Dodgy French petrol...

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Plews

New Member
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4
Location
Consett, County Durham
Hi all. First post here.

I'll be spending a lot of miles in France in my petrol IIa in the summer.

They do that E85 petrol out there (85 means 85% ethanol) and its much cheaper.

Is it possible for to make a Series run on this? I know its supposed to damage rubber components - Im thinking particularly of the rubber in the fuel pump. Obviously Im not going to use it if that is so. What about mixing it 50:50 with unleaded?

I also know supposedly you dont get as good mileage out of it.

Anyone got any experience.

Thanks,
Rob
 
Do you put lead additive replacement stuff in at present or have you stuck a new head on?

and don't mind BoB - I don't think i've ever seen a post which doesn't summarise as burning something... :/
 
Got an unleaded head.

There doesnt seem to be much info out there on the stuff, other than it doesnt like rubber.

It probably burns a bit cooler. But land rovers are known for not being particularly fussy about what they drink.

Maybe there is only one way to find out ha
 
If the octane value is 85 or higher then apart from it attacking rubber then your engine will burn it, ethanol vaporises readily and will do so in the chambers absorbing some of the heat in there in the process, so the engine may well run cooler, might have a bit more balls too.
Most of the fuel pumps I've seen from the 80's on dont have rubber seals, they are plastic or neoprene which is a form of rubber but its chemical resistant.
There might be some rubber o rings in the carb depending on the age of things, if your not sure then dont run it, the amount you'd save on trip would be a lot less than a totally screwed fuel system out in france.
 
I think I read somewhere that you need twice as much e85 to get the same effect as petrol, I think you have to put a bigger Carb/Jets on. I'm not 100% though.
 
Thats a fecking big diffo, twice as much would mean a mixture of 7:1 instead of 14:1 for standard petrol.
Theres no easy way an engine can run off both without big mods.
You'd probably be able to use the same carb, you'd just need another jet, alltough you might have to have one made for such a mixture.
But somehow I dont think that this french stuff will be anything like that much different, but someone will be along soon with the figures.
 
Hi. At my local super market the price difference between `85` & `SP98` is currently 5euro-cents. The forums here report about 10% increase in consumption if using purely `85`. Most agree best not used in older vehicles, but if you choose to:
Assuming 25mpg; approx 5l to 1 gallon; 100miles=4gal=20l=1euro saved. but 10% increased consumption so actual saving=90euro-cents. 1,000 miles motoring potential saving of 9 euros or about £8. If playing a bit safer and using 50/50 saving of £4 per 1,000 miles.... your choice, but I run my classic Triumph on `SP98` with additive.
 
thanks for all the advice people.

I know you are supposed to use more but twice as much? Crikey thats a lot, not sure Id believe that.

The fuel pump is brand new, got it at Christmas when the old one started letting oil out.

But I think Ill just stick to the unleaded somehow... Im heading a long way (Morocco eventually) and dont want to break down.

As for the price difference... I think its more that 5 cents surely!

This was the difference when I filled up in Reims in March:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs109.snc3/15709_10150138740910287_669255286_11534907_5615632_n.jpg
 
I think this is what I meant:


Ethanol is most commonly used to power automobiles, though it may be used to power other vehicles, such as farm tractors, boats and airplanes. Ethanol (E100) consumption in an engine is approximately 51% higher than for gasoline since the energy per unit volume of ethanol is 34% lower than for gasoline.
 
Last edited:
IDIOT ! That I am. Should have been 50 cents not 5, sorry. So my `back of an envelope kalkulations` should show a possible saving of £40 per 1,000 miles on a 50% mix. But better check my workings, I`m obviously as numerate as a city-trader!
 
That sounds more like it Woody, the engine will burn more fuel and more air, I dont know the fancy terms but methanol doesnt go bang as hard as petrol so you need more throttle to get the same power.
 
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