Good evening guys and girls, I was reading on a motorcycle forum that the EU will be bringing in a directive this year that raises the Ethanol content of petrol from 5% to 10%. They say that most cars from 1990 should be unaffected but where does that leave the classic car folk like us? One website shows these effects on non-compatible systems: The resultant problems for vehicles not compatible with E10 include: · Fuel filter blockage and increased wear of fuel system components: Ethanol acts as a solvent loosening abrasive deposits · Galvanic corrosion: Ethanol is more highly conductive compared to hydrocarbons leading to corrosion if electrically dissimilar metals are present in the fuel system · Air/Fuel mixture problems: Ethanol contains about 35% oxygen, so the air/fuel mixture has to be adjusted otherwise the vehicle will run lean which could cause drive-ability problems and overheating · Drive-ability: E10 blends can be more volatile, causing hot problems (poor hot starting, hesitation etc) and cold weather problems (vaporisation problems) · Deposit formation: Inlet system and combustion chamber deposits have been reported with the use of E5 and E10 blends compared to E0. · Material compatibility: Some materials used in fuel system components are less compatible with ethanol in fuel resulting in loss of structural integrity, swelling and softening of materials (some older glass-fibre petrol tanks and tank sealants will melt). · Ethanol holds more dissolved water and associated impurities leading to corrosion of metallic components. I have seen that one site says all VW petrol engines with a few exceptions were compatible and the T2 wasn't one of those affected. Any thoughts on this and has anyone run their Bay on E10 blended fuel?
They have been running air cooled engines on booze in mexico amd brazil for years! I would not worry. Keep an eye on your fuel lines, replace with modern ones which should be fine. New fuel pumps are brazilian anyway so no issues there? Dont worry
Its worth it to reduce the risk of fire, dont forget to fit any fuel filters after the petrol tank but before the engine(not in engine bay). You dont need unleaded cylinder heads either, VW made hardened seat valves for years. Dont believe the scaremongers! These vans and engines were designed to run on carrot juice mixed with pig poo- they are tough old rust buckets.
