16-08-2018, 11:36 AM
(This post was last modified: 16-08-2018, 11:57 AM by Robert Leigh.)
Stale petrol has always been a problem, but modern petrol goes stale very much more quickly. I have had a problem with the carburettor having a whitish jelly in the float chamber after I had left the car possibly more than a year, so the system needed cleaning out before I could get it running. The other problem I have experienced in recent years is vaporisation, both in side draft and up draft carbs: keep moving and there is little problem, but get stuck in traffic for more than a few seconds and pulling away again can be difficult. I have found the petrol boiling in the float chamber when I was using an up draft on the Chummy. In my experience the biggest problem with modern fuel is vaporisation, but presumably the more volatile components evaporate first, leading to the stale syndrome on cars which have not been used. Leaving the tank full can help, or emptying it if the car is to be left unused for a long time. I have had synthetic rubber pipe give up with modern fuel, after being no problem for many years.
It was vaporisation which led to my cutting out the hotspot connection on side draft manifolds, to try to reduce problems.
Whether any of these comments are related to ethanol I don't know; it may well be other components of the fuel which have been changed in recent years.
Stale petrol has always been a problem, but modern petrol goes stale very much more quickly. I have had a problem with the carburettor having a whitish jelly in the float chamber after I had left the car possibly more than a year, so the system needed cleaning out before I could get it running. The other problem I have experienced in recent years is vaporisation, both in side draft and up draft carbs: keep moving and there is little problem, but get stuck in traffic for more than a few seconds and pulling away again can be difficult. I have found the petrol boiling in the float chamber when I was using an up draft on the Chummy. In my experience the biggest problem with modern fuel is vaporisation, but presumably the more volatile components evaporate first, leading to the stale syndrome on cars which have not been used. Leaving the tank full can help, or emptying it if the car is to be left unused for a long time. I have had synthetic rubber pipe give up with modern fuel, after being no problem for many years.
It was vaporisation which led to my cutting out the hotspot connection on side draft manifolds, to try to reduce problems.
Whether any of these comments are related to ethanol I don't know; it may well be other components of the fuel which have been changed in recent years.
It was vaporisation which led to my cutting out the hotspot connection on side draft manifolds, to try to reduce problems.
Whether any of these comments are related to ethanol I don't know; it may well be other components of the fuel which have been changed in recent years.
Stale petrol has always been a problem, but modern petrol goes stale very much more quickly. I have had a problem with the carburettor having a whitish jelly in the float chamber after I had left the car possibly more than a year, so the system needed cleaning out before I could get it running. The other problem I have experienced in recent years is vaporisation, both in side draft and up draft carbs: keep moving and there is little problem, but get stuck in traffic for more than a few seconds and pulling away again can be difficult. I have found the petrol boiling in the float chamber when I was using an up draft on the Chummy. In my experience the biggest problem with modern fuel is vaporisation, but presumably the more volatile components evaporate first, leading to the stale syndrome on cars which have not been used. Leaving the tank full can help, or emptying it if the car is to be left unused for a long time. I have had synthetic rubber pipe give up with modern fuel, after being no problem for many years.
It was vaporisation which led to my cutting out the hotspot connection on side draft manifolds, to try to reduce problems.
Whether any of these comments are related to ethanol I don't know; it may well be other components of the fuel which have been changed in recent years.