so what are our concerns for running E10 in our motors? obviously they're not made for the stuff. i haven't read any solid information because i haven't had the want to but i'm seeing more and more discussion as more and more pumps around here get those stickers on them. there's a new ethanol plant just 30 miles west of me and the change is happening quicker than i think anyone around here expected. what would it take to convert our old trucks to handle the stuff?

thoughts?

I am not too concerned about the 01, but very concerned about the 56. I have the original drivetrain in it.

From my reading on the hotrodders forum...it can (and probably will) damage some of my lines, the carb float, and supposedly it is corrosive to the old block.

I was told I would run really lean on it with the carb..which can damage stuff as well.

I have not put any gas in the 56 recently (doing body work), but every station in the area has converted now. One held out for a few weeks, but.....

Also, they claim (over there) that the fuel mileage will go down on anything that runs the stuff.

Not sure what year it seems to be OK to run it on, but the computer controlled cars are supposed to adjust after a few tanks.

I welcome anyone's comments or knowledge as well. I am just repeating what I read over there.

10% isn't a big deal, the one thing that is of concern is natural rubber . Brass floats, aluminum components and all that will be fine. I have run the stuff for as long as I have been driving, and no unusual problems. If you have done a carb kit, and it had blue seals, then it has the neoprene seals, which can handle the ethanol blend. The mileage may or may not drop, I actually get better mileage on the E10 than on the regular 87 octane around here. The other thing to be aware of is that the ethanol will clean the varnish and gunk from the tank, fuel lines, and everywhere else, so there is possibility of plugging up due to all that breaking loose.

i did read somewhere that long term exposure can do something to aluminum... now i wish i'd paid better attention. that forum's for racing and most of those guys have new vehicles. that's why i came over here where there are people that would have the same concerns.

i'm running a new edelbrock 1406 carb. bought it in december so i don't know if anything in it will be affected. the motor was rebuilt in 99 and sat in storage for 8 years before i bought it so all the work done then was done before ethanol was the next big thing and i'm pretty sure they didn't change anything internally to compensate. it's running rich right now so if it leans it out it wld probably help in that case but otherwise i'm mainly worried about long term damage.

i'm imagining what i was told about b12. you get a little water in your tank throw a can of b12 in at your next fill up. don't run too much or you'll start tearing things up, dad actually said melting but regardless of the method it's tearing things up none the less.

Any car running an 02 sensor is going to adjust. that's part of the reason it's there.
Yes, rubber is affected, and if you have one of the old HARD RUBBER floats, it could affect that as well, but most components are safe. Replace rubber lines with newer nitrile ones.
As far as a vehicle running lean, you can recognize detonation and pinging, right? Retard your timing a tad on the older vehicles til the ping goes away, make sure it doesn't knock on startup, and you should be OK

Again, your system components on newer vehicles will adjust! It takes a day or two of normal driving, should be all, so long as your O2 (and similar) sensor is working properly

mrfixit said:

........Yes, rubber is affected, and if you have one of the old HARD RUBBER floats, it could affect that as well, but most components are safe. Replace rubber lines with newer nitrile ones........

Click to expand...

No clue what the float is. Do new ones come in the kits? Dad rebuilt it one night when I was at work. I would assume I have rubber lines. We will see....

mrfixit said:

......As far as a vehicle running lean, you can recognize detonation and pinging, right? Retard your timing a tad on the older vehicles til the ping goes away, make sure it doesn't knock on startup, and you should be OK.......

Click to expand...

Was that directed at me? No...I cannot hear it even with my implant..

Brian_B said:

No clue what the float is. Do new ones come in the kits? Dad rebuilt it one night when I was at work. I would assume I have rubber lines. We will see....





Was that directed at me? No...I cannot hear it even with my implant..

Click to expand...

Not necessarily directed at you... but you're talented enough to find a way around it. My dad used to be able to detect detonation with a dwell meter, or something like it...

Most of the rebuild kits come with the brass replacements on the higher end kits, aluminum with the lesser so. Most any truck running can be set up for it.

Also, as an aside... the O2 sensor basically tells the puter to increase or decrease the mix by responding to the exhaust gases that pass over it... too lean, the puter increases the mix.

If your truck gets a little hotter than usual on a drive, Brian, you might try making the mix a little richer.

most of us have run 10% ethanol and dont even know it! look at your gas pumps some place theres probably a sticker saying "this product may contain up to 10% ethanol". IF it would do any damage it would take such a long time to do so ya wouldnt even no it(cuzz somthing else would go wrong) its only 10%

The farm gas I get is E10 (89 octane). I just rebuilt the motor (needed rings and main bearings) in my 76 Case 1537 skidsteer that has been running E10 for a few years now. There were no signs of wear, burnt pistons, corosion or any damage to the fuel supply and system. It was one of the cleanest motors internally I've seen in awhile. When I started running it on E10 the fuel filter and seperator needed to be cleaned often, but gradually got to the point where it didnt have to be cleaned at all.

so there's nothing really internally other than the carb float that wld need to be replaced?

i can hear when mine isn't running right and i can tell when she doesn't like the gas i've put in too. i usually go to murphy's at walmart for the .03 discount per gallon ya know but i haven't seen any stickers here yet. i caught the one at the valero's though and left it alone. there's a small one town operation here that's got 5 or 10 stores here in my town *he buys his cigs from my warehouse* and he told me on the phone he hasn't switched yet but believes he'll have to some day even though he doesn't really want to. i think he'll hold out as long as he can and his prices are competitive with murphys even before ethanol so i'm not buying the whole it's cheaper thing that much.

They no longer have to label the pumps that have the mix any longer, so if it IS on the pump, it's an old sticker or a paranoid owner
I would change any rubber fuel lines, tho; and your regulator may need changing soon, too.

They just started putting the stickers on the pumps here about 3 weeks ago. They are not old stickers, at least around here.

The last one to not do it (did it a couple of days ago) was Exxon.

On the way to and from little rock I did notice a couple of stations that said: "We only sell real gas" or "no ethanol here". Things like that.

Those have probably changed by now too.

Guess I will find out how much of a problem I have if I get to go to Miami, OK next Saturday.

Still working on the fender. I am sooooo slow. Still hoping to get it into epoxy this weekend. Hopefully, tomorrow.

Whoa... wait... problems??? No wonder you want me along...


When I said the stickers are not mandated any longer, that didn't include the possible state regs. Maybe that's the case, here. I posted the case on this on another thread, but I'd have to search for it...

Mechanical Fuel pumps, too... forgot about those. Rubber.

Don't worry to much...it is 3 hours of driving before I get to where you are. Hopefully, I get it on the road sooner than that. It needs gas right now.

I have the old glass bowl mechanical fuel pump...just more good news keeps coming.....

The government already screwed up the oil I am supposed to use. Took the Zddp out of it. Hard to find a brand with it anymore.

Most guys (and gals) now run either racing oils (off road) or diesel oils (some of them still have it).

Diesel Oils are great alternatives, especially Delo 400. I use it almost exclusively. WalMart sells a brand called ACCEL in a formulation for API service grade SF for "1988 and earlier model years". I purchased and researched the MSDS from the manufacturer Warren Distribution/Warren Petroleum Products of Omaha,Ne. and found ZDDP level is rated at 1-5% which would translate as being between 10,000 - 50,000 PPM. The downside being that the detergent levels are much lower for SE/SF rated oils. But, a quart of tranny fluid added to the oil and run it for 5 minutes before a change takes care of that.

I am aware of the Accel oil. Another site I am active on did the research on it. No...not "that one".

I will probably switch to that at the next oil change. It is cheap too!

the fuel pump has rubber in it? geez this just keeps getting better and better. that thing's a PAIN to get to too.... anything else have rubber in it? and where's the regulator.. *showing my ignorance*

is yours EFI? If so the fuel pressure regulator should be somewhere around the back of the fuel rail. Umm...the fuel rail is what hooks to the fuel injectors that go into your intake.

Not sure if you knew what a fuel rail was.

Carburated ones...do not have those.

If yours is EFI, your fuel pump will be either in the tank or on the frame rail.

Mine is carbed and the fuel pump is mounted to the side of the engine block. It runs off the cam.

I filled mine today with E10. Guess I will find out what happens. No choice around here anymore.

The mechanical ones used to have a rubber diaphragm in them, but not the new ones.

no mine's carbed and the fuel pump is at the front driver side running off the cam as well. it's still a pain to get to... especially with no tools... *grrr*