E85 and Corrosion
Turbo Mini Forums

Whats the deal with E85 and corrosion (spelling?)

having searched about a bit have found confusing info, something about either methanol or ethanol disolving ally. Which does this or is it both?

Also is there an issue with steel tanks? is this due to water content in the ethanol?

Where i'm coming from is wanting to leave the possibility of running flex fuel in the future as aparently megasquirt can support this using a sensor to detect the mix of fuel in the tank (well fuel rail really). I want to know if its a wise move getting my ally fuel parts anodised.

Not entirely sure about methanol but ethanol is fine with ally afaik, cause they use it all the time on aircraft. I'd Be prepared to say the same for methanol.

There is no sense crying over every mistake- you just keep on trying til you run out of cake.

I thought it was more fuel lines that weren't too keen on e85, i.e. rubber fuel lines. I know JohnK has some knowledge of e85 perhaps he will post on here later.

methanol will corrode alloy, it leaves a white cristaline residue on stuff as it evaporates over time, . it blocks up carbs and the small jets,

also eats rubber fuel lines, you need brass atnk or possibly annodised alloy may be ok, use PTFE fuel lines.
OH and you will need to pour at least twice as much in as petrol.

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Ah ok,

So it looks like i'm in a better position to run E85 than i thought, I'm not even thinking about running methanol as i've read about some of the fume dangers from it.

To run E85 you need to run stainless fuel lines, ally tanks need to be anodised - as carl mentioned - and you can't let certain grades of nylon stay immersed in the stuff.

JK

If Carling made Mini engines
it would probably be like this one!

ah crapola,

I was hoping i could get away with it a bit easier than this,

the main issue is that I have 2 steel fuel tanks... POR do a tank sealant that is suposedly alcohol proof but I wouldn't trust it. I guess i could get a pair of stainless tanks made...

Also I don't really want to run fuel likes under the car, been there at the side of the road with petrol everywhere... And i don't like the idea of solid lines in the car, I was going to run a pair of braided hoses through the car.

Do the hoses have to be Stainless or would braided teflon be ok? suposedly that is fine with alcohol.

i would guess a ptfe lined stainless braided hose would be okay. It has the same insides over most varieties. I have seen the same sort of hose in most race cars and most of the fuels in them are pretty damn nasty. Most of the OE manufacturers seem to use the stainless steel option however the champ cars and stuff in the states run on pure methanol and they use the braided hose.