P38A E10 petrol arrgghh

Andy Burrell · Feb 15, 2023

I normally fill up with the Tesco Momentum99 and the engine runs really sweetly. Yesterday had to put some E10 Unleaded in and what a difference, lumpy running and response is noticeably poor. Won't be doing that again.

DanClarke · Feb 15, 2023

Andy Burrell said:
I normally fill up with the Tesco Momentum99 and the engine runs really sweetly. Yesterday had to put some E10 Unleaded in and what a difference, lumpy running and response is noticeably poor. Won't be doing that again.

Mine has E10 in it at present, runs fine. How odd.

Datatek · Feb 15, 2023

Andy Burrell said:
I normally fill up with the Tesco Momentum99 and the engine runs really sweetly. Yesterday had to put some E10 Unleaded in and what a difference, lumpy running and response is noticeably poor. Won't be doing that again.

Maybe you got some contaminated petrol?

Andy Burrell · Feb 15, 2023

Datatek said:
Maybe you got some contaminated petrol?

Possibly it was Tesco basic Unleaded. I plugged the car into my diagnostic just to check if it was something else but everything looked good. At least it won't be too long before I have to fill up again

Andy Burrell · Feb 15, 2023

DanClarke said:
Mine has E10 in it at present, runs fine. How odd.

I am sure I hadn't had a problem before. My wifes Panda TwinAir runs really badly on normal unleaded but perfectly on super unleaded but it is known to be a very picky little engine.

kermit_rr · Feb 15, 2023

Never had a problem with e10 in my 38, it's all I'll put in
It might take a mile or 2 to get used to the lower grade but shouldn't really cause any issues

saxavordian · Feb 15, 2023

Funny how all the different grade for petrol.
2* 3* 4* 5* original
Unleaded e5 Unleaded e10.
1 gallon = 4.54609+ -

pete12345 · Feb 15, 2023

Normally put e5 in mine

norseman · Feb 15, 2023

I always fill my 'Classic V8 with E5 as allegedly having E10 lying in the fuel system/tank is what causes the problems, especially with a little used car.

In your case the contaminated fuel theory sounds the most plausible.

dubbleRR · Feb 16, 2023

E10 is suppose to rot rubber fuel lines on older vehicles and diagrams in carbs ,mate o mine had a volvo n he said it coiffed n spluttered when cold and wast much better when hot,, but it ran perfect on decent stuff ...o and E10 it corrosive to some metals

..

kermit_rr · Feb 16, 2023

dubbleRR said:
E10 is suppose to rot rubber fuel lines on older vehicles and diagrams in carbs ,mate o mine had a volvo n he said it coiffed n spluttered when cold and wast much better when hot,, but it ran perfect on decent stuff ...o and E10 it corrosive to some metals ..

E10 turns corrosive when it's left, if you keep it fresh it's ok

nigelbb · Feb 16, 2023

My 2001 V4.6L P38 runs happily on E85 (85% bioethanol) which now costs over €1 per litre here in France so has no problem with E10 (now around €1.85 per litre). E85 cost about 65c per litre before the Ukraine war.

Grrrrrr · Feb 16, 2023

Andy Burrell said:
I normally fill up with the Tesco Momentum99 and the engine runs really sweetly. Yesterday had to put some E10 Unleaded in and what a difference, lumpy running and response is noticeably poor. Won't be doing that again.

Possibly water in their fuel or weak spark? Ethanol has a slower burn so it might take a while for the fuel trims to adjust. On less sophisticated cars you might need to advance the ignition slightly.

As for rotting fuel pipes, any pipes from the last 20 years should be OK but obviously most of our motors on here are okder than that!

I always put V-power in mine as I don't do many miles and the fuel can sit in there for months.

Datatek · Feb 16, 2023

Grrrrrr said:
Possibly water in their fuel or weak spark? Ethanol has a slower burn so it might take a while for the fuel trims to adjust. On less sophisticated cars you might need to advance the ignition slightly.

As for rotting fuel pipes, any pipes from the last 20 years should be OK but obviously most of our motors on here are okder than that!

I always put V-power in mine as I don't do many miles and the fuel can sit in there for months.

It's funny about rotting pipe etc with E10. Years ago I used to use Cleveland Discol which was, if i remember correctly, 8% ethanol, never had any bother with rotting pipes etc. The biggest danger as far as I know is if the vehicle is not in regular use, the ethanol absorbs water and will rot metal petrol tanks.

pwood999 · Feb 16, 2023

I use the regular E10 in mine. Probably best to stick with one or the other, but reset fuel trims if changing over.

doriz · Feb 16, 2023

kermit_rr said:
Never had a problem with e10 in my 38, it's all I'll put in
It might take a mile or 2 to get used to the lower grade but shouldn't really cause any issues

Even tho it’s a diesel

kermit_rr · Feb 16, 2023

doriz said:
Even tho it’s a diesel

No it's not

oakey · Feb 16, 2023

I, and my garage, blame E10 for burning my valve together of course with 210k miles and for corroding fuel lines

kermit_rr · Feb 16, 2023

oakey said:
I, and my garage, blame E10 for burning my valve together of course with 210k miles and for corroding fuel lines

Bet the wipers have worn out anorl since the switch

oakey · Feb 16, 2023

No they got changed with new windscreen just before the change to E10 thank goodness. New windscreen was E10 compliant

P38A E10 petrol arrgghh

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