Ethanol and me
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 1,377
Likes: 282
From: Bedford New York
Ethanol and me
My 1972 LT-1 doesn't run too well...it coughs, sputters, breaks up, terrible off-idle hesitation.....
I rebuilt the carb, tuned it up, put in fresh gas......nothing helped.
Opened up the carb again and found all sorts of brown nastiness. Decided to look inside the tank and siphon out the evidence....
Here's what came out:
I have no idea how this car even fired up! Yikes! I guess it had been sitting a lot longer than I thought before I bought it. Shame on me for not checking this out sooner. Lesson learned.
I rebuilt the carb, tuned it up, put in fresh gas......nothing helped.
Opened up the carb again and found all sorts of brown nastiness. Decided to look inside the tank and siphon out the evidence....
Here's what came out:
I have no idea how this car even fired up! Yikes! I guess it had been sitting a lot longer than I thought before I bought it. Shame on me for not checking this out sooner. Lesson learned.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 1,377
Likes: 282
From: Bedford New York
After I siphoned out all of the liquid crud, I added 2 gallons of apple cider vinegar into the tank. I did that last night and will let it sit until Sunday. I'll drain out that crud, and once the tank is sparkly clean I'll blow out the fuel line up to the engine bay. Was thinking of cranking over the engine using the fuel pump to purge and circulate fresh gas through the fuel line....before re-installing the carb. Make sense?
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 1,377
Likes: 282
From: Bedford New York
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 16,221
Likes: 118
From: Matthews NC
At 11:1 my engine likes as much octane as it can get. Plus I only drive to car shows...
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 750
Likes: 180
From: Springfield Missouri
After I siphoned out all of the liquid crud, I added 2 gallons of apple cider vinegar into the tank. I did that last night and will let it sit until Sunday. I'll drain out that crud, and once the tank is sparkly clean I'll blow out the fuel line up to the engine bay. Was thinking of cranking over the engine using the fuel pump to purge and circulate fresh gas through the fuel line....before re-installing the carb. Make sense?
Race Director
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 18,695
Likes: 2,572
I see you are in Beford, I'm over in Danbury. Have been running 10% Ethanol for decades and never saw that before. Since you have a 72 it is low compression and there is no benefit to running anything higher than 93 octane. You may want to check your gas cap seal and also the gas tank neck seal which is made of cork and falls apart allowing water in and gasoline out.
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Drifting
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,467
Likes: 223
From: Sherman CT
2023 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
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St. Jude Donor '24-'25-'26
Wow...that stuff looked nasty!, mine sat for 18 months, just had it out this end of Summer, and the fuel in my tank looked like the day I put it away, I did add Stabil before its extended nap
Regards
Roy
Regards
Roy
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,950
Likes: 498
From: Chino Hills CA
When I first got my Vette, 14 years ago, the tank was also full of crap. I removed the pickup and sender, and put simple green and a long piece of chain in it, and did the "shake rattle and roll" dance, and then dumped it out. Did this about a dozen times, till the crap stop coming out. After ditching the pickup screen and reinstalling, I put a clean-able glass filter before the fuel pump and drove it. In the beginning I had to clean the filter every few days, and as time went on, less and less often. Eventually it was no longer an issue.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 1,002
Likes: 410
I usually pour some denatured alcohol in the tank if the strainer looks gummy... I run it through by running a slight pressure on the tank... It won't gum, it won't harm rubber, & it dries clean...
I was impressed with how clean my original 71 tank is... the car was driven 12,000 miles between 73 and 86 then accumulated only 5,000 miles from 1986 - 2018.
I was impressed with how clean my original 71 tank is... the car was driven 12,000 miles between 73 and 86 then accumulated only 5,000 miles from 1986 - 2018.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 1,377
Likes: 282
From: Bedford New York
Update: after allowing the apple cider vinegar to sit in the tank a few days, I vacuumed it all out with a wet/dry vacuum. t came out clean as a whistle! Filled it with fresh gas and purged the fuel line by cranking the engine over with the fuel line connected to a container in the engine bay. Once the gas flowed out nice and clean, I installed the cleaned and rebuilt carb, then fired her up. Runs great now! I fine tuned the carb and timing and now she runs as well as it ever did.
I still hate this ethanol crap!
I still hate this ethanol crap!
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 16,221
Likes: 118
From: Matthews NC
Update: after allowing the apple cider vinegar to sit in the tank a few days, I vacuumed it all out with a wet/dry vacuum. t came out clean as a whistle! Filled it with fresh gas and purged the fuel line by cranking the engine over with the fuel line connected to a container in the engine bay. Once the gas flowed out nice and clean, I installed the cleaned and rebuilt carb, then fired her up. Runs great now! I fine tuned the carb and timing and now she runs as well as it ever did.
I still hate this ethanol crap!
I still hate this ethanol crap!
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 65,492
Likes: 230
From: Orange Park Florida
HELL with it, I"m lazy.....on my 3rd mower now in the 20 years I been doing this, I buy them used for about 100 bux.......self propelled, AND I speed up the engine and put large wheelbarrow tires in back so they don't sink into FLORIDA sand....easy maneuver, I RUN behind the mower, get a good work out.....get it the HELL over with.....
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 938
Likes: 435
From: Dutchess county New York
I've stored E10 up to a year without issue. After that I might SeaFoam it and feed it to the lawnmower, not the 'vette.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 9,240
Likes: 943
From: Lake Tahoe, CA
My 1972 LT-1 doesn't run too well...it coughs, sputters, breaks up, terrible off-idle hesitation.....
I rebuilt the carb, tuned it up, put in fresh gas......nothing helped.
Opened up the carb again and found all sorts of brown nastiness. Decided to look inside the tank and siphon out the evidence....
Here's what came out: https://youtu.be/ju-oRy7wTbc
I have no idea how this car even fired up! Yikes! I guess it had been sitting a lot longer than I thought before I bought it. Shame on me for not checking this out sooner. Lesson learned.
I rebuilt the carb, tuned it up, put in fresh gas......nothing helped.
Opened up the carb again and found all sorts of brown nastiness. Decided to look inside the tank and siphon out the evidence....
Here's what came out: https://youtu.be/ju-oRy7wTbc
I have no idea how this car even fired up! Yikes! I guess it had been sitting a lot longer than I thought before I bought it. Shame on me for not checking this out sooner. Lesson learned.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,666
Likes: 289
From: Spring Park MN
Take it from someone who has messed with old cars for more years than I like to admit, any gas left sitting too long will go bad and make a mess. I cleaned tanks and carbs from cars and motorcycles I bought that had been sitting for years with straight gas in them. They had the same brown gunk and rust in the systems.
Mike