Anyone having gas related problems this year (more so that others)? We expanded/repainted the shop. Pulled all of the cars out in mid November. They have been on battery tenders in a heated storage area. I was able to move everything back in last week. Cars that have been as reliable as a Honda for years now either failed to start, and/or have serious gas leaks. Last time the ’60 Morris sat for 2 years and started right up. This time it sat 2 months and I had pull the jets and “ungunk” everything. I have seriously stuck floats on some (SU’s) and one where the 2 year old seal for the gas gauge sender just disengreated. Everything gets driven or at least started a couple times a month. Most probably have gas in them from as far back as August/September. I am pissed. I cant ever get the 914 done as I seem to always be dicking with something else.

Anyone experienced anything like this?

that sucks. i have quite a stable full of old and new vehicles myself. fortunately no fuel problems. i havnt experienced any of the ethanol problems others have. in fact just yesterday i fired up my motorhome that has been sitting for 2 years. it sook some cranking to fill the float bowls but it started right up. knock on wood, no fuel problems. maybe my time is coming... i heard viton seals are ethanol resistant. mcmaster carr has a huge assortment.

Your Goverment is here to help you!

In CO we have "seasonal gasoline".
It changes with the time of year, but I dont know the specifics, but I think: Lower ozone emission during winter months is required.

What time did you last fill the cars?
If all at the same time or nearly, then maybe blame the gas.



Maybe too much hydrogen gas from charging or WHAT was used to heat the storage space?
Stu

Run StaBil in everything that sits... Works for me.

yup. Daughter brought her 94 BMW over for me to look at, change oil, etc. and there on the ground was a nice puddle of fuel.

The crap they call "gasoline" is why I am taking the MFI off my motor and going to EFI. I can't get it to run worth a damn on the overpriced, lousy moonshine they sell now.

I have one lawn tractor that had problems all season last year. I've started putting stabil in anything that sits for over a couple of weeks. I'm glad I put some in the tank of the 914 before I pulled the motor.

Ethanol fuel is a wonderful thing. If fuel sits for any length of time the ethenol will separate out of the gasoline. Then the ethanol will absorbe moisture out of the air and you will have water in the fuel. This is most noticable on cars running carburators with a float bowl and a vent to atmosphere. The water that separates is heavier than the gasoline and will sit at the bottom of the float bowls. In the dealership I work at we frequently have fuel problems, even on brand new cars. I have seen cars with 5000 miles sit for a month and then foul the plugs on start up due to a nice slug of water and alcohol coming out of the injectors on first start up. We have a fuel tester that checks for contamination and the results have been suprising to say the least.

The new fuels are an issue for old cars, no doubt. You need the marine Stabil in every tank. You need fuel hose that will stand up to alcohol. It may be eating gaskets and filters, I don't know.

But it is not something that is going away. Cursing the govt is not going to help. We need to adapt to this change as we have adapted to all the ones in the past and hatever comes in the future.

The new fuel convinced me that I needed to learn EFI and none of my old cars is keeping carbs. If you drive more frequently then I do carbs may not be an issue.

There is already a push for E20 and new cars are being built with that in mind. Before I am done with I old cars I expect to need to use e85 or even e100 for commonly available fuel.

Or, someone will start marketing pure gas again on the boutique level for old cars, like what happened with ZDDP oils. But, like the oils this would not always be available and shipping fuels is expensive. At that point it's not something you can find at the corner station.

Collectively we need to deal the the present and plan for the future.

Zach

This is already available...
its called race fuel
only 10$ a gallon and available at most race tracks.
I run it exclusively in my race car.



Scott,
use stabil
and start everything 1x a month

I was rebuilding every carb, every spring on my motorcycles
but starting 1x each month seems to have solved that problem

Im one for more turbo'd e85 setups because it is the way of the future. Doesn't change the fact that th good old days of burning straight dino oil are gone, oh well my megasquirt2 is able to run a ethanol mix sensor so It can identify varying levels of ethanol and adjust Mixture accordingly

CA has seasonal fuels too - pretty much all year long!

At least the Ethanol doesn't eat thru the rubber lines like the MTBE additives that CA used to use. That crap caused me to have to redo the soft fuel lines, fuel tank seals & crossover tubes, etc. on our Westy every couple of years!

Ethanol has the separation & water collection problems noted above, but IMHO using stabilizer on any gas is a good idea.

That's why we had to always check the fuel in the tanks before flying - even with 85LL/85 & higher octane AvGas - water still gets in there.

Had 3 batches of fuel go bad several years ago in my previous car. All from different stations. Wasn't in the car for more than several months. I won't store my car with fuel in it over the winter anymore because of that. Tried a product called Star Tron. Some kind of organic treatment that disolves the ill effects of ethanol. Worked well at doing so, but the residue clogged the filter. At least the gas was ok. Think I'll go back to adding in the Marine Stabil from now on. There is a new Stabil out for ethanol as well. Any Seafoam users?
Tom, I can speak for any of the other additives they put in NJ gas, but the E10 they sell here is quite aggressive against rubber lines, etc.

I don't know about other areas, but around here, almost all of the marinas still sell "normal" gas. Yes it is a higher price, but how much is your time and aggravation worth when you have to rebuild your carbs a couple times a year

I think the Marinas in Annapolis sell the ethanol. We sell fuel stabilizer and it helps. We have allot of trouble with boats (outboards especially) because the sit for long periods of time.

I've used sea foam in the boat. Worked fantastic, fired right up after 2 years.

I just had an issue last month. My 914 sat for 2 months and I went to take it out, backed it out of the garage and saw the puddle and trail from under the gas tank. Not sure what is damaged yet but I'm going back next month to try and work on it.