My heretofore trusty Honda lawnmower wouldn't start earlier this week.
It's 10 years old and I only use it for trim work. Over the winter, I
run it dry with Sta-bil blue (marine). Unfortunately, I forgot to drain
the carb bowl.

Everything else seemed ok on the Honda motor, so I pulled the carb to
see what was going on. What was going on was heavy duty "white"
corrosion of some sort. Never seen anything like it before. Valleys
etched into the walls of the carb.

So, I took the carb up to a local lawn equipment dealer and the parts
guy said, "That's ethanol 'corrosion' on aluminum...your carb is
ruined." He ordered a new carb and gasket for me, it came in today, I
installed it and the motor started right up.

In the past, I've posted I didn't have any "ethanol problems." Well, I
had a $50 (cost of carb) problem this week.

Next fall, I'll remember to drain the damned carb bowl.

Grrrr.

On Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:25:05 -0400, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

My heretofore trusty Honda lawnmower wouldn't start earlier this week.
It's 10 years old and I only use it for trim work. Over the winter, I
run it dry with Sta-bil blue (marine). Unfortunately, I forgot to drain
the carb bowl.

Everything else seemed ok on the Honda motor, so I pulled the carb to
see what was going on. What was going on was heavy duty "white"
corrosion of some sort. Never seen anything like it before. Valleys
etched into the walls of the carb.

So, I took the carb up to a local lawn equipment dealer and the parts
guy said, "That's ethanol 'corrosion' on aluminum...your carb is
ruined." He ordered a new carb and gasket for me, it came in today, I
installed it and the motor started right up.

In the past, I've posted I didn't have any "ethanol problems." Well, I
had a $50 (cost of carb) problem this week.

Next fall, I'll remember to drain the damned carb bowl.



=======

Ethanol is one of the biggest frauds ever perpetrated on he american
public. Now there's a whole industry built around it and the
powerful farm lobby to back it up. It costs more energy to produce
ethanol than it yields when burned, and it lowers fuel efficiency. In
addition it ties up valuable farmland and food production plus it
ruins engines. What's to like? Not much, it's a total fiasco, our
government at it's worst.

On Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:39:55 -0400, Wayne B wrote:

On Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:25:05 -0400, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

My heretofore trusty Honda lawnmower wouldn't start earlier this week.
It's 10 years old and I only use it for trim work. Over the winter, I
run it dry with Sta-bil blue (marine). Unfortunately, I forgot to drain
the carb bowl.

Everything else seemed ok on the Honda motor, so I pulled the carb to
see what was going on. What was going on was heavy duty "white"
corrosion of some sort. Never seen anything like it before. Valleys
etched into the walls of the carb.

So, I took the carb up to a local lawn equipment dealer and the parts
guy said, "That's ethanol 'corrosion' on aluminum...your carb is
ruined." He ordered a new carb and gasket for me, it came in today, I
installed it and the motor started right up.

In the past, I've posted I didn't have any "ethanol problems." Well, I
had a $50 (cost of carb) problem this week.

Next fall, I'll remember to drain the damned carb bowl.



=======

Ethanol is one of the biggest frauds ever perpetrated on he american
public. Now there's a whole industry built around it and the
powerful farm lobby to back it up. It costs more energy to produce
ethanol than it yields when burned, and it lowers fuel efficiency. In
addition it ties up valuable farmland and food production plus it
ruins engines. What's to like? Not much, it's a total fiasco, our
government at it's worst.

And it's doing a job on motorcycles also. Now they want to raise the content to 15%. The American
Motorcyclist Association is fighting it tooth and nail.

http://www.off-road.com/blog/2013/04/19/e15-fuel-safety-is-the-theme-of-american-motorcyclist-associations-freedom-friday-april-19/

or: http://tinyurl.com/cdqbzq5
--

Hope you're having a great day!

In article ,
says...

On Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:39:55 -0400, Wayne B wrote:

On Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:25:05 -0400, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

My heretofore trusty Honda lawnmower wouldn't start earlier this week.
It's 10 years old and I only use it for trim work. Over the winter, I
run it dry with Sta-bil blue (marine). Unfortunately, I forgot to drain
the carb bowl.

Everything else seemed ok on the Honda motor, so I pulled the carb to
see what was going on. What was going on was heavy duty "white"
corrosion of some sort. Never seen anything like it before. Valleys
etched into the walls of the carb.

So, I took the carb up to a local lawn equipment dealer and the parts
guy said, "That's ethanol 'corrosion' on aluminum...your carb is
ruined." He ordered a new carb and gasket for me, it came in today, I
installed it and the motor started right up.

In the past, I've posted I didn't have any "ethanol problems." Well, I
had a $50 (cost of carb) problem this week.

Next fall, I'll remember to drain the damned carb bowl.



=======

Ethanol is one of the biggest frauds ever perpetrated on he american
public. Now there's a whole industry built around it and the
powerful farm lobby to back it up. It costs more energy to produce
ethanol than it yields when burned, and it lowers fuel efficiency. In
addition it ties up valuable farmland and food production plus it
ruins engines. What's to like? Not much, it's a total fiasco, our
government at it's worst.

And it's doing a job on motorcycles also. Now they want to raise the content to 15%. The American
Motorcyclist Association is fighting it tooth and nail.

http://www.off-road.com/blog/2013/04/19/e15-fuel-safety-is-the-theme-of-american-motorcyclist-associations-freedom-friday-april-19/

or: http://tinyurl.com/cdqbzq5

Maybe if the right wouldn't be SO afraid of new technology, we could
move forward and make engines that would be just fine on ethanol.

On Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:23:23 -0400, iBoaterer
wrote:

Maybe if the right wouldn't be SO afraid of new technology, we could
move forward and make engines that would be just fine on ethanol.

===

That would be the wrong direction. Ethanol is not a good fuel for
all the reasons previously mentioned:

1. It is inefficient - takes more net energy to produce than it
yields as an engine fuel.

2. Wastes cropland and other agricultural resources.

3. Drives up the federal defecit via farm subsidies.

4. Raises the cost of food and decreases food supplies.

The only people who like ethanol are the farmers and they are lobbying
hard for E15. It's time to stop this nonsense. The wave of the
future for engine fuels is natural gas. We've got tons of it,
supplys are growing, and it is inexpensive and clean burning. Major
trucking companies are already starting to convert and the railroads
are not far behind. Once the infrastructure for distribution and
sales are in place, light trucks and passenger vehicles will be next
in line.

In article ,
says...

On Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:23:23 -0400, iBoaterer
wrote:

Maybe if the right wouldn't be SO afraid of new technology, we could
move forward and make engines that would be just fine on ethanol.

===

That would be the wrong direction. Ethanol is not a good fuel for
all the reasons previously mentioned:

1. It is inefficient - takes more net energy to produce than it
yields as an engine fuel.

At the moment, just maybe-sort-of. When gasoline was in it's infancy,
the exact same was true.

http://tinyurl.com/bqubef4




2. Wastes cropland and other agricultural resources.

How does it waste cropland if the cropland is being used instead of the
government paying farmers to let it go fallow?


3. Drives up the federal defecit via farm subsidies.

Again, the government is in the farm business already, in some cases
paying farmers to NOT grow crops.

4. Raises the cost of food and decreases food supplies.

Maybe. Here's a really good read:

http://tinyurl.com/o6ws4e

On 4/26/13 9:59 AM, Wayne B wrote:
On Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:23:23 -0400, iBoaterer
wrote:

Maybe if the right wouldn't be SO afraid of new technology, we could
move forward and make engines that would be just fine on ethanol.

===

That would be the wrong direction. Ethanol is not a good fuel for
all the reasons previously mentioned:

1. It is inefficient - takes more net energy to produce than it
yields as an engine fuel.

2. Wastes cropland and other agricultural resources.

3. Drives up the federal defecit via farm subsidies.

4. Raises the cost of food and decreases food supplies.

The only people who like ethanol are the farmers and they are lobbying
hard for E15. It's time to stop this nonsense. The wave of the
future for engine fuels is natural gas. We've got tons of it,
supplys are growing, and it is inexpensive and clean burning. Major
trucking companies are already starting to convert and the railroads
are not far behind. Once the infrastructure for distribution and
sales are in place, light trucks and passenger vehicles will be next
in line.



A lot of commercial vehicles and buses in the DC area are running on
CNG. I think the fuel tanks have to be larger to make up for the
compression of the gas and stronger, too. I haven't read of any really
serious downsides to CNG.

"iBoaterer" wrote in message
...


Maybe if the right wouldn't be SO afraid of new technology, we could
move forward and make engines that would be just fine on ethanol.

-------------------------------------------------------

That's not the problem. The problem is that ethanol was forced upon
the industry and public even when testing indicated that many existing
fuel delivery systems would be adversely affected by it. The last
boat I bought had one year old, USCG approved fuel lines that were
perfectly fine but the survey revealed that they should be replaced
with a newer, ethanol resistant type. Not an easy or inexpensive
task on a twin engine boat with fuel tanks located in an almost
inaccessible location.

At least one major boat manufacturer had to recall all their boats
when it was found that ethanol laced fuel was dissolving the resin
used to make fiberglass fuel tanks that were an integral part of the
boat's molded design. The resin was carried into the engine's fuel
delivery system, totally screwing up the fuel injectors.

More newer car engines require high octane premium fuel in order to
get full performance without having the engine sensors retard timing,
thanks to ethanol.

It was a bad idea then and now the government wants to make it even
worse.

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...



"iBoaterer" wrote in message
...


Maybe if the right wouldn't be SO afraid of new technology, we could
move forward and make engines that would be just fine on ethanol.

-------------------------------------------------------

That's not the problem. The problem is that ethanol was forced upon
the industry and public even when testing indicated that many existing
fuel delivery systems would be adversely affected by it. The last
boat I bought had one year old, USCG approved fuel lines that were
perfectly fine but the survey revealed that they should be replaced
with a newer, ethanol resistant type. Not an easy or inexpensive
task on a twin engine boat with fuel tanks located in an almost
inaccessible location.

At least one major boat manufacturer had to recall all their boats
when it was found that ethanol laced fuel was dissolving the resin
used to make fiberglass fuel tanks that were an integral part of the
boat's molded design. The resin was carried into the engine's fuel
delivery system, totally screwing up the fuel injectors.

More newer car engines require high octane premium fuel in order to
get full performance without having the engine sensors retard timing,
thanks to ethanol.

It was a bad idea then and now the government wants to make it even
worse.

-----------------------------------------------------

I'd add that AVGAS (gasoline produced for use in aircraft ..
typically private planes) does *not* contain ethanol by law.
There's a reason for it.

In article ,
says...

"iBoaterer" wrote in message
...


Maybe if the right wouldn't be SO afraid of new technology, we could
move forward and make engines that would be just fine on ethanol.

-------------------------------------------------------

That's not the problem. The problem is that ethanol was forced upon
the industry and public even when testing indicated that many existing
fuel delivery systems would be adversely affected by it. The last
boat I bought had one year old, USCG approved fuel lines that were
perfectly fine but the survey revealed that they should be replaced
with a newer, ethanol resistant type. Not an easy or inexpensive
task on a twin engine boat with fuel tanks located in an almost
inaccessible location.

At least one major boat manufacturer had to recall all their boats
when it was found that ethanol laced fuel was dissolving the resin
used to make fiberglass fuel tanks that were an integral part of the
boat's molded design. The resin was carried into the engine's fuel
delivery system, totally screwing up the fuel injectors.

More newer car engines require high octane premium fuel in order to
get full performance without having the engine sensors retard timing,
thanks to ethanol.

It was a bad idea then and now the government wants to make it even
worse.





http://tinyurl.com/o6ws4e