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Engine running like crap on ethanol

Where I live in Ontario, Canada, Mobil 91 and 93 do not contain ethanol. The other night, Mobil 93 was $1.99(9) per litre. So, that's $9.00 per Can. gallon.
 
Fred sure could tell the difference; he absolutely hated the blend and would run raggedy on it.
Not only that, but the stuff ate through all manner of new fuel lines and the diaphragm in the
spiffy new fuel pump back when...
A goofy fuel starvation issue even manifested itself at the time.

When I started exclusively buying ethanol-free gas (and replaced all the damaged fuel system parts),
things got a whole lot better in a hurry. All the issues went away, replaced by a car addicted and thirsty
for 93 ethanol-free gas, which I gladly feed him.
 
Where I live in Ontario, Canada, Mobil 91 and 93 do not contain ethanol. The other night, Mobil 93 was $1.99(9) per litre. So, that's $9.00 per Can. gallon.

We didn't have any here in the high-test 94 either until recently. I think Shell 93 was until recently too. Only found out about it through a contact that drives tanker for Chevron from the refinery.

Currently $184.9/L here. :mob:
 
Everything that I have runs on "up to 10% ethanol".
Everything that I have runs great. From the 1967 Dart to the 2015 Challenger with a few others in between.
Five carbureted vehicles and 3 EFI. They all run just fine.
Now, I do have to replace the rubber lines on the carbureted cars far more than I'd like but....
The 2 Chargers and Power Wagon get started more frequently than the Dart or the Duster but the 67 Dart always starts up and runs fine after months of sitting. Why? I'm no tuning expert. I haven't adjusted the idle mixture screws or changed jets in anything except Ginger, the red car. Of course that car is the most powerful with the highest compression and biggest camshaft.
The Power Wagon is a fairly stock 440. Jigsaw is a warmed over 383 with 9.2 to 1 and a mild cam. The Dart has a fairly stock 360.
Maybe ethanol isn't the problem, huh?
 
My carbs always look sparkling inside the bowls.

I apologize in advance

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E -fuel absorbs moisture so you may have water in the fuel bowls whiich would explain some of the erratic behaviour. Try & get a leather acc pump plunger; suits Carter AVS 13/16" diam.
 
I started adding marine 2 cycle/tc-w3 1 oz per 5 gallons of gas years ago and have never had an ethanol related issue since. I put a few glugs in at the pump before every fill up and do the same before winter storage and they always fire right up no matter how many months they sit.
Before I started this routine I was having to clean out the carbs regularly and dealt with drivability issues, that all stopped like I flicked a switch.
 
Hey all. Thank you so much for the replies. I will go out right now and inspect the carb bowls and floats. I'm also going to pull the spark plugs and check everything. I was at the engine builder yesterday, and even though here in my province we cannot buy ethanol free fuel at the pump, they recommend an octane boost that their customers are using to help the burn. I have enough for 2 full tanks of fuel. I'll try that and see what happens, along with checking the other things mentioned. I'll reply with anything I find and any changes the 105 octane additive make. Thanks again all.
 
Edelbrock 9265 or 9266 heat insulator works.

9265 = single plane
9266 = dual plane
I just wanted to second this comment. My buddy on the east coast gets regular old ethanol free gas at most gas stations in South Carolina, and I get a little jealous! But, here in the desert above LA, I can only get e10 or 10% ethanol in the gas. I had horrible hot start/vapor lock issues until I got this heat insulator about a year ago. One time on a very hot day, it literally died on me going down a hill after a decent load going up the other side of the hill. I barely coasted to a parking lot and let the car cool down.

I decided to try this insulator, but when I put it on, I could not get it to fully seal since it seemed a little warped and whistled on acceleration due to a vacuum leak. I bought another one and it was not perfect as well. So, I put a gasket on each side of the insulator and that solved the problem. This summer I've had no vapor lock issues and it fires right up on a hot day. I'd bought all of the parts to put in a stock vapor separator or even the wix fuel filter with the return, to a 3/8 sending unit with the 1/4 return port, but even in 100 degree weather it seems fine with just the insulator and two gaskets to seal it. So, the parts to put in the factory solution for vapor lock are sitting on the shelf. YMMV...

Side comment, I recently found out that I live about 15 minutes from where they filmed most of the 1971 movie Duel where the guy was driving an old valiant being chased by the truck. Last weekend I (of course) had to go out to the site of the tunnel and the restaurant. Looks exactly the same as 52 years ago. I just kept wondering if the car was having hot start issues during filming or was gas that different back then! :)
 
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Sorry, I forgot to add this to my last response. Last year right before the driving season ended, I installed a 1/2" thick phenolic spacer in a recommendation from a local carburetor guy that many people speak highly of. I'm supposed to bring my car to him, but between him living out of town, and my work schedule, I haven't made the time. This drastically cut down the temperature sinking up to the carb from the intake and heads, which are also aluminum. I actually just got back from a 90 minute drive a few minutes ago. I added the 105 octane boost and filled the tank to full with 91. I also found that the nuts holding the carb to the intake(with the spacer and gasket in between)were not tight. I should have checked those first. They were really quite loose. Could have been pulling air in. Also, my PCV was not seated properly on the valve cover, and I got it sealed up properly. Overall the car ran fine while driving. Good throttle response, and no bogging at take off. I still have to figure out why engine won't high idle at start up. I had it set to high idle at about 850-900, and then regular idle at 650, but it won't high idle at all, and even regular when hot sits at 500-550. Anyway, I'll keep on it.
 
Turn the high idle screw in some more. Took me awhile to find a sweet spot. Also, 2 pumps on the go pedal is supposed to set the high idle cam for start. It's temperamental, sometimes it hits right, others, not.
 
Maybe ethanol isn't the problem, huh?
Other than being destructive to all manner of fuel system components not specifically made to tolerate the crap
(which still includs most 2-cycle stuff, like chainsaws and weedwackers and such) ..... and the fact ethanol contains
less BTU energy per volume than gasoline....and is mandated for use by the feds, with a corresponding mandate
that a major percentage of the annual corn crops produced in the country be used in its' production, which has
led to higher prices of most food items at the grocery....and it leads to less fuel economy in cars than the "straight
stuff"....

Yeah, it's some peachy keen stuff all right.
 
I shared this about four years ago. It's from a GMC Motorhome site about Vapor Lock/Ethanol/Boiling Points/Different parts of the country -- it's become like a must have manual for me. :) In my case, I got shipped to another state and I have to live with the gas here. I could not understand why my 68 Road Runner that was so perfectly tuned for Virginia gas started running like junk when I was transferred out west. After I read this, I started different solutions to get it running again. Who knew there is a lower boiling point with gas in different places? Anyway, it's a fairly light read...

http://gmcws.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/Vapor_Lock_facts_theories_myths.pdf
 
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