It was suggested that I share some of the information I've gathered during the past few months when our local fuel supplies all switched to E10 Blended fuel.
It turns out that the E10 blended fuel, which was mandated to be in all the Florida gas stations by 2009 was eating up the "fuel rated" rubber lines we'd been using for years.
After 5000 miles on my 54-235 truck I started having some issues with my idle and noted a dramatic drop in my fuel mileage. An adjustment (richen) to the idle fuel mix corrected the popping and crackling during deceleration. Easy fix!
The second issue was a fuel leak between the fuel tank pickup and the frame mounted fuel line. Loose clamp, a couple turns and it was corrected....but the Goodyear Fuel rated line was spongy. But it was fuel rated so no big deal!!! Or so I thought!!!
Later in the day, at a show, we noted my buddies 32-5 window street rod was also smelling like fuel and a quick inspection showed his "Fuel rated" rubber lines were split open like a clamshell. One slight tug and it split wide open and we had to make some quick emergency repairs. Checking several other older vehicles showed the same splits in a number of the cars. All that was needed would be a good solid jar and fuel would be dumped. A real pain for those guys who had to drop their tanks to upgrade their lines. But a whole lot better than watching their cars burn.
Checking Google confirmed that there were a myriad of woes connected with the ethanol based fuels from deteriorating marine tanks, to loss of mileage, clogged fuel filters, damaged carb guts, "phase separation", and of course the 700+ vechiles that had burned. It appeared that older carbed engines, both marine and road, were subject to some rather disturbing issuses.
Google confirmed the 2-3 month shelf life of the E10 fuels and pointed out the need for upgrading all conventional "Fuel rated" rubber lines to "Ethanol Rated" lines which have a blue liner. The fact remains that conventional rubber fuel lines WILL deteriorate and NEED to be upgraded to the pricey "Ethanol rated" fuel lines before they split and dump fuel. Supposedly, all fuel pumps and carb kits since 1985 were mandated to be upgraded to E10 standards but with the influx of imported replacement parts...who knows for sure.
Toss in the fact that E10 will suck in moisture and scour the inside of a cruddy fuel tank, clogging the filters, and it looks like "progress" is creating additional issues for us who cherish the old iron. Having gone through these issues and having had to deal with them has prompted me to share this information. I encourage you to spend some time checking out "E10 Problems" before someone winds up loosing their truck to an engine fire.
Dave
