![]() This government-mandated rule requires certain amounts of ethanol and other biofuels be blended with gasoline and diesel fuel. That mixture can clog fuel lines and block carburetor jets.īlame the Renewable Fuel Standard. Ethanol is a solvent that can loosen the sludge, varnish and dirt that accumulate in a fuel tank. But in a vintage car, the water content of fuel can rise, causing corrosion and inhibiting combustion. In a modern vehicle, with a sealed fuel system, ethanol fuel has a harder time picking up water from the air. If I run a car from the teens or ’20s and fill it up with modern fuel, then it sits for more than two months, I often can’t get it to start.Įthanol will absorb water from ambient air. I find that gasoline, which used to last about a year and a half or two years, is pretty much done after a month or so these days. New cars are equipped with fuel lines that are resistant to ethanol damage, but with older cars, the worst can happen-you’re going down the road, and suddenly your car is on fire. Here’s one reason: The ethanol in modern gasoline-about 10 percent in many states-is so corrosive, it eats through either the fuel-pump diaphragm, old rubber fuel lines or a pot metal part, then leaks out on a hot engine … and ka-bloooooie!!!Īs someone who collects old cars, and keeps them up religiously, I am now replacing fuel-pressure regulators every 12 to 18 months. Suddenly, they are happening all over the place. I went through the ’70s, the ’80s and most of the ’90s without ever having read much about car fires. There have been a lot of old-car fires lately.
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