| Re: [GMCnet] Fuel Filters [message #327942 is a reply to message #327923] |
Sun, 07 January 2018 00:30   |
Ken Burton
Messages: 10030
Registered: January 2004
Location: Hebron, Indiana
Karma:
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Senior Member |
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Back in 1996 (I believe it was) we in the Chicago-Milwaukee EPA non-attainment area were forced to go to E-10 year round and it has been that way here ever since. MTBE was not approved or supplied here.
In 1995 and 1996 there was lots of doom and gloom articles with lots of added hype like Y2K about how we were all going to have fuel filter, fuel line, injector, fuel pump, and carb problems. There were opportunists trying to sell their preemptive fixes for big bucks. Not many people bought into it and did anything to prepare. They just used whatever came out of the pump and went on their way.
Since E-10 and 100% gas (E-0) came out of the same refinery and same terminals and were mixed at time of loading the delivery truck, the EPA placed their enforcement arm on the delivery truck drivers. It was a flat fine of $25,000 for any fuel truck driver caught dropping E-0 at a retail gas station in a non-attainment county. Off vehicle pumps road like farming, boats, and aviation, etc. were exempt.
Well nothing happened after in or after 1996 and in the 20+ years since then everybody has forgotten about the projected problem. I hate ethanol diluted gasoline as much as anyone for other reasons but the forecast disaster just never happened.
Around here where you think it might have been needed most, it is impossible to find any place stocking ethanol rated fuel line / hose. It can be special ordered for 3 times the normal line/hose prices.
I needed 3 feet of 1/2" fuel line a couple of months ago for a gas vent line on a GMC. I special ordered 3 feet from Oreily and the computer took the order. They had the standard 1/2" hose in stock, as did AutoZone, and Advance. In order to fill the 3 ft. order the warehouse sent a 100 foot roll and it took 3 days to get there from who knows where. They sold me 3 feet and put the rest in stock expecting to never be able to sell it. Their computer said that they had never sold that item before. They also did not stock ethanol rated hose in 1/4, 5/16, and 3/8 sizes.
The place ethanol did cause a problem was when pilots used it in airplanes, which is illegal. It softened up some of the sealants used in wet wing tanks causing them to seep. When the fuel in the tanks was replaced with non-ethanol diluted 100% gasoline the seeping stopped.
We all know that ethanol makes a good detergent. So if you are now using E-10 and your fuel system if full of junk (primarily varnish) from years of neglect, I suspect that over a period of time E-10 will dissolve that stuff and it will get carried away. If it is a rust issue you have it can also get carried away but not dissolve. If there are large particles greater than 10 or 20 micron they should be caught in the carb and inline filters. Hose problems, and fuel pump problems from E-10 I have never seen.
I have seen some very old hoses get very hard but they would have gotten that way over 40 years E-10 or not. I have one very hard one going to my Onan that someday I'll replace.
So based on over 20 years of local experience with mandated E-10, I do buy into to all of the E-10 hype.
There are still many other reasons not to like E-10 and I still use 100% gasoline whenever possible in my airplane, GMC, small engines, and cars.
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
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