fuel additives for ethanol-based gasoline

[Robert Bondi]

Anyone running an additive to curb the possible corrosive effects of
the latest ethanol-blended gasolines? I'm think of trying the Ethanol Shield
product in the E12.

http://www.b3cfuel.com/products/ethanol-shield/

This product comparison video strongly supports Ethanol Shield. Interesting
how all the other products have to go nameless. I guess bad press could have legal ramifications?

[T.Hanson]

Rule 1., it's your car. My commenting on what you do with it, or to it, or pour in it is mostly irrelevant.

When my local Liberal Democrat Senators thought it was a good idea to increase the ethanol content in the State's gasoline I wrote them letters. It is indeed a fact alcohol, methanol corrodes aluminum, eats the wrong kind of rubber, and it takes twice as much of the stuff to go anywhere.

This from personal experience, having to run methanol in a Briggs kart engine years ago. Pure Methanol had to be emptied from the kart tank and gasoline run through the engine after a race day. That or replace large expensive engine parts.

They thanked me, to care less. Burning food has a bigger lobby.

Back then there were no magic mitigating additives and I doubt there are now. Ask drag racers who run fuelies for any updates. Otherwise, my subtracting the chemical damage done, from the percentage currently allowed, times the years you'll be driving the car,...

I'd buy beer and pour it in me instead.

[Mike W.]

If it's just 10% ethanol, and you drive it anywhere near semi regularly, I don't think you need to worry. I've been on and off ethanol blends for over 20 years now and the only problems were with a Toyota and fuel lines. It caused tiny slivers of rubber to break off which went well into carb jets. But not out of. Once I found all the rubber parts and replaced them no more problems.

[Robert Bondi]

I tried a 2 oz bottle of Ethanol Shield to treat 10 gallons on the last fill-up.
Like most additives, it will be pretty much impossible to measure any effects, especially in the short term.

I try to drive, or at least start, the car every 2 to 3 weeks, but longer term projects can make that interval longer.

I read an article in the Hagerty Newsletter about the possibility of new legislation allowing E15 gasoline. There were outraged people with antique cars that already have problems running E10. It sounds like the ethanol content presents a much more acute problem in cars with carburetors.

[wkohler]

Something I've noticed with E28s is that they can go 20 years easy on the original fuel pump. I've seen replacement pumps going out in 3-5 years. I don't know if it is the quality of the pump or the ethanol content.

While corn has very little in the way of food value, I agree it's very stupid to burn up our food.

The comparison Robert linked to appears to be an advertisement made to look like a real consumer comparison. A real comparison would have the brands being compared. That one seems to have done it to avoid having lawyers breathing down their necks.

[Robert Bondi]

Yeah, that video would carry a lot more weight if there were a few names on the competitor products.

Since about 1999, I've been running a second fuel filter. It was originally aimed at catching particulates, but it could also have beneficial value in trapping water. It's a spin-on design (NAPA 3225), mounted in some open space under the overflow coolant reservoir. It's much larger than the stock fuel filter, which I also have. The mounting orientation (inlet and outlet are straight up) also favors capturing heavier/denser foreign object/fluids that could be entrained in the gas. Fuel hoses in the engine bay make an extra stop to go through this filter.

I've worked on diesels before and they have serious fuel filters to extract water and also sensors to detect water in fuel. I don't recall if there is anything special about the diesel fuel filter elements themselves.