Ethanol Lube

[VetteOwner]

yup same funny paragraph in my owners manual lol

[trollbait]

Also, isopropanol (aka isopropyl alcohol) is just as hygroscopic as ethanol, which is why Iso-HEET works as well as regular HEET.

You are thinking of hydrophilic. While hygroscopic chemicals are also hydrophilic, the reverse isn't always true. Hydrophilic simply means the compound can dissolve and be dissolved by water. The two still have to be brought together before any dissolving happens. Hygroscopic materials' affinity for water go a step further and will draw water in the environment(the air) to themselves.

The salt doesn't not go into the car. It goes into the IPA and water mix. It dissolves with the water, IPA will no longer dissolve with the water and salt mix, and they'll seperate into layers. Take the IPA use it in your engine, and dump, drink, gargle with, throw at the neighbor's kids, etc. the water salt mix. I haven't done this, but I'm not worried about little amount of water the 91% rubbing alcohol.

[add|ct]

Interesting note on Delphi perhaps being ethanol resistant as far back as '92 on 'up to e85'. I see that as another reason to get quality replacement parts regarding fuel delivery/system, especially if they are components with plastic pieces ,etc. It makes me want to call the company and ask about my specific part before just buying anything that will work.

[bowtieguy]

RockAuto's POV on ethanol...

http://www.rockauto.com/Newsletter/index.html

from that link...
"I was excited when I saw a US government sponsored report on the impact of E15 on “legacy” vehicles. That is until I discovered that legacy only meant 10 years old! The study only indicated they were reasonably confident that E15 would not have a negative impact on 2001 and newer, legacy vehicles."

[theclencher]

It is my understanding that E15 will be AN ADDITIONAL CHOICE at the pumps, and it will be labelled as not appropriate for the old stuff and small engines (as E85 is now labelled) and that E10 will remain available for those things.

The article appears to be a reasonable if very incomplete assessment of the E15 proposal. That said, I don't think the lack of a report on "legacy" vehicles i.e. pre-1988 vehicles, not pre-2001, is anything to fuss over or worry about in any way. What is it going to tell us that we don't already know? Pre '88 and you may or may not run into problems with ethanol incompatible parts and I think the only way to expand on that in a useful way is to compile a huge list of all the equipment that is and is not ethanol compatible.

[theholycow]

If we are to define "legacy vehicles" as the oldest common blue-collar daily driving vehicles used for going to work and hauling the family around, I'd say 1990s. 2001+ would be "recent" to "late model" if you ask me.

Before the 1990s, now we're looking at a smaller number of vehicles that people need to drive, more that are toy/extra vehicles (the population on this forum doesn't represent more common percentages).

Anyway, I think my 1980 Buick can handle E15. Bring it on! I'm not afraid!

[add|ct]

^Haha, I love it!

[madnessspirit]

For a while, one of the stations I got gas at regularly in North Dakota offered E20 gas. Aside from the obvious loss of mileage from using a lower energy fuel, I don't think anyone had any other issues with it. With only light modifications, any vehicle can be made to run on up to e-85 fuel, so adding another 5% of ethanol to the mix is not going to change anything but fuel economy.

Though, this is why I am glad I live in the northern plains where pure gas is still available at the pumps. I will gladly pay the extra 10 cents (since ethanol is subsidized here) for the extra 2mpg.

Actually, I would think you guys would love e-85, octane is really high, and combustion temperatures are lower, so you can run really aggressive timing on it.

[trollbait]

The native compression is the main limit on getting the most out of E85. In Brazil, engines have a 12:1 or 13:1 compression to make better use of the higher levels of ethanol(up to 100%). Their engines will run rough below E20, though.

I wished an E85 station was actually accessible back when I had the Ranger. For some engines, E30 to E40 hits a sweet spot, and fuel economy is higher than on straight gas.

[trollbait]

double post