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Feb 28, 2007 16:38:31 GMT
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I noticed that there's a lot of stories around today regarding people claiming their cars have been wrecked by "contaminated fuels". This is most likely because the forecourt fuel they've filled up with is Ethanol E85 - (85% ethanol, 15% petrol to help with cold starting) These fuels aren't suitable for 'standard' mapped cars and also are more corrosive (although the long-term effects of this are unknown RE seals and fuel lines). A car running on E85 has to be mapped to run much, much richer than standard and you can imagine the consequences of running it on a standard mapped ECU. So if they've bosched some out on the forecourt, they're stuffed. Dave Walker commented on it in PPC this month - Sainsbury's had it out and everyone was leaving on towtrucks, as they'd just seen the cheap price and bought it, then promptly killed their cars. Just a warning peeps     |
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Last Edit: Feb 28, 2007 16:42:38 GMT by Lewis
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Feb 28, 2007 16:42:13 GMT
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Feb 28, 2007 22:35:28 GMT
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Hang on... so is this stupidity by drivers chucking ethanol in their cars, or is this the petrol companies farting around with petrol mixed with a bit of ethanol, and buggering up engine sensors?
IIRC Ethanol needs a 9:1 air/fuel mixture so no car could run on it without tweaking some.
I've never seen either on the forecourt. But then again I live in Cornwall. There's talk of a wireless portable telephone coming out soon... ;D
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Feb 28, 2007 22:38:37 GMT
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Ethanol E85 is supplied IIRC by some pumps specifically, and are labelled as such (but no warnings).........I think a lot of people have filled up with that as they've just looked at the price....
But I'm not sure if the suppliers as the ones who route fuel for several major shopping chains that have been effected also promote E85, so I think they may have, erm, cocked it up and put it in normal pumps as well maybe?
All is not clear at the moment!
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Last Edit: Feb 28, 2007 22:45:28 GMT by Lewis
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bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,965
Club RR Member Number: 71
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Feb 28, 2007 22:55:13 GMT
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But I'm not sure if the suppliers as the ones who route fuel for several major shopping chains that have been effected also promote E85, so I think they may have, erm, cocked it up and put it in normal pumps as well maybe? All is not clear at the moment! My money is on petrol companies/supermarket error Petrol is allowed to have a 5% bio ethanol content |
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Aye, the radio this morning said trading standards are testing the fuel from a number of stations. If it was simply a case of people putting E85 in not regular unleaded then TS wouldn't be testing fuel.
A chap on another forum I use was into a £800 repair bill on his car when the fuel he took at a local place turned out to be mostly dirty water due to a storage tank issue. See most storage tanks at pertol stations contain water. This is due to leaks and condesnation and the like. However, petrol and water don't mix so the petrol floats on top of the water. The pump "knows" when its about to hit the layer of water and stops. In the case of the lad in question the pump didn;t stop and his car ended up shaggo'd. I wonder if theis epidemic of unspecified failures is due to dirty petrol or pumps dispensing the water from the storage tnak bottom?
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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^
Good point
Personally I don't see how all the 'incidents' can instantly damage the oxygen/ Lambda sensor - would be curious as to which make of vehicle it's effecting most. Also would pre '92 cars be okay after just a tank cleanout (no 'cat' or 'sensor' etc.)?
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