in gas?

[Steve B. Gerow]

Bob,
I wasn't intending to pass my assertion off as "science". Wanted to put it out in front of the group and see if anyone else feels like they're experiencing the same issue.

I've been having these problems for maybe three months and have a hunch about the gas. This may be wrong and I'll figure it out after a while.

I followed up on my hunch by purchasing the test kit ($30 approx). I'm now going to embark on a program of testing the fuels I buy at different stations. Different grades, too.

It would be useful information if some other drivers would test their gas, find a similar percentage of ethanol, and report whether their cars are running differently.
-- 
Steve Gerow
BN6
Altadena, CA


>  -------Original Message-------
>  From: Bob Spidell <bspidell at comcast.net>
>  To: Steve B. Gerow <steveg at abrazosdata.com>
>  Cc: healeys at autox.team.net <healeys at autox.team.net>
>  Subject: Re: [Healeys] Bad running due to ethanol in gas?
>  Sent: Sep 04 '11 05:54
>  
>  Sorry, guess I was a little snarky and, believe me, I'm not a fan of ethanol in gasoline (I think it's one of the
>  biggest shams ever perpetrated on the American public).  I just don't like to see people making associations without
>  evidence (there's enough weird crap going on for real I don't need to make stuff up).
>  
>  In my immediate family we have: a 1919 Seagrave Pumper fire engine, a 1946 Chevy 2-ton truck, a 1955 T-Bird, a 1965
>  Mustang, a couple old Ford tractors and, of course, our 2 Healeys (BJ8 and 100M).  All are carbureted (various types)
>  and all run fine on California gas which, it can be assumed, contain up to 10% ethanol (all run on 87-octane except my
>  BJ8, which usually gets premium).   I just put 4,000+ miles on the BJ8 buying gas in several states and two Canadian
>  provinces without a single problem.  I bought a tank of premium in Burns, OR which did not contain any ethanol; I
>  thought wow, we'll really see a difference with 'pure' gas.  No discernible difference in performance or even mileage (I
>  thought we might get an 'extra' mpg or so).   Problems with gasahol in fuel tanks, old rubber lines, diaphragms, etc. I
>  can believe.
>  
>  I'm the curious type, so if I thought the gas was the problem in my car I'd drive the 150 miles--that would pretty much
>  empty the tank--and buy a tank of pure gas, then drive it home.  If my car ran as it should on the way home then I'd say
>  there's a high probability of causation; if not, I'd have to look elsewhere for the problem.
>  
>  I'm also not a fan of conspiracy theories; I don't believe refiners or distributors--I suspect the ethanol is blended at
>  the refinery--would risk adding illegal amounts of ethanol, then admit it in order to get 'tax breaks.'  AFAIK, only
>  corn farmers and the distillers are getting tax breaks.
>  
>  Bob
>  
>  
>  On 9/3/2011 10:48 PM, Steve B. Gerow wrote:
>  > Geez Bob, according to the link you sent, there are 4 stations in California that sell non-ethanol gas - the closest one to me is in Ridgecrest, 150 miles - hardly a solution.
>  >
>  > If you'd actually read my post below, you would see that I didn't say my 8% ethanol gas was over-mixed, I only said there's an incentive for distributors to over-mix ethanol into gas. It may indeed be over mixed for Healeys, though. Do you know what the ethanol percentage was of the gas we were typically running, say, a year or two ago was?
>  >
>  > What I'm saying here is my car and those of others I know are running somewhat badly now and I suspect the gas may be the problem.
>  >
>  > Just because 10% is allowed, which was presumably arrived at in coordination with the current car manufacturers, doesn't mean it will run in our old carbureted cars without problems.
>  >
>  
>  
>  --
>  *******************************************************************
>  Bob Spidell           San Jose, CA            bspidell at comcast.net
>  
>  *******************************************************************