I just pulled an electric fuel pump out of my '39 Buick gas tank. I couldn't hear it humming and I was getting juice to it so I assumed the 2 year old Walbro pump was bad. When I opened up the tank, I was shocked at the crap that was on the pump. The filter-sock that attaches to the bottom of the pump was laying on the bottom of the tank, it had rotted off and was like mushy jello, and dark brown. The insulation that was around the pump to quiet it (all came with the Tanksinc pump system) was soft and dissolved as if it had been in acid. Of course all the particles from these pieces were floating in the very low quantity of gas( varnished color but still liquid ) that was in the tank. Now I know I shouldn't have let the gas get that low, but the new gas gauge wasn't working and I usually start the car every month during this 5 year resto-mod and it started last month. Oh, and after I opened the tank, I took out the sending unit which was put in new 3 years ago, the brass float was rotted with two big holes in it....no wonder it didn't read. What could do this...my only guess is the high test gas that ran low and turned to varnish. Was it the varnishing process that ate away the parts or the gas (Sunoco) in general that now has so much alcohol in it? Would gas stabilizer have helped? Has anyone every experienced this? Thanks
Ethynol. I had a hose spout a leak about a year ago. I changed out my hoses to the newer ones and use Lucas anti-ethynol crap. I guess it's working.
Sad but true, Alcohol will do that and worse. It will literally rust out a galvanized tank if the fuel level is left at a low point very long....It rusts/corrodes, very fast and mostly rusts -ABOVE- the fuel level in the empty portion of your tank.
I'm in the process of replacing my fuel feed line on the roadster from tank to carb. It was acting like a vapor lock, but I'm suspicious of the ethanol and what it's doing to the rubber lines that are part of the delivery system. Between the loss of zinc in most motor oils, and the total lack of concern by lawmakers for older cars, it's sure tough being a hot rodder.
I have a late model car with continious instant readout of fuel milage. It can vary from 27 to 37 mpg depending on ethynol content. I once got a load that had so much that when it got hotter in the day, the stuff started gassing off and made the safety relief on the tank open. I had to stop twice and vent the tank.i think the subsities make the ethynol cheaper than gas for the gas companies and they load it up. I am sure I have had to burn 25 percent based on the milage.
It sounds like you had a bunch of old crap in that tank, fresh gas will knock it loose, and it becomes acidic. Gas stabilizer won't do anything. I've seen this many times, it gets into your motor and can cause lots pf problems. I usually clean my tanks with good paint remover and I recommend using Bill Hirsch's tank cleaning and sealing products. Mike.
I was driving my '35 Ford to town one evening, and smelled raw gas. I stopped and raised the hood to find gas spitting out all over the engine from a ruptured hose. Limped cautiously home and replaced any rubber gas lines with steel ones. This was my first experience with ethanol damage. Won't take that chance again.
I agree with the Ethynol idea. I just went through the exact some thing on a car that had been sitting for a long time. It made a mess out of everything. Same rotten sock and mushy rubber items. It sucks. I left the '39 sitting since Nov., only started once, and it ate my rubber fuel line at the carb. It's terrible stuff in my opinion.
What can you do to prevent it? Would keeping the tank full make a difference? There was no crap in the tank two years ago when I had it out. Does everyone agree Stabilizer is not the answer? Is any brand of gas better than another? Thanks
Yeah ethanol sucks. I only have two six inch pieces of rubber hose in my entire fuel system. The rest is hard line. Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
For as few miles as most of us drive our cars I would recommend buying ethanol free premium, the car will get better fuel mileage so the added cost is almost a wash.
I'm putting non Ethynol gas in the old cars when I can. It's crazy expensive and hard to find around here. There are additives you can buy at the parts stores that claim to help. I don't know if it does. I guess the best you can do for a non operational car is to completely drain all the gas.
I have a little experience with gas related problems as I am in the marine industry and live in Florida where we have a lot of people who park their boats for the Summer when they go back North. When they come back in the Fall lots of them find their carbs and injectors are plugged , even though they used stabilizer or ethanol treatments. This new gas is crap, plain and simple. It is corrosive, it settles out (phase separation) and it eats up rubber and plastic parts like we have never seen in the past. The reason we generally don't have these issues with our daily drivers is because we turn the gas over so quick, compared to our hot rods or boats, where they tend to sit for extended periods. As to the question about should you keep the tank full or empty, the old way of thinking (prior to ethanol gas) was that you kept the tank full to minimize the space for air to suck in humidity and cause water to form in the tank. Now, the new thinking is that it is best to keep the tank almost empty so that when you are ready to use it again you are putting fresh gas on top of the old gas and you get a fresher mixture. Just wait until E15 hits, that will really be fun. Don
I see your from NJ, too. I really haven't had a problem with ethanol but i do use Stabil in the old fleet for the winter. I would have thought with a brand name, Sun, you would be safe. We used to get a lot of cars in the station that were off brand customers that would come to us on rare occasions. These cars always had a trail of black mold near the gas filler. something going on there, too. NJ also alows the addition of 1.5% Benzine to gas. And that can't be good. I had lost an engine when they first went to the MTBE years ago. On the first tank full. It losened up all the carbon buildup in the combustion chambers and was like a chimney fire, pinged and rattled til it shut it self off and never ran again, melted the exhaust valves.
I recently spoke with a gentleman from Bell Performance, a manufacture of gas treatment for gas containing ethenol. He told me you could by a cheap tester, looks like a test tube, to check for the alchol content in the gas. He explained they have found some places mix as much as 30% ethenol into the gas as the ethenol is cheaper. He also told me the ethenol is used as a way to get the octane rating up since the old products are now outlawed. Pure ethenol is like 118 octane. This debukes the theory that premium has less or no ethenol in it, it fact, it most likely has more.
Had a jet ski engine blow up because of clogged fuel lines from ethanol crap... I use it in the classics but they are driven often.
E85 = up to 85% ethanol E15 would be about 15% ethanol, which is only 5% more than what most stations sell now.
One station near my home advertises their gasolint to be "ethanol free." Maybe a scam, I'm not sure, but I buy there fairly regularly with no complaints.
Have a buddy at an auto parts store. From what he says the ethanol separates and and will grow a bacteria in your fuel system. It'll get a sludge build up. He says a lot of people have been coming in for new fuel lines, tanks, injectors etc. it's especially hard on lawn equipment, motorcycles and such that sit a lot. They do sell an additive that apparently helps with the issue. I don't have a real experience with the problem just what I hear. Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
Now that I know it is a real problem, does anyone have a name of a product that works against this ? I've never quite figured out the full tank or not theory either...?? Thanks for your input.
I am fortunate in that here where I live there are several gas stations that sell gas without ethanol. It is about 3% more expensive than the ethanol variety but I've found that I get a 10% increase in fuel economy . And the big plus is I don't have the ethanol related problems. There is a website you can go to that lists all the non-ethanol gas stations in each state. It is pure-gas.org. A good many of the stations are at marinas which addresses the concerns Don had about boats left idle for a long time. The gas with ethanol is especially hard on small engines such as lawn mowers, chain saws, string trimmers, etc. The information I have states that it causes them to run hotter than normal. That plus the bad effects of long term storage prompts me to make sure I run the tank dry on mowers and the like at the end of the season.
One of the more popular ones we sell at work is StarTron by StarBrite. We literally can't keep it on the shelves.........we get a bunch of it every Thursday and by the weekend it is all gone. http://mystarbrite.com/startron/ Don
Poured some gas into a bowl while working on a lawn mower on a humid day. About ten minutes later it looked cloudy and the surface sheen was swirling. After a half hour the cloudiness was gone and a "ball" of water was sitting on the bottom.
We have been running ethanol here for 25+ years, no issues. But, regardless of ethanol or not the new gas just not keep as well as the blends we had 20,30 or 40 years ago. Sounds like the OP had some gas in his tank for an extended time. Not a good thing.
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