The Effects of Ethanol on older vehicles

Dave, I am not a mechanic, but I do have an older vehicle that has a Carburetor on it and I have been using MMO in my fuel and the carburetor is running great.

My thoughts are that MMO lubes everything in your fuel system.

I am also using MMO in the gas on my lawn mowers and 2 cycle equipment and they all start up on the 1st pull and they seem to be running better.

I used my Dad's Powerwasher a week ago that I had never put MMO in the fuel, it took about 3 pulls to get the thing started.

If you have sometime, visit the MMO Forum, its under " Ask The Mechanics", I believe someone asked a question about Ethanol in the gas, if I see a response then I will post it in this thread.

I have a friend who uses MMO and he has a 20 year old Ford Van that still has the original:

1) Fuel Pump
2) Fuel Injectors

This gentleman has about 200,000 miles on his Ford Van.

Thanks for the info BigBear. I have never used MMO, but picked some up today on way home. I usually put SeaFoam in the OPE gas. Usually about an ounce per gallon. MMO is about half the cost and I have heard good things about it.

I did notice that Sta-Bil marine states on it's label that it protects against ethanol.

How much MMO per gallon do you suggest for OPE?

BTW, my truck is Flex-Fuel capable, I just run Techron in the fuel, every Oil Change.

Dave

quote:

Originally posted by Deltona_Dave:
Thanks for the info BigBear. I have never used MMO, but picked some up today on way home. I usually put SeaFoam in the OPE gas. Usually about an ounce per gallon. MMO is about half the cost and I have heard good things about it.

I did notice that Sta-Bil marine states on it's label that it protects against ethanol.

How much MMO per gallon do you suggest for OPE?

BTW, my truck is Flex-Fuel capable, I just run Techron in the fuel, every Oil Change.

Dave

Dave, I usually add 4 ounces of MMO to 10 gallons of gas, I put the MMO in at the gas station and then fillup, on the MMO Forum they said that Ethanol takes out some of the lubricity in the gasoline.

I think of Seafoam as a better cleaning product in the fuel than MMO, I usually add a bottle of Redline SI once a year and then use MMO at each fuel fillup.

I think once a cleaner like Seafoam or Redline SI, or even Techron is used, that continual use of MMO will keep everything clean and lubed.

I see you are using Techron in the fuel at each OCI, it is a great cleaner, just not sure how well it keeps things lubed.

Same thing with Seafoam, again I think of this as more of a cleaner than a product that will keep the fuel system lubed, but you could call up the Seafoam tech line if they have one or visit there website.

I will try the MMO in my mower (4 stroker) for lubricity and also in the 2-strokers (with my regualar oil mix)

My truck is ethanol rated, so I figure the engineers know what they are doing. MMO is pretty cheap, but what will it do to multi-port fuel injection systems?

Aw Heck, my Titan is out of warranty anyways, I will try some in the tank.

Dave

http://www.marvelmysteryoil.co...rums/viewthread/388/

http://www.marvelmysteryoil.co...rums/viewthread/389/

http://www.marvelmysteryoil.co...rums/viewthread/272/

http://www.marvelmysteryoil.co...rums/viewthread/373/

Some light reading

The gas I use is E10. (haven't tried Valero yet, but it is cheaper than Shell, and IIRC, about the same as BP.)

IMO, I think TC-W3 works better in the gas, but MMO is good. Plus you can use it in the crankcase.

E-10 is all you can get in FL now days. I would prefer E-0 I will check out the links.

Thanks,
Dave

quote:

Originally posted by Deltona_Dave:
I will try the MMO in my mower (4 stroker) for lubricity and also in the 2-strokers (with my regualar oil mix)

My truck is ethanol rated, so I figure the engineers know what they are doing. MMO is pretty cheap, but what will it do to multi-port fuel injection systems?

Aw Heck, my Titan is out of warranty anyways, I will try some in the tank.

Dave

Dave, I have been running MMO in the fuel on my Marauder now for about 10,000 miles, and it is fuel injected. I noticed after the 3rd tank with MMO in the gas that the car was more responsive and I did pickup about 1 m.p.g. in fuel economy, but I do drive this car very conservatively.

To answer your question about what MMO will do for multi-port fuel injection, it will keep the fuel injectors clean and free of carbon, this is important because if your fuel injectors go bad it is not cheap to replace the fuel injectors, your truck is a Titan, I believe this is made by Toyota. For fun, and if you have time, call up the dealership where you bought your truck and talk to the Service Advisor, ask him how much it costs with parts and labor to replace all of your fuel injectors, I am sure it would be between $400.00 to $500.00

A 32 ounce bottle of MMO is about $4.00 with tax, so if you put in 4 ounces of MMO each week when you fillup, you could go about 8 weeks which is about 2 months, so if there are 12 months in a year and you use a bottle of MMO every 2 months, you would need 6 bottles of MMO which would come out to $24.00 a year, and if you save a little gas like I do then the MMO will pay for itself.

Let's say you drive 15,000 miles a year, divide 15,000 by let's say 20 m.p.g. so 750 gallons times $3.00 a gallon equals $2250.00

If you get about 1 m.p.g better fuel economy, 15,000 divided by 21 m.p.g. equals about 714 gallons, times $3.00 a gallon, that comes out to $2142.00

By getting about 1 m.p.g. better fuel economy you have saved about $108.00, not bad spending $24.00 to save about $108.00

Of course if you drive the car hard then you may not see a savings in gas mileage, all I know is every piece of equipment or car engine that I use MMO in the fuel I notice much easier and faster starts.

Just talked to my mechanic. Yeah, it's the carbs that have the problem, not fuel injection.

Cras. snowblowers, weed wackers, etc.

Bear, thank you I put about 8 oz in the Titan gas tank last night. BTW, the Titan is made by Nissan. Built in Canton, MS. We'll see how it goes. I have always used MMO for my air tools, never gave it much thought about the gas tank.

I don't think I need it in the oil though. I am running a good grp III (Pennzoil Platinum) and everything seems clean and runs smooth.

Trajan: I think ethanol may affect carbs more than fuel injection, but it may still weaken some o-rings and what not. I have been browsing around and it seems that over the past 5-7 years, automakers have been making changes for engines to handle e10.

OPE manufacturers are going to have to catch up, but it will, of course, raise the price.

Dave

Bear gave some good advise with only one mistake. Replacing injectors costs a lot more than that. From the dealer I'm gonna guess the injectors are well over $100 each just for the part. Then the labor to install them, forget it.

There is a thread going on at the other site and it seems there are a lot of guys experimenting with MMO in oil and gas and posting some good positive comments about it. It is in the gas additive section IIRC. MMO has plenty of valve with older engines and Ethanol gas. FWIW.

AD

Yeah, the injectors are pricey. The Titan is E85 compatible, but I am trying MMO in the gas, just to see how it works. I am not worried about warranty (long out of). I have run Techron and Regane before in the truck with no ill effects. I use Chevron/Texaco fuel when I can.

This weekend, I am going to put some in my OPE, as that E10, dissolves carburetor gaskets in about a year. Tried Techron one time and was told it is not advised for 2-stroke air cooled engines. Started using Opti-2 oil in my 2 cycles. Stuff seems okay, smells like seaweed, but little smoke. I am using it at 40:1 and not their 100:1 recommended ratio. It is a little less expensive than the Stihl Ultra syn. 2-cycle oil.

Thanks for the info.

Dave

quote:

Originally posted by Deltona_Dave:
Yeah, the injectors are pricey. The Titan is E85 compatible, but I am trying MMO in the gas, just to see how it works. I am not worried about warranty (long out of). I have run Techron and Regane before in the truck with no ill effects. I use Chevron/Texaco fuel when I can.

This weekend, I am going to put some in my OPE, as that E10, dissolves carburetor gaskets in about a year. Tried Techron one time and was told it is not advised for 2-stroke air cooled engines. Started using Opti-2 oil in my 2 cycles. Stuff seems okay, smells like seaweed, but little smoke. I am using it at 40:1 and not their 100:1 recommended ratio. It is a little less expensive than the Stihl Ultra syn. 2-cycle oil.

Thanks for the info.

Dave

Dave, just remember it may take a few tanks with MMO to notice a difference, but there are some other benefits, one of them being easier starts.

Your spark plugs will also stay cleaner and fire better, I check the spark plug on my small lawn mower that has had MMO in the gas for a year and the plug stays very clean. I have checked the carburetor on my small mower and it is clean also.

The carburetor and spark plugs are also staying clean on my old car, so if MMO can keep my carburetor clean, then I have no doubt that it can keep my fuel injectors clean.

Big Bear,
Thank You. I am on my second tank with 16 oz of MMO in the Titan. I can tell the injectors are a little quieter. Have not noticed much else yet. I figure a few more bottles will tell.

It worked good on my cheap string trimmer this weekend. Normally, when it is hot, it takes 3-4 pulls to fire it back up (like after changing line). Now it fires up on first pull.

Dave