E10 issues.

[101RRS]

A friend of mine has an old crappy nissan pintara which has always had unleaded in it. On Wednesday he needed fuel and the garage was out of unleaded (supposedly) so he filled up with E10.

On start the following morning it started a bit rough and got worse during the day. He came to me for help and I just assumed from his description the fuel pump was playing up or more likely a blocked fuel filter - I did not know about being filled with e10 at that stage. As I was not in a position to replace the filter at the time, I drained it hoping to move enough crude to at least make it drivable until the filter could be replaced - there was some very fine black particles in the fuel that came out bit nothing really yukie.

The filter went back in and the car is running better than before but still not perfect. I have suggested the guy get a full tuneup and replace filters etc.

So anyone else had issues with E10 in older cars?

Garry

[Tombie]

E10 will dissolve older hoses etc....

Not a good fuel in older vehicles.

[JDNSW]

E10 is supposed not to be more aggressive in attacking hoses and old sludge deposits than is unleaded, but there may be a slight effect. I would be very surprised if any effect showed up on a single tank, and if it did, I would suspect dirty fuel rather than the effect of the alcohol in the fuel. It could also be coincidence.

John

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Standard unleaded is now allowed to be up to E10 without anyone telling you. The only fuel guaranteed not to contain any ethanol are the premium blends.

A friend in Canberra had to replace his 80"s SU fuel pump diaphragms three times in one year on unleaded. He now only uses premium in that series one.

[bee utey]

A chief engineer from Impco Technologies (LPG) warned me that E10 was designed to used immediately. It can absorb 10% weight of water, so if your friend's tank was not fully pressure sealed it might have had some water vapour present. Any duel fuel vehicle should never keep E10 in the tank, only premium, so it lasts long enough to work without damage.

[Grumbles]

Lotz-A-Landies. Q - Standard unleaded is now allowed to be up to E10 without anyone telling you.-Q.

I did not know that. Is this Australia wide or state specific? If state specific which states can do this? Thanks.

[PhilipA]

NSW is making 91 E10 mandatory
The second phase of the New South Wales Government’s biofuels strategy has been locked in, with outlets at major retailers like Coles and Woolworths now under the state’s E10 mandate.

Retailers must now ensure that, on average, two percent of all petrol sold is ethanol.


In making the announcement on October 20, State Minister for Lands Tony Kelly said E10 now accounts for more than 20 percent of all petrol sold in NSW.

“Well over one billion litres of the ethanol-blended fuel has been sold,” he said. “The government will ensure this success continues with further mandatory requirements, which will include increasing the average ethanol content required to four percent from January 1, 2010.

“This will increase to six percent a year later and from July 1, 2011, E10 will replace regular grade unleaded petrol. Premium unleaded will still be available without ethanol for those who cannot use ethanol-blended fuel.”

The minister repeated that a two percent biodiesel mandate will be introduced next January, rising to five percent in 2011.

There you go. AFAIK no other state has mandated.
Regards Philip A

[101RRS]

Retailers must now ensure that, on average, two percent of all petrol sold is ethanol.

But this doesn't imply that all unleaded will have a minimum of 2% ethanol - if sales of e10 were to pick up this target could be met without adding ethanol to the rest of the fuels.

I hope :(.

Garry

[matthewk]

A friend of mine has an old crappy nissan pintara which has always had unleaded in it. On Wednesday he needed fuel and the garage was out of unleaded (supposedly) so he filled up with E10.

On start the following morning it started a bit rough and got worse during the day. He came to me for help and I just assumed from his description the fuel pump was playing up or more likely a blocked fuel filter - I did not know about being filled with e10 at that stage. As I was not in a position to replace the filter at the time, I drained it hoping to move enough crude to at least make it drivable until the filter could be replaced - there was some very fine black particles in the fuel that came out bit nothing really yukie.

The filter went back in and the car is running better than before but still not perfect. I have suggested the guy get a full tuneup and replace filters etc.

So anyone else had issues with E10 in older cars?

Garry



my 1995 hyundai runs on e10 or petrol plus etc with no worries at all
but my 1995 v8i disco hates it

[seano87]

my 1995 hyundai runs on e10 or petrol plus etc with no worries at all
but my 1995 v8i disco hates it

My parents Subaru Forrester (2003) runs atrociously on E10 (many different service stations) but our old 1994 Hold Barina ran much better on E10 than regular unleaded, with about 5% better economy.

I am led to believe engine timing can play a role - ie E10 runs better if timing is adjusted a few degrees one way or the other. But do not know for sure.

Seano

[siacci]

I have a friend with a 5 series BMW. He was told E10 was as good as premium as the octane level is higher (or something like it). He filled up and his car ran like ****e. I put some Cleanpower in it to see if it would help and told him to go back to premium. Within in 1/4 tank he said it was running better. 3 tanks (premium) later its a good as gold.

I am dubious on E10.

Dave

[101RRS]

Well the Pintara had to go to the mechanic to get it running properly. Had a few tuning issues but the fuel in the bottom of the filter was a black colour - seems the E10 has been dissolving the inner lining of the old rubber fuel line. Not a lot but just enough to start blocking the fuel filter - however to be fair the filter had not been changed in a while but there was fine rubber particles in it.

If the car had been in good tune with new rubber fuel line there would probably not been an issue.

Garry

[Blknight.aus]

they cant provide E-anything or bio-anything without putting some kind of warning sign somewhere.

usually its a piddly little sign buried behind the lollies that you cant read or in very small print on the bowser.

E10 does have a better octane rating than normal unleaded BUT its also got less energy per liter.

its also very effective for dewatering fuel systems and shifting deposits in your fuel lines and filters..

Even if your vehicle is rated to handle E-anything if you've only been running it on normal fuel for quite some time you might pick up some issues while it runs through this process.

[Hoges]

Note also the tech bulletin from LR re. ethanol fuels for V8 P38s and I dare say applies to Discos of that era with the 4.0 V8...ethanol attacks the fuel sender which causes the resistance to change which in turn leads to significant deterioration in the fuel gauge calibration: ... the "fix" is a new sender...

[PhilipA]

Which is part of the fuel pump assembly. OUCH.

Regards Philip A

[cucinadio]

just got a quote for a new one for mine for this problem ...$250...
will be changing it over week after next with new lines and dropping the tank for a clean ...

cheers

[cucinadio]

is it possible to reverse the wires to run the pump in revers ?

(hear this works for some types of pump ?)

cheers

[Hoges]

My fuel gauge went awry about 18m ago...would not register beyond half way even on a full load of fuel...all continuity checks etc were OK. Was able to "force" the gauge to read "full" with the Faultmate test. This went on for 3 months and I was ready to replace the sender etc...

Came across the LR bulletin and on a hunch that there was crud on the sender I treated it with 2 doses of EFI cleaner to try and dissolve the crud...the first lot while filling the tank up to about a third full...and let it sit for a day or two then headed towards Rockhampton (700km) ...put in another dose while refuelling (full tank) . Both times used premium fuel...when I refuelled in Rocky.. gauge read "full" ...worth a try!

PS: the question I can't answer is ...why the crud build up? I suspect a couple of dodgy refills though I never knowingly used E10... (one of the worst pieces of public policy ever...that and the ETS,,,but that's another issue). The truck had been idle for a month or so prior with a 1/4 full tank while I sorted out the rocker/lifter issues...can only surmise that's when the bugs got to work and deposits began building up on the sender mechanism...