[Mgs] Sunday morning, a bit OT

[Richard Lindsay]

Only car I had problems with was my Lotus Esprit. Its fuel hose at the
tanks, fell apart when I gently squeezed it. Fortunately, that 'wasn't my
first rodeo' and I had an oil change pan under it!

On Sat, Oct 12, 2019, 12:51 PM Max Heim <mvheim at sonic.net> wrote:

> In California, they used MTBE as an oxygenator, prior to the widespread
> use of ethanol. Now I believe it has been replaced with ethanol across the
> board.
>
> One hears a lot of complaints, but I haven’t had any real problems with
> 10% ethanol fuel in my MG. My muscle car, with an advertised 10.5:1
> compression ratio V8, wasn’t very happy with 91 octane CA blend, but it ran
> with slightly retarded timing.
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Oct 7, 2019, at 5:46 AM, Richard Lindsay via Mgs <mgs at autox.team.net>
> wrote:
>
> Hello friends,
>    Straight ethanol has an equivalent octane rating of 113, so mixing it
> with petrol increases the mixture's octane value. Of course, the quoted
> value on the pump already takes this into account. Beyond that gem of
> useless knowledge, I'm close to lost.
>    Petrol is a mixture of hydrocarbons. We all know that. And Wikipedia
> can probably list them all in volume fraction order. But what is added
> today to increase the 87 octane value, other than ethanol? It used to be
> TEL, or tetraethyllead, but those days are long gone. The skeptical and
> distrusting scientist in me wants to believe that petrol manufacturers are
> using the ethanol content to elevate the effective octane rating thereby
> saving the other octane boosting stuff, whatever it is.
>
> Rick
>
>
> On Mon, Oct 7, 2019, 3:11 AM PaulHunt73 via Mgs <mgs at autox.team.net>
> wrote:
>
>> Fortunately the UK still has 5% max ethanol in both standard and high
>> octanes.  There is 'moral' pressure from some quarters on the Government to
>> increase it to 10% max but suppliers can meet their legal requirements
>> purely with bio diesel, and don't want to be the first to go to 10% and get
>> bad publicity from complaints.  If the move against diesel gathers pace
>> that may force their hands.
>>
>> The main problem with fuel hoses and everything else rubber here is the
>> quality of the rubber itself.  I've always (30 years) run the roadster
>> on high octane but the V8 (24 years) always on standard which has had
>> ethanol at 5% max for 20 years now.  While 98 octane may not have contained
>> ethanol originally, suppliers tended to be cagey when asked directly, and
>> others indicated that it varied according to where in the UK you bought
>> it.  Four years ago I decided to replace the V8 pump hoses as the braiding
>> was crumbling when it came to me so they were probably original - but as
>> far as the rubber goes the old ones were in perfect condition.  I even slit
>> a piece lengthwise and opened it out but there wasn't a trace of cracking.
>> When I first got the V8 it didn't have any carb overflow hoses so I
>> installed them, and they have had to be replaced since from severe cracking
>> - and they don't even carry liquid fuel, only vapour.  I fitted non-braided
>> so I can keep an eye on the external condition at least, but I have no
>> doubt they won't last anywhere near as long as the originals.
>>
>> If standard here goes up to 10% - fortunately pumps are now required to
>> be labelled clearly on the pump as well as the nozzle itself - I'll run the
>> V8 on high octane as well, as that has been designated 'petrol protection
>> grade' for older vehicles for the foreseeable future.
>>
>> PaulH.
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> Last week 95 octane fuel has to be 10% bio-ethanol, which makes even
>> post-modern cars vulnerable for this nasty fuel additive.
>>
>> So I’ll change the type of fuel for my mopeds to a special one. The BGT
>> will get the 98 octane fuel, which contains 5% bio-ethanol.
>>
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