Ethanol fuel - new technology, new problem!

We are all delighted with the new achievements via the modern technology. However with the introduction of the E10 blend, much more trouble are being caused. The bio-ethanol fuel mixture is a highly concentrated dissolver which might cause some leackage issues to your engine, specially the seals and the fuel pipes. The ethanol causes serious corrosion. Moreover, recent engines have a sealed fuel system in contrast to vintage cars which have a good bleeding fuel system. This additional corrosion arises in the bleeding fuel system as ethanol is hygroscopic i.e it attracts moisture particles from the air. Simultaneously, this trouble is intensified through the acetic and formic acid which are being emerged by ageing fuel, specially for long service life vehicles.

Before the introduction of the catalyst, the additives in particular phosphate avoid causing corrosion.However as the phosphate also damaged the pollutant filter, this has thus been replaced by other resources. Nevertheless, through the continuing development in the automotive industry, those additives are no more to be found in fuel. Unleaded fuel from the 90s
contained much more anticorrosive coating as fuel from nowadays.

Through the oxygen influence, E5 and E10 fuel are no more stable and decompose after few months. The stabilized additives are then inefficient. Many manufacturers can no more guarantee a durability of 60 days. After this period, the fuel starts to decompose and has a bad smell.

We then have to handle this corrosion issue ourselves. But how shall we manage it, when ethanol is being included everywhere?

The best solution to avoid further corrosion is to keep the tank full. After a long winter break, it is important to empty the tank as well as the fuel pump and the carburetor. Please do yourself a favour, use only fuel without bio-ethanol.

Based on our knowledge, only Aral (Ultimate), Shell (V-Power) and TOTAL (Excellium) can guarantee that those fuel are not being mixed with (bio-)ethanol.
Since five years, we are ourselves experimenting with the Liqui Molly petrol-stabilisator which is ideal for vehicles with low annual mileage and  which can also be used after a winter break. When immobilizing your vehicle, please fill in the required petrol-stabilisator quantity into the fuel tank and let the engine run during 10 minutes. We only get good feedback about that indeed without guarantee. Anyway, we can only recommend it to you.

A helpful hint for you guys: we also use the good petrol for our own engines which we rarely used, like lawnmowers, chain saw, tractor etc... and amazingly, we can start the engine immediately even after a long winter break!

No need to save for a full tank to get higher expenses later on!

(result, after 3 years using fuel with ethanol)