Using E100 Ethanol

[Andrewyoung78]

I've meet a local respectable auto shop owner and retired pro hotrod racer a few days ago at a cars and coffee. He and a few representative were demonstrating the effect of running E100 straight or blend with 20-30% with pump gas. Also did some octane testing. Anyone has pass experience or have tried Ethanol?

E100 is a high octane fuel without damaging the ozone and that is why I'm so interested. He uses in his beautiful PANTERA and a show truck with the Holley E85 750 cfm carb setup with no problem. I can buy the E100 in a 55 gal drum for $6 a gallon or less.

[vatdevil]

Why? You need to convert all fuel hose, as ethanol eats standard hose. Your engine will make less power. You will get worse gas mileage. It's hydroscopic and can fill your gas tank with water. It's known to eat carbs over time, both gaskets and bodies. Lastly, its more damaging to the environment, as production releases more pollutants than using gasoline. It's moonshine and is best consumed, not burnt.

[Andrewyoung78]

Thanks for your feedback. Did you have first hand experience with water in the tanks? Did you see the fuel hoses and carb damage?

[twobjshelbys]

You failed to say what kind of engine you and the Pantera have and when the cars were built. You will almost certainly have issues with almost all fuel lines and plastic parts that were not specifically built for alcohol fuels. You should also be aware that the bladders and baffles in the fuel tank will probably not like it either.

In other words you have more homework to do. Else let us know how it works out.

[bobcowan]

Alcohol can be an excellent high performance fuel for a lot of reasons. But the engine really needs to be built for it. Unfortunately, it's hard to build an engine for e100 and pump gas. At the moment, it's not really a feasible fuel unless the car is dedicated for a single use.

But, with the high octane and cooling effect, the engine can make a lot of power, especially when it's hot. I use e85 pump fuel at the track, it runs better than it ever did on Sunoco 110.

Is it environmentally friendly? IDK, maybe. It certainly burns cleaner, and creates fewer emissions. But the distilling process can be problematic. Not sure what the answer is.

Ethanol is for drinking. 100% pure ethanol is moonshine, and lethal. You need a liqueur license to sell it. Denatured Ethanol has something added to it - like 15% gasoline - to make it non-potable. What is added to e100 to make it non-potable? IDK. And if something is added, how can it be e100? IDK that, either.

[vatdevil]

DNB - denatonium benzoate - bitter tasting substance to denature the alcohol so it can not be ingested.

[WardL]

You can't really buy E100 legally since it is controlled by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms. When ethanol is blended into gasoline it is already denatured with 2% gasoline before being blended. E85 is pretty available around the country and at 110 octane is probably more octane than your Cobra is set up to take advantage of. Your carbureted Cobra will run fine on it, but over time you might have some melting rubber issues. I expect all fuel line material you can buy today is good for E10, but maybe not E85. Gasoline or ethanol has nothing to do with damaging the ozone layer. That was Chlorine in CFCs. As it turns out, modern engines with computer controlled fuel injection do not require ethanol to burn clean. Your Cobra will still fail every emission test even if burning E100. It is the engine design with a catalyst, fuel composition and computer controls that make low emission. Ethanol is not required anymore.

[Andrewyoung78]

Loads of information. The shop owner import the Fuel straight from Brazil. The mix is sugar cane and salt water then processed and ..........

I used 2 gallon of ethanol mixed with half tank of 92 Chevron and ran it for 30 miles, it ran good without any different from before. Although the smell of the exhaust are noticeable different.

[Ron61]

I have seen the fuel lines and carb damages caused by Ethanol. And the small engine shops around here were not taking any more in for about 6 months as they had so many that had to be torn down and rebuilt. I saw one car that had fuel lines ate up and the carb looked as if it had been in acid. Corroded and gaskets were all shot.

Ron

Originally Posted by Andrewyoung78

Thanks for your feedback. Did you have first hand experience with water in the tanks? Did you see the fuel hoses and carb damage?

[Gaz64]

Ethanol's power A/F ratio is 9.6:1, far richer than petrol at 12.5-13:1.

So mixing ethanol into current petrol without a fuel recalibration causes the engine to run lean by the calculated ratio difference.

You can build an engine for ethanol, just like methanol, BUT the WHOLE fuel system has to made for it.

You would FAR better off building for E85.

And yes, any alcohol is HYGROSCOPIC, correct spelling.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hygroscopic

[mikeinatlanta]

Originally Posted by Gaz64

And yes, any alcohol is HYGROSCOPIC, correct spelling.

Hygroscopic | Define Hygroscopic at Dictionary.com

Was wondering when someone would catch that.

[twobjshelbys]

Pure alcohol is pure alcohol until it is exposed to the atmosphere, and instantly it starts absorbing water molecules. Everclear is about as pure as you can obtain (and not everywhere) but I think they claim only 95% (190 proof).

Don't use it in an engine (and vehicle) not designed for it. Leave it to the top fuel drag cars.

[rodneym]

Yup. I tried everclear once. I thought, "Man, that's like gas!"

[Andrewyoung78]

Thanks for all the feedback. You guys are great.

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by rodneym

Yup. I tried everclear once. I thought, "Man, that's like gas!"

Ever get a bottle of homemade Kahlua? Chances are it's just a strong coffee mix and other stuff and the alcohol is either Vodka or Everclear.

[smccobra]

Ethanol causes corrosion in aluminum float bowls over time. I''ve seen it in motorcycle carbs and mowers. In our state they are selling 90 no ethanol which works great.