Ethanol in 1978 Buick: Problematic, or OK?

Hi, Around where I live, most gas stations have ethanol-blended gas, for a lower price than normal gas. But my car is a 1978 Buick Regal (231 cc V6), uses a carburetor and was not designed for ethanol. Would using ethanol harm it in anyway?

Reply to
Bill Johnston
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Bill Johnston wrote: : Hi, : Around where I live, most gas stations have ethanol-blended gas, for a : lower price than normal gas. But my car is a 1978 Buick Regal (231 cc : V6), uses a carburetor and was not designed for ethanol. Would using : ethanol harm it in anyway?

I think you'd be OK with it. I have the same engine in my boat and have not had problems with it. Actually, the older MTBE additive would be worse for the car as that additive had a tendency to dissolve some of the seal materials in the fuel system.

I've used methanol additives in gas (those provided at the pump, not stuff dumped from a bottle in to the tank) in several older cars (a '66 Dodge for example) with no adverse effects.

b.

Reply to
<barry

Assuming the car does not have closed-loop control (that is, no oxygen sensor in the exhaust)- It will run somewhat lean. and depending on the jetting from the factory, it might or might not cause hot-running, pinging, etc.

Expect a power decrease as well.

You could attempt to get slightly larger jets for the carb if you start having problems.

I had my motorcycle nicely dialed in and then CT switched to gasohol (10% ethanol) and I had to re-tune.

Dave

Reply to
spamTHISbrp

Reply to
Shep

Maybe.......and maybe not. About 15 years ago (I think anyway) my parents had one of those crappy Chrysler "K" cars. I was living 500 miles away at the time and they always told me that it got 22-23 MPG with regular 87 octane gas and about 28-30 with the 89 octane ethanol blend. (10% ethanol, not the current E85 that's getting REAL popular around here) I never believed it until I had to put a few hundred miles on the car myself and they were correct. I think you have to do a case by case study on each car. In my parents case, I believe the car had a lot of carbon in the combustion chamber and was just welcoming the increase in octane. It really woke up with the ethanol blend gas and had a noticeable increase in power. Like I said, this was only one car. Each one may be different.

Reply to
Kruse

Reply to
Bill Johnston
10 percent blend will probably be ok. It WILL clean out the rust/dirt/crud in the fuel system though. Have a few extra fuel filters on hand and be sure you know how to change them. You may also end up dropping the tank if there is much crud in it as that can plug the sock and cause problems.

It will lose a bit of power as well.

Reply to
Steve W.

You should check with your owners manual if you can. My 1986, 87 and 88 Jeeps pointedly state in the owners manual 'not' to use any mix of alcohol no matter how many 'drying agents' they state they add.

I sometimes can't help but to get a 10% mix and my carb Jeep runs like crap on it. I drop about 25 to 30% for gas mileage with it and my top end power is just plain gone. I have no knock sensor or computer messing with the timing.

I also seem to have serious issues with the float needle and seat. I get new ones with the carb kit I do every 2 years, but they crap out open before the next two year emission test is due.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >
Reply to
Mike Romain

I've looked but the manual says nothing about it. 1978 I think was pretty early in the history of ethanol, I'm not sure but it may not have been widely used yet.

Is there some reason ethanol might harm carb parts, like you seem to suggest? The alcohol?

Reply to
Bill Johnston

Ah-yup.

As I recall, the late 70s saw the advent of "gasohol" in response to the energy crisis (plus ca change...) and the stuff acquired a spotty reputation, not only for being improperly handled en route to the customer and thus absorbing water, but also for compatibility with rubber compounds in the car that came in contact with it.

Even after these problems were licked, there were some cars that simply didn't run well on the stuff -- many cars of the day had a fairly narrow range of tune parameters anyway. That era when smog control requirements outpaced engine controls wasn't always pretty!

If a '78 with a 231 is much like an '80 with a 3.8, the most comparable vehicle of my close acquaintance, the details are mercifully blotted from my subconscious but the general theme was that the car needed a lot of fussing-with to get into that window between rampant knock and bogging down and stumbling, and even then didn't care for "regular unleaded" (87 octane at my elevation), far preferring 89 octane.

Maybe that particular car was just kind of a stinker, or something drastic changed in those two years; but all in all, I'd suggest staying away from the stuff in that car except maybe occasionally if nothing alcohol-free were available.

Reply to
Ad absurdum per aspera

You're going to get a vast response on this one, I'm not going to follow the thread.

I've been running ethanol blended fuels in all my vehicles for the last ~25 years, and prefer it over anything else. I have never found an engine yet that responded in a negative manner. I have found that old, tired, low compression engines rarely have any changes at all. Lower mileage and higher compression engine respond very favorably.

You will fine that the ethanol blended fuel will clean out debris from your system. This is not a problem with the fuel, it just tries to clean crap out. If there is a lot of crap, look at replacing fuel filters and possible a fuel pump now and then.

You'll hear stories that blame the fuel for plugging up filters, carbs, fuel pumps. But the fuel didn't put the dirt in your tank. You're going to hear misleading stories about oxygen sensors and a reduction in fuel mileage and power. Don't listen to them, I've yet to see that happen.

My best advise to you is to run a consistent 5 or so tanks of your current fuel in a row, and record mileage. Then do so with the ethanol. You'll see for yourself that you have nothing to worry about.

Reply to
Raymond J. Henry

Bill Johnston wrote: : I've looked but the manual says nothing about it. 1978 I think was : pretty early in the history of ethanol, I'm not sure but it may not : have been widely used yet.

: Is there some reason ethanol might harm carb parts, like you seem to : suggest? The alcohol?

Probably no problem with any seals. That was the problem with MTBE.

However, ethanol absorbs water and it's possible for some moisture to be in the tank but I've never had a problem with it.

b.

Reply to
<barry

Anyone else remember the days when Ethanol was referred to as "adulterating" or "diluting" fuel? Now the spin doctors call it "enriched with ethanol."

:-/

Reply to
Steve

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