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what the heck is this in my fuel?

9K views 36 replies 12 participants last post by  The Buster 
#1 · (Edited)
I just cleaned my carb a few months ago cause the car sat for a while. I recently found this muddy grey substance in my carb..The fuel was Sunoco 100 octane and was in the tank for about 1 month. What do you think the cause of this is? I'm gonna remove the fuel cell and flush the whole system now..I'm assuming its something in my fuel cell causing it...


 
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#4 ·
Looks like you got fuel contaminated with a plastic monomer like styrene. This happens more than one would like to see, filters will not pick this up if this is what it is. You need to get this checked out as uncured plastics dissolved in gasoline can wreck the inside of the engine by gluing the rings into their lands.

When I lived in Houston many years ago this happened with Diamond Shamrock, they got fuel contaminated with styrene monomer while in pipeline transit. It ruined a great many engines in the Houston area. Goes to show you how much they don't test what they deliver to gas stations.

Bogie
 
#11 ·
It's the root chemical in making polystyrene plastic one of several name brands being polyester. It's used to make foams, is a common resin in fiberglass and composite structures, solid, and is made into threads for cloth and ropes.

It is pumped through pipe lines with other hydrocarbon and alcohol based fluids. They use a water slug between different materials in the line, just in case you wonder how water gets into gasoline, this is a major source.

I'm not saying that is this resin but from the pictures it looks like a plastic that is falling out of solution with the fuel and curing onto surrounding surfaces. It looks pretty hard, is it hard, soft or gooey? If you have a fuel cell which someone else indicated you did it can be that certain solvents in the fuel are melting it and redepositing it. I guessing as I'm not there just looking at the pictures, but I've seen this kind of stuff before and a plastic resin was what it turned out to be.

Bogie
 
#10 ·
I dunno? It is a freaking $1500 Nascar fuel cell so I assumed it would be compatible with anything you put in it...Is ethenol in Sunoco 100 octane? on a side not the carb was gunked up similar when I got it and the duda always ran straight C16. I dont know what to think at this point..:confused:

This pic shows the first time I noticed it all crudded up when I got the car it was a similar texture but all dried out..

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8326/8133613954_d6fc11b9f3.jpg
 
#18 ·
There are some fiberglass tanks that used cheap resins that are not resistant to ethanol, but not every glass tank used that resin. Fuel cells are compatible with ethanol, and most with methanol as well. Ethanol and methanol are two very different substances, and most people confuse the two or assume they are the same.



That is not ethanol residue, that is gasoline residue that ethanol cleaned out. Big difference. Gasoline leaves varnish and residue throughout the fuel system, ethanol merely cleans it out.



Wrong again. Wow, so many people who dont know much about fuels and certainly next to nothing about ethanol and chemisty.

Fuel lines produced since around 1983 have been ethanol compatible. It doesnt eat them, but gasoline eats rubber fuel line yet I dont hear any of you saying anything about it. When I was running gas, especially race gas, I was going through rubber line ever year to 18 months and there was zero ethanol in it. Since I have been running ethanol I havent had to replace anything in the fuel system for the last 8 years.

I produce ethanol at home, cattail vodka, and run it in my cars with stock fuel systems. If you want a clean fuel system, you dont run gasoline in it. If you want your engine to last forever you dont run gasoline in it either. Ethanol has been run in all my vehicles, including two 98 Pontiacs, a Gran Prix and a Formula, a 92 F150, a 79 Trans Am, 72 Formula 455 HO, and the 70 GTO.

I modify Qjets to run ethanol, have done extensive testing since 2007 with them and my 1970 GTO, and the results have been everything is lasting longer since it doesnt have gasoline run through it. It has a stock 1970 vintage tank, lines, and a 13:1 compression 455. The only addition to the fuel system is an electric pump which has been under it since 1996, and ran E10 through it until 2007 when it was switched to ethanol. The pump was added because the old 8.8:1scr 455 would suck the float bowls dry in 2nd gear with the stock pump.

This is what a 455 looks like after running ethanol for just under 200 hours. I pulled the heads to up the compression from 11.3:1 and this is the pic I took during the swap. This thing is a kick *** street engine.



Do you want to see some pics of the Qjets I have been running too?

Whatever this guys issue is, it isnt ethanol in his fuel. It looks more like a contaminant in his gas, and ethanol wont leave anything like what he is seeing. Sure you can claim its ethanol causing the problems, but I seriously doubt you have done any actual testing to see what the problem was. You just blame it on the scary corn gas because someone said it is bad, and never bothered to find out for yourself what the facts actually are.

Come on up to northern Michigan and we can go for a ride in the GTO now that the snow is gone. You can look in the carb, scope the fuel tank, and see what actually happens.

if your post had any truth to it, then why every car maker out there going to void the cars warranty if e15 is used in them?? when it just be a flash tune away?
why did they change the rubber fuel lines make up and add a liner if fuel line from 1983 can run it no issue..
why are carbs parts getting eaten
why are fuel pumps rubber parts failing, and replacement rebuild kits come with rubber parts with a different make up..
why are boat owners being advised to replace all fuel line(rubber) in their boats built before 2005 if the line is ethnol safe
 
#22 · (Edited)
if your post had any truth to it, then why every car maker out there going to void the cars warranty if e15 is used in them?? when it just be a flash tune away?
why did they change the rubber fuel lines make up and add a liner if fuel line from 1983 can run it no issue..
why are carbs parts getting eaten
why are fuel pumps rubber parts failing, and replacement rebuild kits come with rubber parts with a different make up..
why are boat owners being advised to replace all fuel line(rubber) in their boats built before 2005 if the line is ethnol safe
Some of the guys in the fishing club bought new boats this year Yamaha and Mercury States changes have ben made to All rubber parts where you can run up to 10%ethanol but recommend Sea foam addatine to disapate the water caused by gas/ethanol sitting longer than two weeks some turns to a sticky gray substance some as in mine it sit all winter it turned to a hard powdery substance I had to vat for 3 days to loosen it enough to remove it as gearhead stated why did they spend the money to update and change compound if it were the greatest invention since the wheel,:confused::mad:
 
#17 ·
gas tank foam.

HI,I had a 1982 ROBALO boat,with a brown/red foam inside the fuel tank,this foam disintergrated and plugged up fuel lines and the fuel filter.,carbs did not get plugged,the filter caught this mess, I had to cut the floor open,remove this fiberglass tank,and installed an aluminum tank.this foam particles felt like sand,this COULD be your problem..:sweat::sweat:
 
#23 ·
ATL Says ethanol resisitant, I'd still pop the top and take a look, that crap is coming from somewhere.[/QUOTE]

Well I got to the bottom of my contamination and unfortunately it is not what I wanted to see, but what I figured what it was..Apparently this high end "safety fuel cell" used for Nascars and SCCA, has a plastic bladder filled with foam and inserts into an aluminum case. Well apparently the entire hard rubber inner bladder is completely disintegrating to pieces, literally.. I am shocked and appalled that a safety product advertised as such and an item I would depend on doing its job in case of a crash, has failed miserably in less than 5 years, from simply holding race fuel..Look at these pictures, this is an absurd failure in my opinion...I cant fathom how they could design a product and sell it as a safety item with this end result...You can not imagine how angry I am right now that this high end expensive "safety equipment" would fail like this..
 

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#21 ·
This is from a Corn based Ethanol affects. The only question is my mind id a 10% or 15% blend mix? It is destructive stuff. I finally went to a 2 fiklter system with a screw can and replaceable elements and you should see what those filter elements look like after 1,000 miles. AND now there is talk a Sugar Cane based ethanol is coming next. Is it less damaging OR are the petroleum blenders just stretching out the gas and enhancing their profits more? We pay, they play!
Normbc9
 
#25 ·
Dude, that s***s nasty. Well at least you know where it came from. Maybe ATL would like to see that?
As far as ethanol goes, the only ones making out on that stuff is the oil companies. The Government subsidizes it because it costs more to make than what it sells for. It is a distilling process that uses more fuel and energy than it saves. What do you expect, its government project. And now they are going to make it out of sugar? Wait till you see how bad that stuff is. I miss the good old Sunoco 260 days!
 
#31 ·
Well I spoke to them this morning and they have identified the particular bladder in my car as being 25-30 years old...:confused: So I really cant fault them on this one.I can fault the guy that built the car before I aquired it. I have an entire folder full of receipts, he spared no expense on building the car, then shortcutted and used a friggin 30 year old fuel cell..:confused: WTF?? Some people are just simply stupid...Well now i have the choice of ordering a bladder for $400 or an entire Aluminum fuel cell with sending unit for $269...Hmmmm...
 
#33 ·
Well I spoke to them this morning and they have identified the particular bladder in my car as being 25-30 years old...:confused: So I really cant fault them on this one.I can fault the guy that built the car before I aquired it. I have an entire folder full of receipts, he spared no expense on building the car, then shortcutted and used a friggin 30 year old fuel cell..:confused: WTF?? Some people are just simply stupid...Well now i have the choice of ordering a bladder for $400 or an entire Aluminum fuel cell with sending unit for $269...Hmmmm...
well there it is.. 25-30y/o blatter isn't ethnol resistant
good luck..
if going to the alum, get the new blatter and sell your now good tank for more than the blatter cost, but less than a new racing fuel cell..
 
#35 ·
Like I say I have been out about ten years ,but our bladder resembled a inner tube liner type of material it was not plastic, it was intended to take a crush without rupturing ,we had hard enough hit in the rear to set off our Halon fire system in never ruptured but it was encased in the roll bar,
 
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