E10 compatibility

[HCA]

Good morning! This is my first posting here before I find a suitable +2 Elan - for which I need some basic help please!

What ever car I end up with will spend most if not all its life in France where anything 'less' than E10 is increasingly hard to find.

Regarding the fuel lines on a [standard, say, 1973] Elan, how much of it is rubber tubing?

Does the standard fuel tank have a drain tap or bung on the bottom?

Does anyone here regularly run a twincam on E10?

[racy7]

I have an S4 in Luxembourg. A couple of years ago I made a mistake and filled the car with E10 whilst on a trip back to uk.After only 250k the fuel had destroyed to tips of the jets in the webers. This may have been a one off incident but for peace of mind i will never use E10 again , Instead I use 98ron all the time. In the area of France closest to me 98 petrol is not hard to find.

Yes the fuel tank does have a drainage bung

Geoff

[nmauduit]

Hello,

in France one can find at almost all stations fuel rated 98 (often named SP98 acronym for Sans Plomb 98, i.e. lead free 98) which is what I use in my elan (marginally more expensive). It now contains up to 5% of ethanol and replaces what we used to call super in the good ol' days of lead.

There is also very widespread SP95 which is rated 95 - then E10 is also rated 95 but contains up to 10% of ethanol, depending on the network one is more likely to find one or the other. With an increasing nuimber of types of fuel (including several diesels) these "regular" gas pump are being challenged by other pump types. I only use that in work vehicles or beaters.

[69S4]

I have an S4 in Luxembourg. A couple of years ago I made a mistake and filled the car with E10 whilst on a trip back to uk.After only 250k the fuel had destroyed to tips of the jets in the webers. This may have been a one off incident but for peace of mind i will never use E10 again

Geoff

Gosh, I've never even given this a thought while in France with my Elan. I just fill it up with 95 + ethanol at whatever supermarket is closest when I run low and drive. I have replaced the fuel lines from the tank onwards (although some of it was done a long time ago) and the car is on Strombergs so maybe that makes a difference. Can't say I notice any seat of the pants difference between 95 and my occasional use of 98. Maybe either my pants need recalibrating or I'm storing up problems for the future?

[HCA]

My question was not meant to be one of performance, but rather the corrosive effects of ethynol. I am quite sure that a fill up with E10, and burn it off straight away will not have any noticeble effect.

Yes, E5 fuel is around, but at the supermarket I use - and the only station in the area, the number of 95 pumps are decreasing in favour of E85 fuel that all the average Clios and the like now use! At 70c a litre, yes, I am furious!

I am not qualified to comment on whether or not ethynol corrodes jets. But it certainly requires a suitable rubber compound in the delivery hoses that was not around in the seventies. I think any replacement hose these days ill be ok. My other concern is the hygroscopic (or is it hydroscopic..?). I have not seen this but apparantly ethynol left in a tank will attract moisture that will set about corroding the tank in vented fuel systems.

I have also read that after twelve weeks or so, ethynol goes off. To what extent this influences things I do not know.

I shall make the changing of fuel lines a priority when I find the car!

[RogerFrench]

Here in Texas it's difficult to find fuel with less than 10% ethanol. Not impossible, but certainly not convenient.
I have an Elan S3 and a Europa Twin Cam. Both run on 10% ethanol, and I can't say I've had problems with it, though a few explanations may help.
When I rebuilt the cars I replaced the fuel lines, they are a mix of copper and flexible. I don't think the flexible lines contain rubber, but they haven't disintegrated or deteriorated as far as I can see. The first flexible line I bought quickly hardened, after a couple of years it wasn't really flexible so I replaced it with an aircraft-spec line that doesn't harden. I'm told the hardening has nothing to do with the fuel, it's a loss of oils from the plastic and that kind of line hardens even on the shelf.
Naturally, I replaced plastic Tees with brass, but that was a precaution against them breaking, which I understand can happen and was a risk I didn't want.
The Elan has Dell'Orto carbs. OK, not standard for an S3 but there. They have shown no sign of deterioration or any other issue, and the same is true of the Zenith-Strombergs on the Europa.
There are periods when the cars sit idle, and I use a stabilizer in the fuel which helps, I think. I noticed particularly in my pressure washer that when it had sat for a while the carb needed a good clean out, and I put that down to the water that is attracted by ethanol, and which remains when the fuel evaporates. The problem hasn't recurred since I started using a stabilizer. I have also seen a pair of DCOEs on a car that sat idle for years, and there was marked corrosion due, I think, to the same cause.
I'm sure there are other US-based owners who can contribute, but I'd say that in my experience E10 isn't nearly the ogre we're led to believe as long as you're reasonably careful.

If you search the internet for Manchester XPAG Tests you'll find a lot of useful gen, and yes, it does apply to our cars.

[StressCraxx]

I have the same experience as Roger. No issues with E10. I did replace my older fuel lines with new about 5 years ago when I noticed fine cracks in the rubber at the connections. There is a noticeable drop in fuel mileage of about 4% in all of my cars.

E10 gas will go stale in 4 to 6 months, so I use a stabilizer when I put the car up for winter. Sometimes I have race gas left over from the season, so I will run the tank to nearly empty and fill the tank with 110 leaded race gas for the winter. I have had absolutely no corrosion issues in the carbs or tank because I usually leave the tank full whenever possible. Mine are the original carbs and my fuel tank is more than 30 years old. No signs of corrosion inside.