Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing E10 Fuel

I've been trawling around the net for information about Petrol going from 5% Ethanol to 10% Ethanol this year. I have gathered the following rumours:

1. All fuel sold by the end of this year will contain 10% ethanol.
2. All modern engines (what is modern??) are OK but "classic" engines can be damaged: some fuel lines and tanks and other parts.
3. Texaco fuel does not contain ethanol (..??)
4. Shell will not tell anyone. BP varies by region...etc
5. The average increase cost to the UK motorist is £80 pa in DECREASED mpg. Why something is being sold to us as "green" that is causing a reduction in mpg seems very, very strange (apart from the issue of using agricultural land to grow corn oil etc.)

Anyhow, without descending to EU bashing or complaining about the state of the world we live in, does anyone have any inside knowledge or definite facts on this issue? Owners of older Morgans might have to be careful what they put in the tank this year..

Try the FBHVC...

I believe 2013 was the original date for E10 to be the norm, whereas it may take until 2015.

When has anything like this made any sense?????

I second the refer to the FHBVC suggestion.

The subject has been mentioned in many past newsletters and there is a general fuel information page.

AFAIK, just about all fuel sold is E5, including Texaco, but Super Unleaded, at a higher price, is the safest bet for minimum ethanol.

According to a spokesman from BP in the Spring 2013 of Motoring Classics ... "premium fuels (i.e. 97-99 octane) do not contain ethanol."

~iw

But I think the Super grades of Shell now do.

I've been researching removal of the ethanol for some vehicles, but although I think it can be done, you would be doing chemistry with large quantities of a volatile liquid.

Just realised there is a good summary posted here by Aeroman:

http://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/125699/Fuel_for_thought#Post125699

It does read a bit like PR but hopefully not an issue for most of us (or my 1952 XK120..I hope..)

Oliver (thanks y'all for the other replies).

On the other hand there is this (published 15/3/13):

http://www.groups.tr-register.co.uk/wessex/ethanol-update.html

Take your pick as to what to believe..

I've read both. There are elements of truth, but really a correct analysis will lie somewhere between.

The TR one is alarmist and the BP statement is the other way. There is only one type of ethanol, it is, full stop, hygroscopic.

I've actually thought of something very sensible, and for a vintage car like mine, incredibly easy to do. When in the garage, block the air hole in the filler cap. Won't stop the ethanol drying the air in the tank and absorbing moisture, but will stop it trying to dry the garage!

Bit of black insulation tape so you see it and take it off before driving and Robert is your mother's brother.

Simples! Great idea - thanks for sharing!

I am a little surprised this ethanol scam made it across the pond to Europe. It began here in the colonies at the insistance of the eco-enviro-nazis here, but in actuality it was a sop to the politicians and mega-farmers in our mid-west--the producers of corn (maize)from which it is made. It was sold to the uninformed public as a way to lesson dependance on fossil fuels. Unintended consequences for us are the rise in the price of gasoline, not to mention the rise in the cost of beef and the increase in the use of fuel (less mpg). It cost roughly a gallon of gasoline to produce a gallon of ethanol here. It is a disaster, and there are moves afoot to ban its use--if we can vote this current crop of idiots out of office.

Ethanol-laced gasoline cannot be used in boats or airplanes (I own one of each)and older cars. We still have pockets of sanity here in South Carolina, and we can still buy ethanol-free gas at a few stations. I burn premium 97 octane non-ethanol gas in my '69 4/4, with a bottle of lead addituive per tank. I also use a zinc additive in my oil (another story).

Allen